- Jan 9, 2001
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Well, I won't dwell on it too long cause it's one of those things that isn't a big deal to others reading/hearing about it, but it was really cool for me.
Last few days (Thursday-Tuesday Night) I was in New York City with a jazz band I play in at my school. Not to get egotistic, but it's a really good group, I love playing in it. Back in January we auditioned for a festival run by Jazz at Lincoln Center called "Essentially Ellington", described by critics as the "international superbowl for high school jazz bands." Basically, a few thousand bands receive music and info about the festival, a few hundred of those send in audition tapes. Judges pick the top 15 bands and send 'em to Manhattan for a few days. We were one of the 15.
So, I've spent the last few days having workshops and rehearsals in Juilliard, bumpin' around Manhattan and seeing the sights, playing jam sessions with members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, meeting Wynton Marsalis, and performing in the final competition in Avery Fisher Hall (where the New York Philharmonic performs). Wynton was one of our judges, along with Rufus Reid, David Berger, and Lorne Schoneberg (all big names in jazz these days). If you don't know who Wynton is, look him up, he's probably one of the most famous jazz musicians in the world. (And I got to talk to him and get my picture taken with him! Yay!). We went to a few jazz clubs, got to talk to Cedar Walton and his trio for a few (great musicians but not the nicest folks in the world). Talking to Marcus Printup and Wes "Warmdaddy" Andersen was a blast, they both remembered me from about a year ago and were asking how things were going.
Anyway, back to the competition. The top 3 bands get to perform in concert with Wynton Marsalis as their soloist, and get a bunch of cash for their program. The rest get to sit in the audience and get some small amount of $$$. We were in the audience for the final performance.
Give us a break, we're a public school, and we were up against "Conservatories of Music" and "Schools for the Fine Arts" and whatnot. We never stood a chance, but it was cool.
Anyway, in a nutshell, I got to hang (and play) with some of the best jazz musicians on the planet, and performed in a humungous hall in the middle of Manhattan to a sold out crowd. What a thrill!
Last few days (Thursday-Tuesday Night) I was in New York City with a jazz band I play in at my school. Not to get egotistic, but it's a really good group, I love playing in it. Back in January we auditioned for a festival run by Jazz at Lincoln Center called "Essentially Ellington", described by critics as the "international superbowl for high school jazz bands." Basically, a few thousand bands receive music and info about the festival, a few hundred of those send in audition tapes. Judges pick the top 15 bands and send 'em to Manhattan for a few days. We were one of the 15.
So, I've spent the last few days having workshops and rehearsals in Juilliard, bumpin' around Manhattan and seeing the sights, playing jam sessions with members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, meeting Wynton Marsalis, and performing in the final competition in Avery Fisher Hall (where the New York Philharmonic performs). Wynton was one of our judges, along with Rufus Reid, David Berger, and Lorne Schoneberg (all big names in jazz these days). If you don't know who Wynton is, look him up, he's probably one of the most famous jazz musicians in the world. (And I got to talk to him and get my picture taken with him! Yay!). We went to a few jazz clubs, got to talk to Cedar Walton and his trio for a few (great musicians but not the nicest folks in the world). Talking to Marcus Printup and Wes "Warmdaddy" Andersen was a blast, they both remembered me from about a year ago and were asking how things were going.
Anyway, back to the competition. The top 3 bands get to perform in concert with Wynton Marsalis as their soloist, and get a bunch of cash for their program. The rest get to sit in the audience and get some small amount of $$$. We were in the audience for the final performance.
Give us a break, we're a public school, and we were up against "Conservatories of Music" and "Schools for the Fine Arts" and whatnot. We never stood a chance, but it was cool. Anyway, in a nutshell, I got to hang (and play) with some of the best jazz musicians on the planet, and performed in a humungous hall in the middle of Manhattan to a sold out crowd. What a thrill!
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