Hitting a solid groove that would’ve made Duke Ellington himself smile, the Santa Maria High School Jazz Ensemble clinched first place, its second consecutive triumph, at the Jazz in Paradise II Competition in Goleta.
The Saints’ saxophone section also was chosen in the Outstanding category and Francisco Chicas won an Outstanding Soloist award during the festival that took place at Dos Pueblos High School on March 5.
“I’m not surprised that the kids played well,” Band Director Aaron Thomas said in a press release. “They’ve worked very hard this year, and they were ready to go on stage and show that. As far as winning first place, it was a very tough competition; the other two bands were also very good. I’m just proud and honored to be a part of it. I am very proud to be a Saint!”
Sixteen musicians played “Free For All” by Lennie Niehaus, “Pescados Frescos” by Armando Rivera, “That Warm Feeling” by Sammy Nestico, and “Critical Mass” by Jeff Jarvis. The pieces were up tempo swing style, Latin/montuno style, slow swing ballad style, and funk style respectively.
The judges included three university-level jazz educators, Chuck Wood (Santa Barbara City College), Gary Pratt (CSU Northridge), and Paul Rinzler (Cal Poly), as well as Bobby Rodriguez, a well-known Latin jazz trumpet player and professor at UCLA. After the performances, Rodriguez worked with the band for about 30 minutes, giving them some advice and playing tips.
This article appears in Mar 17-24, 2016.