DHS Jazz Band Enters 87.7FM Battle of the High School Jazz Bands!

So I got a bunch of emails and phone calls from Chicago's Smooth 87.7FM, the new smooth jazz station in town, about a competition they are having for local jazz bands. It's co-sponsored by Roosevelt University and U.S. Cellular, and the top four bands get to perform live at Roosevelt in November for the grand prize. As a last minute decision, we decided to make a hasty entry on a piece that we've been arranging for the concert on the 8th. It's a great McCoy Tyner piece called "Contemplation," and we brainstormed a number of ideas about how to do it. Based on student input, I wrote up some voicings, passed them out this morning, and we got it into shape as quickly as possible. The recording is rough, but I'm hoping the judges hear that we are doing some sophisticated work. Who knows, maybe we'll get to go downtown and compete?

The entry process taxed my technical skills! I had to record the group on my Yamaha Pocketrak 2G, download it to my computer, and edit the soundfile. Next, I had to create a YouTube account, something which I had never done. Then I had to find a service that help me create a video from the mp3 audio file and a single screenshot with the band name and title of the piece. Once it was posted on YouTube, I completed our entry by sending in the url of our video. An hour and a half later, we were up and running.

Wish us luck!