Save The Dates! December 5th and December 6th
A priority for your December calendar should be Roosevelt High School’s production of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s “Jazz Nutcracker.”
Performances will be held at the Roosevelt High School Performing Arts Theater on Saturday, December 5th at 7:30 pm and Sunday, December 6th at 2 pm. Tickets are available here* at a cost of $15/adults and $12/youth, students and seniors.
*Ticket sales are closed.
We have our first jam session of the school year scheduled for Oct. 14!
The Roosevelt Jazz program will once again hold monthly jam sessions at the Stone Way Cafe. These sessions, which are held on the second Wednesday of the month, are a chance for the musicians to try playing in a combo and soloing in a supportive club setting. Musicians from all four groups are welcome. They should bring their instruments (except for rhythm section) and their Real Books. People will rotate in and out, depending upon who shows up on a given night. Michael Van Bebber is coordinating the session.
This year, jam sessions will have a new twist with regular guest mentor band, The Cantaloupes. Our first gathering will start on October 14 with The Cantaloupes playing from 6:30 to 7:30 followed by the jam session from 7:30 to 9:30.
Additionally the Cantaloupes will be playing on Oct 28th at 7:30. RHS students are welcome to play too.
We plan on continuing having twice monthly sessions on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. Please come on out!
Stone Way Cafe, http://www.stonewaycafe.com/
3510 Stone Way North
Seattle, WA 98103
206-420-4435
Girls Jazz Day is an annual free one day workshop open to all girl musicians and jazz vocalists in middle or high school who want to improve jazz musicianship, soloing and improvisation. Click here for more information or to register.
Date: Saturday, September 19th, 2015
Schedule: 10:00AM to 4:00PM, check in begins at 9:30AM
Location: Cornish College of the Arts on Capitol Hill, 710 E Roy St.
Cost: Girls Jazz Day is free. There is an optional, suggested donation of $30 to help cover the costs for families who can afford it. Make your donation through our Girls Jazz Day Power2Give campaign before September 19th and your donation will be matched dollar for dollar (so $30 becomes $60 instantly). Your donation is 100% tax deductible. Click here!
This year Jazz Band 1 is honored to play with the Seattle Symphony as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival on October 29th at 7:30. Tickets are on sale now.
SONIC EVOLUTION: UNDER THE INFLUENCE
What does the evocative work of African American painter Jacob Lawrence have to do with jazz, have to do with the Seattle Symphony, have to do with the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band? It’s all about influences.
Jacob Lawrence, a longtime professor at the University of Washington, created a body of work called The Migration Series depicting the Great Migration of African Americans out of the South. Derek Bermel, a noted composer and clarinetist, saw Lawrence’s work and wrote a piece that was hailed by The New York Times as “riveting” and “wondrous.” Now, add the performers, acclaimed Roosevelt High School Jazz Band and the Seattle Symphony, and you have the cornerstone work for this Sonic Evolution.
More influencing: the renowned jazz guitarist and Seattle transplant Bill Frisell takes on a new work by the prolific jazz pianist and composer Wayne Horvitz and Seattle-born vocalist Shaprece closes with new orchestral arrangements of her soulful blend of modern jazz, R&B and electronica.
TICKETS: BUY NOW
We are very excited to welcome Michael Van Bebber as our JB2/3 director!
Michael was raised in Seattle, and graduated from the University of Washington before going on to earn two M.A. degrees in classical trumpet and composition at Truman State University, and a D.M.A. in Jazz Studies from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He performed many years as a member of the renowned Eastman Jazz Ensemble, and has shared the stage with many notable jazz artists including Lee Konitz, John Pizzarelli, the Woody Herman Band, Walt Weiskopf, Chuck Mangione, Jeff Beal, Walter White, John Fedchock, Pat LaBarbara, Marvin Stamm, and Bill Dobbins. He has also appeared several times at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, in both quintet and big band settings.
Michael is a member of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. As a composer, he has earned several prestigious awards in composition, including the 2004 MACRO Composition/Theory Award, the 2005 CBDNA Wind Ensemble National Composition Competition, the 2005 College Music Society’s International Composition Competition. Michael has been the director of the Junior Jazz Band at Washington Middle School, the Director of Bands at Liberty High School and the interim director for JB2 last year. Michael is currently on the faculty of Northwest school.