Jazz ensemble goes to nationals

Jazz+ensemble+goes+to+nationals

Gillian Dunlop, Editor-in-Chief

For the first time in LT’s history, LT Jazz Ensemble has been selected as one of the 15 jazz band finalists across the United States and Canada to participate in the twentieth anniversary of the Essentially Ellington competition located at the Lincoln Center in New York City on May 7-9.

“It is pretty unbelievable, because the pool of people that [we] were chosen from is enormous and really talented,” trombone player Kate DeMonica ‘15 said.

This year, Jazz at Lincoln Center sent out over 3,200 copies of Duke Ellington music across the U.S. and Canada, giving schools the opportunity to record three songs and send them in to be judged by some of the most world renowned artists and jazz educators. From there, 15 finalists were selected to compete in New York City.

“It is an incredible honor to be a member of these 15 groups,” Jazz Ensemble Director Mark Dahl said. “Educationally speaking, it is a tremendous opportunity.”

The thousands of bands that submitted the required recordings included not only a pool of public school bands, but also fine arts high schools and conglomerate bands, which are essentially a band made up of the best student musicians in a given city or area. This increased the competition to be selected for one of the coveted 15 spots, but despite these challenges, LT Jazz Ensemble prevailed.

“When we found out we made it, it was a big shock, but then when we got over the shock, we knew we deserved it,” tenor saxophone player Andrew Lichtenauer ‘15 said. “I think we have a lot of individual talent and I think we had a good start right off the bat. Mr. Dahl saw a lot of potential in us.”

Jazz Ensemble is only allotted 17 minutes to perform. This includes the time it takes to assemble onstage and get into position before beginning the performance. They are also required to play a new transcription, which will be “Chelsea Bridge;” however, they will be performing “Rockin’ in Rhythm” and “V.I.P.’s Boogie” as well.

“There is so much more motivation in the band, because so much is riding on this performance,” DeMonica said. “We want to show what our hard work has done. My biggest fear is not having the band be able to represent what we can do because of nerves.”

In order to prepare for the Essentially Ellington competition, every sub section of Jazz Ensemble meets outside of school every week, while the entire band plays together during the day in the class. Additionally, the Lincoln Center is going to send trombone player, Chris Crenshaw, to give the band insight as how to improve on their skills and help them prepare for the concert. Also, Dahl’s former teacher Ron Carter has come to assist with the band’s preparation, administering multiple clinics with the band.

“By him being there, it shows how high the expectations are and our potential,” DeMonica said.

After all 15 groups perform, the top three bands will be chosen to play in a final concert at the Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis, who, according to DeMonica, is a jazz musician comparable to that of Duke Ellington or Count Bassie’s caliber.

“The educational experience is crazy,” Lichtenauer said. “The equivalent is going to spring training for baseball or a NFL camp with professionals that play with you and compete with you.”

Among all of the excitement for the competition, there still lies the fact that this year’s Jazz Ensemble is comprised of 17 students, 15 of which are seniors and two juniors, leaving the expectation for the success of next year’s Jazz Ensemble unknown.

“I think the band is really going to have to work hard [next year] to get to where we are,” DeMonica said. “Most of them are not as experienced as we are this year.”

According to Dahl, there is enough depth in the Jazz program at LT where students always step up despite large amounts of seniors graduating.

“I think [the competition] serves as a goal for future LT Jazz Ensembles to work for, because now they know it is attainable,” DeMonica said.

Jazz Ensemble will continue to stick to its regular schedule as it finishes out the year and prepares for the Essentially Ellington competition; however, it is hard not to miss the air of excitement generating from the band room.

“You can definitely see that people are taking this and ourselves a lot more seriously,” Lichtenauer said.

Although the results of the competition are still yet to come, even if the band does not succeed in making it into the top three finalists at the Lincoln Center, this special opportunity will not be lost on them.

“The cool thing about this beyond the competition aspect is that it provides a really unique learning opportunity for the students,” Dahl said. “I have a huge amount of pride for the program.”