After four years at UCLA, the jazzy, soulful septet Garden Party is in full bloom, just in time for Spring Sing.

Garden Party, which blossomed out of a freshman year jam session between four friends, has performed across the state from backyards in Westwood to Shabang Music Festival in San Luis Obispo. Sara Gorman, a fourth-year global jazz studies student and the bassist for Garden Party, said participating in this year’s Spring Sing will be a very fulfilling experience.

“It feels so full circle,” Gorman said. “Starting and ending with UCLA. … I think this has been just such an amazing opportunity for all of us throughout our college experience. I just feel so blessed. I just feel so lucky.”

It can be difficult to gather seven people into a room at once, Gorman said, but when Garden Party does meet, their creative process is always democratic. Describing their collaborative process, she said Garden Party workshops songs together from conceptualization to sonic composition. Because many of Garden Party’s members have a background in jazz, they are accustomed to this technique of improvisation, Gorman said. She added that this factor of improvisation over technical execution is what initially attracted her to the genre.

“What I love about jazz is that there’s so much space for individual creativity and also collective improvisation,” Gorman said. “A lot of our music, we don’t write charts to, and we just all learn it by ear and figure it out in rehearsal.”

[Related: Garden Party draws influence from jazz to bring positive energy with music]

Cocona Mori, fourth-year music industry student and lead singer of Garden Party, said for Spring Sing, the band will perform “As I Wonder” – the same original song planned for Spring Sing 2024. Despite their 16-song repertoire, Mori said Garden Party returned to the track since it carries significant meaning because of its nostalgic nature. Mori added that the song, written by Garden Party pianist Jude Fucetola, will be a tender, emotional send-up to their time at UCLA.

Garden Party’s saxophonist, Gael Saldana, a fourth-year global jazz studies student, said when it comes to lyrics, both Mori and Fucetola have a talent for complementing the band’s sounds with their writing. Leading up to Spring Sing, Saldana said he sees the performance as the culmination of the band’s work in the last four years.

“The song that we’re doing, it holds a lot of sentimental value to all of us,” Saldana said. “Just the nature of the song. I think it’s just a perfect demonstration of what we are, not only as a band but as people.”

Performance has always been an integral part of Garden Party’s philosophy, Gorman said, and they have built a community around their live shows. Although Garden Party has yet to release all of their original songs, she said they hope to do so before their graduation.

[Related: Cocona Mori takes listeners on transformative trip with new tune ‘Tokyo Train’]

Yet, Garden Party did not need to record music for their audience to resonate with it, Gorman said, as it is not just the band members who have grown and evolved with the music, but the audience as well. She added that some audiences could sing their songs word-for-word without ever having listened to them beyond a concert venue or a backyard.

“It’s really incredible to me that people remember the music,” Gorman said. “For the past four years, people have been coming to the shows. They’ve been hearing the same songs. … It’s just all a big family.”

When performed at Spring Sing, the second rendition of “As I Wonder” will be less of a swan song and more of a bittersweet goodbye, Mori said. As all seven members of Garden Party are due to graduate in June, Mori added that the nostalgic song choice was a deliberate one. Although they share a special bond that only four years in a band together can create, Mori said she is doubtful about whether Garden Party would continue beyond graduation. Some people are moving, others are going on tour, but Mori said she will continue to hold a space for the band in her heart and openness for a reunion in the future.

“It’s different in a way that it feels like more of an ending,” Mori said. “This was the perfect ending to our time at UCLA.”