Thank you, Pathway and Nutcracker Fans

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out to hear Jazz Bands 2, 3, and 4 perform at the Pathway of Lights at Green Lake, and to hear Jazz Band 1 perform the Jazz Nutcracker at RHS. What wonderful audiences you all were! The bands could feel the love and truly appreciated being able to perform for you. If you want more Roosevelt Jazz, check out our Jazz Night at 7pm, Monday 12/10, at Roosevelt High School. There’s no charge for admission and all 5 jazz ensembles will perform. It’s sure to be another great evening. Hope to see you there!

December Jazz

Happy December, a month chock full of chances to see Roosevelt Jazz musicians out in the community. Our ensembles have been busy preparing, and they are eager to share their hard work and love of this music with you!

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It’s Jazz Nutcracker Season

What a great October for Roosevelt Jazz! Thanks to everyone out there for the support you gave our students at Tula’s, the Edmonds Jazz Symposium, the Earshot Festival concert with Jovino Santos Neto, the UW Jazz Festival, and the Pumpkinseed concerts. But now all that is in the rear view, and we are full steam ahead to Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. And that means it’s Jazz Nutcracker season.

If you haven’t yet seen Roosevelt Jazz perform the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn Jazz Nutcracker, then this year ought to be the year you change that! Join us in our festive annual tradition. Make it part of your annual tradition. You will not be disappointed. Tickets are on sale now!

Non-Stop!

This October has been full up. Jazz Bands 3 & 4 performed at Tula’s; we hosted Allison Miller and Boom Tic Boom for an amazing workshop; everyone packed the Stone Way Café for a jam session; and students have been out in the community playing gigs and taking in the Earshot Jazz Festival. Did anyone catch Jazzmeia Horn? Or George Garzone?

And it keeps going!

  • Jazz Bands 3 & 4 perform at the Edmonds Jazz Symposium on October 27th, and will also have a chance to check out the JazzED College Summit + Audition Workshop being held at the Symposium.
  • Jazz Band 1 performs with Jovino Santos Neto at RHS on October 29th at 7pm, as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival. Get your tickets now!
  • Jazz Band 2 will attend the UW Jazz Festival on November 1st.
  • Our directors perform with Maria Schneider and SRJO, November 3rd and 4th.
  • Vocal Jazz will head out to Bremerton for the Bremerton Vocal Jazz Festival on November 17th.

Don’t worry, it doesn’t all come to a halt after that! We’ll take a short breather for Thanksgiving (except for the kids who also march with the Roosevelt Roughrider Band, who’ll be out in force at the Macy’s Holiday Parade). Then we’ll be back with more jams, gigs, performances at the Green Lake Pathway of Lights, and of course the Jazz Nutcracker. Hope to see you there! Yes, at all of it!

Need More Jazz?

Rainy season is starting up, the days are growing shorter, and you might be starting to wonder what is going to get you through another gray Seattle winter. Jazz will help.

Get yourself out to a show. The Earshot folks have just kicked off their 30th Earshot Jazz Festival. They’ve got this thing figured out! With events going all over town every single night through November 4th, there is bound to be something up your Alley. Be sure to get your tickets for the October 29th Earshot show featuring the Roosevelt Jazz Band with Jovino Santos Neto.

You could stop in at Tula’s to see Jazz Bands 3 and 4 open for the Mark Taylor/Michael Van Bebber Quintet. And check out what’s going on at The Royal Room. Or take in an SRJO show. They’re in concert with Maria Schneider in November. That’s right, Maria Schneider! The Saturday 11/3 show at Benaroya is sold out but right now, as I type this, there are still a few tickets left for the Sunday 11/4 show in Kirkland.

If you want to play more jazz, there are lots of opportunities for that too! Register for a JazzED ensemble. Placements take place on November 17th and 18th. Or, find a jam session. You can start with the next Roosevelt Jam at the Stone Way Café on Wednesday October 24th from 7:30-9:30pm. And there’s the North Seattle Youth Jam in Greenwood on the 2nd Sunday of every month. Naturally, JazzED has a few jam sessions this year in addition to everything else they do.

Look around! We are lucky to be alive here in this grey, green, rainy city full of jazz. And coffee.