9 February 2011 by ben.

Roosevelt High School sent two bands to the Clark College Jazz Festival in Vancouver Washington on the 29th of January:  the Roosevelt Jazz Band (JB1), directed by Scott Brown, and Roosevelt Jazz Band 2 (JB2), directed by Stuart MacDonald.

Since JB2 performed at 10:40 and Vancouver was over three hours south of Seattle, the bus had to depart the high school in near darkness at 6:45 AM.  After a groggy and speedy trip down I-5 and straight Clark College, we checked into the festival and JB2 climbed the stairs to the warm up room.  They would perform just 20 minutes later.

JB 2’s set sounded strong and drew much applause, and they were invited to perform in the AAA finals that evening with the other top AAA bands.  After the lunch break, JB1 performed an inspired set and were also invited to perform in the finals that evening as one of the top AAAA bands.

A dinner break followed, with the bus taking us over the Columbia River to Portland’s Janzen Beach mall area.  Chaperons, students, and directors scattered in all directions on a quest for food.  After our return to Clark College just over an hour later, both bands warmed up and coincidentally played back to back in the finals, something that rarely happens.  The JB1 set included a crowd pleasing rendition of Every Day I Have the Blues featuring vocalists Eric Reiman and Katherine Stuber that totally energized the jazz loving audience.

Final results:  JB2 won 4th place honors in AAA and JB1 won the 1st place AAAA trophy.  In addition, the award for Sweepstakes Band (best band of festival) was awarded to Roosevelt’s JB1.  Next year, they will be the honorary band who will not compete and will perform the final set of the evening (as Garfield Jazz Band did this year).

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Roosevelt Jazz Band members accepting the AAAA 1st place trophy

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