My 18-year old daughter, Angela, is a senior in high school and recently finished a CIS (college in the schools) English class. One of her assignments was to write an ethnographic paper on a particular sub-culture. She asked me for ideas and right away I thought the Nova Band — a band I perform in on a regular basis — would make a very interesting subject. At first she resisted my suggestion, as teenager daughters sometimes do, but she finally came around and ended up being fascinated by us. The following is her final draft, and though I’m somewhat biased, I love the way she captures the essence of the musicians, the band and what we do!

Minnesota’s True Jazz Band [pdf]