"I enjoy watching a band get in tune as they play; it's very healthy," he told the dozen students who had just finished performing the big-band standard for Ferguson and several of his band members.

"Real intonation has to come while you're playing," said Ferguson, dressed in a bright blue tie, pink shirt and tan jacket.

The Princeton High School jazz band members listened intently.

"It's really sweet to have him here, because he's truly a jazz legend," Eric Schaefer, 17, who plays bass in the band, said before the workshop started.

Ferguson, 75, has given concerts at schools in the region before, but having the time to work with students one-on-one is uncommon, Ferguson said. Thursday, he spent about an hour talking with Princeton students about how to improve their music, and what life as a professional is like.

"It's a great thing," he said, "because most of the time we're playing for young people who really enjoy what the band does."

Tim Smith, who teaches music at Princeton High School and helped arrange Ferguson's visit, said the aim is to bring high schoolers face-to-face with a music great.

"They can see someone who's been performing since the late 1930s, which is well over half the history of jazz," Smith said.

After the clinic, Ferguson and his Big Bop Nouveau Band performed.

E-mail loakes@enquirer.com