The Mountlake Terrace Jazz 1 & 2 bands performed among 11 other local high school bands at the Newport High School Jazz festival in Bellevue on March 22, making it into the finals along with Shorewood and Interlake high schools. Jazz 2 played with the AM bands in the A/AA division, and Jazz 1 played with the PM bands or AAA division. Both were selected to advance to the finals and placed as runners-up in their divisions.
The Newport Jazz Festival had a morning session where they decided which A/AA bands would advance to the evening finals session, with the afternoon session doing the same for the AAA bands. Throughout the whole day, bands played sets from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. with a short dinner break before the 7 p.m. final concert and awards announcements.
Jazz 2 played first in the morning, with their set being “It’s Oh So Nice” by Sammy Nestico, “Blue Monk” by Thelonious Monk and “Lady Bird” by Tadd Dameron. They kept this same set for the finals. Jazz 1 switched up their set in the finals, going from “Groovin’ Hard” by the Buddy Rich Big Band, “Concerto for Cootie” by Duke Ellington and “Back to the Apple” by the Count Basie Orchestra to a finals set consisting of “What Am I Here For?” and “Kinda Dukish/Rockin’ in Rhythm” both by Duke Ellington.
Terrace won four Soloist Awards, two won by combo players and two by brass players. These soloists were senior guitarist Justin Ho, freshman pianist Sophia Ionitsa, senior trombonist Bennett Harvey and senior trumpeter Seth Tate.
Jazz 1 will also be featured in the March 28 “Hot Java Cool Jazz” show at the Paramount Theatre.
This is Starbucks’ 28th Annual Hot Java Cool Jazz show, where top student musicians meet to show off their skills. Ticket sales from the event go towards supporting the involved high schools chosen to play, which this year also includes Garfield, Mount Si, Roosevelt and Bothell high schools.
Also upcoming is the Essentially Ellington competition, taking place this May in New York, New York.
Essentially Ellington is a the premiere competition for high school jazz ensembles with the goal of inspiring and teaching aspiring musicians. Four local high schools qualified for the festival this year, including Roosevelt, Garfield, Bothell and Mountlake Terrace high schools, among the 30 schools nationwide. This is the 10th time Jazz 1 has been invited to this prestigi ous event.
