South HS Jazz at the 2013 IMEC All-State

South High School Jazz was well represented at the 2013 IMEC in Peoria, Illinois.  Sender school Lakeview Junior High School performed to a capacity crowd on Thursday night, featuring Lakeview and South HS alum Michael Ruth.  Senior Ian Williams performed on the Jazz Concert on Friday night with the All-State Honors Combo, directed by Dana Hall.  Making All-State as a pianist is a high honor in Illinois as only 5 performers are accepted.  Ian's performance prowess was acknowledged further as a member of the combo, a spot typically reserved for the most proficient performer on jazz piano.  As a jazz musician, it was a great week to be a Mustang!

South HS Jazz 2013 Purdue Jazz Festival Highlight Reel

Enjoy these highlights from Jazz Lab Band and the Combo from the 2013 Purdue University Jazz Festival.

South HS Jazz at the 2013 Purdue Jazz Festival

39 Mustang jazz musicians performing in two big bands and one combo traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana this weekend to participate in the 2013 Purdue Jazz Festival.   Performing for adjudicator feedback and competing against over 75 other ensembles from around the midwest, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab, and the Combo all earned Division I ratings with scores averaging in the 90's.

The South HS Combo earned an Outstanding Performance award from the judging panel, putting them second place in their room for the day.  In the combo, seniors Julia Wood (bass) and Michal Witek (guitar) earned special praise from the adjudication panel in the combo room, each earning a 1/2 scholarship to the Western Illinois University Jazz Camp in Macomb, Illinois for their outstanding musicianship during the combo performance.  

Additionally, 18 Mustang jazz musicians earned a total of 23 outstanding musician/soloist awards, given by the panel of adjudicators for solo or ensemble performances that are exceptional:

Morgan Baade, baritone saxophone
Lee Biederman, baritone saxophone
Chris David, alto saxophone
Marjorie Fera, trumpet
Sean Hux, tenor saxophone (2)
Tommy Leinart, piano
Bridget Moroney, clarinet/tenor saxophone
Joe Perillo, drums
Chris Plantz, drums
John Shimanek, trumpet
Christian Siki, alto saxophone (2)
Danny Tedeschi, trombone
Michael Tegeler, trombone
James Weiss, tenor saxophone
Ian Williams, piano (2)
Julia Wood, bass (2)
Michal Witek, guitar (2)
Kat Woltman, bass

"We are proud of these students musicians and their continued commitment to jazz performance excellence." said director Glenn Williams.  "The ensemble excellence and vast student soloist recognition is earned only through the hard work of the players in the ensembles."

South HS Jazz Ensemble 2013 Jazz Cafe Highlight Reel

Enjoy this sonic highlight reel for the South HS Jazz Ensemble from the 2013 Jazz Cafe.

2013 Jazz Cafe

Seven jazz ensembles from 5 different schools featuring more than 160 student jazz musicians performed to a capacity crowd in the cafetorium tonight for the 2013 Jazz Cafe.  Special congratulations to the future Mustang Musicians from the sender schools of Eisenhower Junior High School, Jefferson Junior High School, Lakeview Junior High School and O'Neill Middle School for their fabulous performances this evening.  If the performances tonight are any indication, the sonic future is very bright indeed for jazz at South High School in Downers Grove.

South HS Jazz Ensemble in the news....

Enjoy this great article/story about the South High School Jazz Ensemble participating in the Swing Central Festival at the the Savannah Music Festival.

Triblocal post about South HS Jazz Ensemble

South HS Jazz Ensemble selected to participate in 2013 Swing Central Festival

The 2012-2013 South HS Jazz Ensemble, Craig Roselieb, director

Savannah, Georgia – Twelve of the nation’s top high school jazz bands have been selected to participate in the eighth annual SWING CENTRAL JAZZ High School Jazz Band Competition & Workshop, an event produced by the Savannah Music Festival (SMF). Pianist/composer Marcus Roberts leads a group of 19 esteemed musicians/educators as the Associate Artistic Director, along with Associate Director Jim Ketch, trumpet player and Director of Jazz Studies at UNC Chapel Hill.

Participating students work with jazz masters across three days, perform in showcases on Savannah’s River Street, play in competition rounds, and attend a variety of SMF performances during their stay, which takes place from March 27 through 29, 2013. “It was difficult process to select our twelve high school bands from a very strong group of applicants. We look forward to hosting talented young musicians from as far away as California while welcoming first-time participants from the Savannah Arts Academy,” remarks Associate Artistic Director Marcus Roberts. “We will have a great group of world-class musicians working with these bands in team settings during the festival. I’m looking forward to it.”

In 2013, the nationally recognized SWING CENTRAL JAZZ program features the following bands going head-to-head for $13,000 in cash awards:

Agoura High School Studio Jazz Band from Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, CA) 

Agoura High School Jazz “A” from Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, CA) 

Charleston School of the Arts Jazz from Charleston School of the Arts (Charleston, SC)

Camden Creative Arts Jazz Band from Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy (Camden, NJ)

Denver School of the Arts Jazz Workshop Orchestra from Denver School of the Arts (Denver, CO) 

Downers Grove South High School Jazz Ensemble from Downers Grove South High School (Downers Grove, IL) 

Grissom High School “A” Jazz Band from Grissom High School (Huntsville, AL)

Lower Moreland High School Jazz Ensemble from Lower Moreland High School (Huntingdon Valley, PA) 

Overton High School Blue Jazz Ensemble from Overton High School (Memphis, TN)

Savannah Arts Academy Jazz Band One from Savannah Arts Academy (Savannah, GA) 

Tarpon Springs High School Jazz Ensemble I from Tarpon Springs High School (Tarpon Springs, FL)

The Lovett School Jazz Ensemble from The Lovett School (Atlanta, GA) 

The 2013 SWING CENTRAL JAZZ clinician team includes:

Trumpets

Jim Ketch, Marcus Printup, Terell Stafford 

Saxophones 

Bill Kennedy, Stephen Riley, Jack Wilkins

Trombones

Wycliffe Gordon, Ron Westray, Paul McKee 

Guitar

Dave Stryker

Drums

Jason Marsalis, Leon Anderson, Herlin Riley

Bass

Carlos Henriquez , Rodney Jordan,  Rodney Whitaker 

Piano

Marcus Roberts,  Aaron Diehl, Dan Nimmer, Bill Peterson

As part of SWING CENTRAL JAZZ, each participating band receives a visit from a clinician in February to help them prepare for the event. On March 28, all bands perform in public showcases at Rousakis Plaza on River Street. On March 29, select combos perform on Reynolds Square. Competition rounds take place all day on March 29 at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts, and are webcasted for family and friends who aren’t able to make the trip to Savannah. Each band plays three selections: “Billie’s Bounce” composed by Charlie Parker and arr. by clinician Paul McKee, “Such Sweet Thunder” composed by Duke Ellington and arr. by Billy Strayhorn and “Oh!” composed and arr. by Ernie Watkins.The three top-scoring bands each receive an honorarium and vie for the coveted Faircloth Award ($5000 for first, $2500 for second and $1000 for third place) and perform the opening set at the SMF production “Saxophone Summit” (featuring Ted Nash, Charles McPherson, Walter Blanding, Joe Temperley and many others) at 7:00 p.m. that night. Other competitors receive a $500 travel stipend.

SWING CENTRAL JAZZ is sponsored by Wet Willie’s Management Corp. and Bob & Jean Faircloth, and in part by Garibaldi’s Café. Additional support for finale concert is by Rus & Jan Boekenheide and Georgia Public Broadcasting, and is also shared by Mr. & Mrs. W. Mack Webner.

ABOUT SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL 

The Savannah Music Festival presents a world-class celebration of the musical arts by creating timeless and adventurous productions that stimulate arts education, foster economic growth, and unite artists and audiences in Savannah, Georgia. The 2013 festival runs from March 20 through April 6, including more than 100 performances of world-class jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass, gospel and other genres of American and international roots music in intimate venues throughout the historic district of Savannah. For more information, visit http://www.savannahmusicfestival.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: RYAN MCMAKEN at 912.234.3378 x104 or ryan@savannahmusicfestival.org