Last Thursday the MV Jazz Band competed at UNI Tallcorn Festival. The band performed at 9:30 and had a clinic after. Mr. Ford says, “I thought we played really well. We received good feedback from the judges. Overall, we just have the fine details to work on. It was good to hear from the judges about how we can improve, especially on those finer details.”
Seniors Jake Gellersen and Jesus Rumbo both agree that the band showed a lot of improvement. After lunch, the band was able to watch other competing jazz bands and UNI Jazz Band 1 with guest guitarists Mike and Leni Stern.
Later in the day, outstanding soloists were recognized. Maya Smith, trombone, earned one of those nods.
Yesterday, the MV Jazz Band traveled to Coe College to compete at the Coe College Jazz Summit. They performed their three tunes at 12.
Mr. Ford noted he felt optimistic about the performance: “I thought it went really well. We played better than last week and received good feedback from our clinician and judges. Using the feedback we got from UNI, we were able to make some small changes before Coe that elevated our performance today.”
Josie Teymer, who plays the bari sax, said, “I think it went very well. All of the soloists were very good, especially since they had to overcome some differences from what we usually do. The clinicians were very helpful for us and gave some good insight. There’s always room for improvement, though.”
You can catch the jazz band at home next Friday at MV’s Got Talent.