The Fountain Hills High School marching band is gearing up to introduce a little funk into Friday night football games with this year’s halftime performance, “That 70’s Jazz Fusion Show.”

A number of this year’s band members were eager to discuss the 2015 marching program, including Gwyn Goltry (baritone), Carla Naranjo (clarinet), Kaitlyn Pinegar (flute), Sydney Goltry (flute), Sabeel Khurran (percussion), Nataly Gruender (band guard) and drum major Seth Aker.

“On our Germany trip, we started talking about a funk show we wanted to do and it kind of turned into this,” Nataly said.

“From there, we just picked some songs that we like and it became the show.”

The show will include four numbers, including Santana’s “Everybody’s Everything,” Weather Report’s “Birdland,” as well as Bill Chase’s “Get it On,” and “Handbags and Gladrags.”

The band will be introducing bits and pieces of the show through the first couple of home football games this season and hope to have the full show ready to take the field by homecoming.

The Falcons will then take their show on the road to compete at various marching performances throughout the state.

According to the marching flock, it should make for a fun show.

“Other bands play kind of generic songs and this one is really exciting,” Sydney said.

Gruender continued.

“We’ve got a lot of great stuff in this show,” she added.

“We’ve got some quiet parts and there are some really loud parts. As a guard member, that’s really exciting to me. It means we can do really small stuff and also really big moves, which are a lot of fun.”

Gwyn is one of the seniors in the group and, after four years of performing in the marching band, she said she’s looking forward to seeing how this new show comes together and offers something different.

“I think this show has a swinging jazz feel, and we haven’t had that type of music style in the years prior,” she said.

Pinegar continued.

“Birdland is a pretty fast song, so it’s a little more difficult to march, especially when you’re doing long moves,” she said.

Naranjo took over.

“The songs also have a lot of syncopation to them, which are really uncharacteristic to our regular shows,” she added.

Khurran jumped in to finish.

“It’s a fusion show, so we’re combining genres into one piece of music,” he said.

“’Everybody’s Everything,’ for instance, has a Latin backbeat with a funk melody, while ‘Birdland’ has a jazz backbeat with a rock melody.”

It’s a lot to pull together, but these bandmates feel that the 2015 squad can pull it off.

“It’s coming along really well,” Naranjo said.

“We made great strides during our band camp, especially with the freshmen and sophomores. It’s way better than we generally expect and, as we make our way through the season, we’re seeing a lot of great progression both musically and with the marching.”

When asked what the fans can expect out of this year’s halftime show, Khurran said simply, “a good time.”

Pinegar agreed.

“They can expect a lot of fun,” she added.

“That’s the best thing about our band. We’re never boring.”

Gruender continued.

“We’re always excited to go out and play,” she said.

“We’re always super excited and I think that translates through our music and our dances, and that goes out into the crowd.”

The man up front this year will be Seth Aker, who said he saw the position of drum major as a chance to pour his efforts into making sure the entire band continues to improve.

“I’m really excited for this year’s show,” Aker said.

“I really like the music and the marching. Everyone is doing really, really well.”

A member of the marching band for four years, Aker said the 2015 show stands out due to the amount of energy it puts on display.

“We haven’t seen this kind of energy in a couple of years,” he said.

“From the band to the music, it all feels right. The audience should be prepared to be entertained, because it’s going to be a lot of fun.”