The Jazz A band has recently submitted its application for the Duke Ellington Festival in New York. Terell Stafford (below), a world-renowned musician and professional trumpet player, set up multiple workshops for the jazz bands in January to help them prepare for the festival. The band began prepare for the competition in early November.
“The Duke Ellington Festival is looking for bands that swing really hard, that understand and respect the history of music and that have practiced the music enough so that it sounds polished and pristine,” said Stafford. “The CHS band practices diligently and has [immense] commitment to the music they love, which will take them to the next level.”
The festival is more formal than the competitions that the jazz band has previously attended. At this festival, the bands will choose music from the selected repertoire of the Duke Ellington compositions; however, many of the CHS students usually do not perform this style of music. As a result, the CHS Jazz band has been intensely practicing the difficult techniques of the music, and Stafford has greatly helped with the process.
“The [major difference] this year is that we [had]Staffordwork with the band,” said Music Director Joshua Barroll. “He not only brought his great musicianship, but he also [acted] as a complete inspiration. After the students worked with him, they felt better about their playing and about the band as a whole.”
The workshops with Stafford took place on Jan. 20 and 21 in the CHS band room. Stafford spoke to the musicians about rhythm, technique and the language of Ellington. He also taught the concepts of timing and togetherness that will be necessary for the festival.
“[Stafford] brought a great energy to our band and really pushed us to strive to play our best,” said junior trumpet player Courtney Kelsberg. “Since he is such an incredible musician, we as a band wanted to reach his expectations.”
On Jan. 21, the Jazz A band also performed a concert withStafford. The experience of playing alongside him helped to further motivate them to improve. The day after the concert, the band recorded their audition tape for the festival.
“I hope the band was able to learn strong listening skills and to take the feeling of the blues and be able to [apply it] in everything they play,” said Stafford. “I hope they find out that it is more essential to have fun and to celebrate the opportunity to share their talent.”
In late February, Jazz A band will find out whether or not they were accepted into the festival.