Happy Valentine’s Day! Our hearts are certainly full today, with the news that Roosevelt Jazz Band I has been selected as a finalist for the 2019 Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival. They’ll be in some mighty fine company in NYC come May, including neighbors Garfield and Mount Si. Congratulations to Director Scott Brown and all the students!
For more information and a list of all the finalists, hop over to the Essentially Ellington website.
Today’s snow day allowed us some time to reflect. We’ve been busy; it’s nice to have a chance, however brief, to slow down and give thanks for what has happened so far this year. Our students have been putting in the hours at festivals, clubs, jam sessions, clinics, rehearsals, and the woodshed; they’ve been performing, listening, and learning. Most recently, Jazz Bands I and II represented Roosevelt Jazz at the 57th annual Clark College Jazz Festival and the 23rd Annual Bellevue College Jazz Festival. And back at home, a vocal jazz combo welcomed prospective RoughRiders to Roosevelt’s recent open house. In the words of John Lewis, the reward for playing jazz is playing jazz, and our students and directors are grateful to have been rewarded with these opportunities to share music with their peers and with incredible artists like trumpeter Ashlin Parker. (Coming home with some hardware is nice, too.)
Alright, look lively, reflection time is over! Next up, on February 6th at 7:30pm, Jazz Bands III and IV will represent Roosevelt Jazz at the Royal Room. A JB2 combo or two, and our directors Michael Van Bebber and Mark Taylor, will round out what looks to be a great night of jazz. Make your reservations for a table now if you haven’t already done so.
Also on the horizon is our annual program retreat at Seabeck. If you’re buying what John Lewis is selling, you will be amply rewarded at Seabeck. There will be no shortage of opportunities for playing jazz there.
Congratulations to Director Scott Brown and the students of Jazz Band I! They will have the honor of playing in the Starbucks Hot Java Cool Jazz concert at the Paramount Theater on Friday, March 15th, along with Mountlake Terrace, Garfield, Mount Si, and Edmonds Woodway. Tickets are not yet on sale; details on how to purchase tickets will be posted in January. For now, save the date! We hope to see you there for this swinging evening of jazz. A huge thank you to Starbucks for their sponsorship of this event, which raises tens of thousands of dollars for jazz education in Seattle, year after year. Time for a Peppermint Mocha…
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!
We hope you have your tickets to Hot Java, Cool Jazz at the Paramount Theater this Friday evening, because it looks like the show is close to selling sold out! Thanks to you all for buying up all the tickets, and thanks to Starbucks for donating ALL proceeds to the five participating schools.
And there’s more! A heartfelt thank you to everyone who pulled together to make the Roosevelt Jazz Gala a tremendous success. We were honored to have alumnus Jumaane Smith present. His performance was electrifying, his words deeply moving. A truly distinguished artist and human being, it was a joy to be in the same room with him.
Indeed, it was a joy to be in the room with all of you, the folks of Roosevelt Jazz, as we celebrated what we have and worked to keep it going into the future. The list of folks who donated, decorated, baked, bid, hauled, and performed is so long you wouldn’t even believe it; this was a true community effort. You all deserve a huge hug and a piece of cake.
Til next year!