It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

Downer Grove South High School's Jazz Ensemble will participate in a jazz band competition and festival in New York City. The ensemble nudged out 95 similar groups across the county nationally to garner one of 15 spots in the 16^th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival May 12-14.

More than 1,500 high schools worldwide requested audition materials, of which 110 schools submitted audition tapes. Tapes were evaluated by members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which is directed by Wynton Marsalis, a Grammy Award-winning trumpet player.

In the coming months, a professional musician from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will come to South High to mentor and work with the student jazz musicians and prepare them for the festival. The jazz ensemble will then compete and participate in workshops and jam sessions during the three-day festival. The three top-placing bands will perform with Marsalis, who will be a guest soloist.

“Being accepted to this festival is akin to reaching the jazz performance summit for a high school jazz ensemble," said South High School Fine Arts Chair Glenn Williams. "This represents the pinnacle in performance proficiency for these student musicians."

Funding for the trip will be provided by student musicians and their families. Anyone wishing to help sponsor the jazz ensemble members may contact Williams.

Jazz at Lincoln Center created the festival in order to instill a broader understanding of Duke Ellington’s music and America's 20th-century musical heritage. The Essentially Ellington festival started during the 1995-96 school year to make Ellington's music accessible to as many high school musicians as possible and to support the development of their school's music programs.

“The improvement in the quality of the bands down through the years attests to the artistic substance of Duke Ellington's music,” Marsalis said in a prepared statement. “The enthusiasm and dedication of students, families, band directors, judges and alumni testify to the timeless American values that define this competition and festival.”

For more information about the festival and the Jazz at Lincoln Center, go to jalc.org.

For more information about South High School, go to csd99.org/south.