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Join us for Fall Jazz Night on Nov. 6th at Roosevelt High School. The first concert of the season features our vocalists and musicians from our four award-winning jazz ensembles. Poster artwork created by RHS student Clara Nickels. She received service hours for her work. The event is free and open to the public. 7:30 p.m., RHS Theatre, 1410 NE 66th St, Seattle, WA 98115

Program Information and Audition Registration is now available.

Vocal Jazz will meet Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings under the direction of Ms. Rebecca Woodbury, sponsored by Roosevelt Jazz Boosters.

Thursday, September 5 – Optional Meet the Director & Info Session
All interested students are invited to the orchestra room at 7:30am to meet Ms. Woodbury, talk through the audition process, and get excited about the year ahead for vocal jazz. All returning and incoming students are encouraged to attend!

Roosevelt Jazz musicians were joined by students from other Seattle-area schools for a hands-on lesson on jamming taught by Seattle-area musician Steve Treseler at The Sheridan Market on Aug. 18.

Listen to the students play “Funky Girl”

by Akiko Tsuruga, the final song of a jam-packed two hours of tunes and good times for the more than 20 students who turned out to learn how to play music by ear. Here’s the original “Funky Girl.”

Hosted by the Roosevelt Jazz Booster Club and The Sheridan Market, our jam was a learning opportunity and fundraiser for the Roosevelt High School jazz program. Steve is a saxophonist, composer, teaching artist and author who performs and leads improvisation workshops throughout North America and internationally.

“Jazz is social music, and the most authentic jazz experience is a jam session,” Steve told the crowd at the Sheridan Roadhouse. “Winning trophies is fun, but jamming, hanging, learning, and meeting new friends is what it’s all about.”

More than $250 was raised at the Roadhouse Jam. Our goal is to raise $350, which will pay for event costs AND a 90-minute clinic with a professional musician for one of our four ensembles during the school year. Help us reach our goal by donating today!

Roosevelt Jazz receives the majority of its financial support from the Roosevelt Jazz Booster Club. Boosters are Roosevelt High School families, friends and neighbors, alumni, small businesses, and lovers of jazz everywhere who help us support a public-school jazz education of the highest quality and make it accessible to students regardless of financial circumstance. Thank you for making this possible!

Through the collection of annual student dues, family and business donations, and money earned through events like the Roadhouse Jam, the booster club pays for three directors, as well as provides a stipend to the teacher of our in-school ensemble. Boosters also pay for ALL clinician workshops, an annual retreat, festival preparation, music charts, instrument upkeep, and offers scholarships.

The booster club is grateful to the ongoing support from The Sheridan Market and Roadhouse and its co-owners Ernesto Pediangco and Paula Goode.

We want to send a shout-out to Ernesto, who joined our students on the drums for a song or two, and our recent Roosevelt Jazz alumni–Jack Hawley (‘24, trumpet, voice) and Alex Phelps (‘24, trombone, piano)–who came out to support younger musicians, as well as our jam organizers, Booster Gretchen Ludwig and Roosevelt Jazz student Sky Van Scoyoc.

And a final and special thanks to all the students and their families who joined us from schools including, Chief Sealth, Eckstein, Garfield, Jane Addams, Lincoln, as well as students from Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace and Woodinville, for jamming, hanging, learning, and making new friends. Because, like Steve Treseler said, it’s what jazz is truly all about!

We are excited to announce that audition information and registration is updated and available. All students who wish to audition are asked to submit the online registration form, prepare the items described, and mark their calendars for the day appropriate to their section. Roosevelt Jazz is thrilled to carry on the tradition of high-caliber jazz education for students who are committed to learning!

Attention Roosevelt Jazz families! You have until Friday, March 22nd to order album
covers of your favorite Roosevelt Jazz musician! Here are your options:

First album cover: $60

Add-ons:

• Electronic file and one additional cover: $75
• Additional covers: $25 each

Place your order here

Custom album covers of Roosevelt Jazz musicians will be created for those who purchase
them. Here are some examples:

The custom covers are an exploration of jazz’s influence on modern art, and a tribute to
the visionary artists, designers and photographers who helped shape our collective
understanding and appreciation of the music. It’s also a celebration of our hardworking
students! With these albums we hope to encourage their commitment to and love for
jazz by connecting them to its visual heritage.

In the mid-1950s, graphic artists like Reid Miles and Andy Warhol, photographers like
Francis Wolff, and painters like Prophet Jennings were translating jazz into a visual
language. The vinyl record and its sleeve became a multifaceted, interactive piece of art
a teenager could afford. Fans replayed the vinyl, re-read the liner notes, and studied the
photographs in order to emulate the musician in style and attitude. Our decision over
which 12 albums we would pay tribute to was based on a sleeve’s dynamic use of
typography, arresting photographic imagery, modular design, and creative color choice.