Wisconsin band wins third in Ellington competition
By The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Two high school jazz bands from Seattle took home the top honors in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 13th Annual Essentially Ellington competition that culminated with a Saturday night concert where they performed with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis as guest soloist.

Marsalis, JALC’s artistic director, presented the first-place trophy to Scott Brown, director of the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band, during the awards ceremony and concert at Avery Fisher Hall.
Seattle’s Garfield High School Jazz Band took second place, but it boasted the winner of the Outstanding Soloist Award in clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Carl Majeau.

The third-place trophy went to the Sun Prairie High School Jazz Band from Wisconsin.

The winners were chosen by a panel of judges, including Marsalis and clarinetist-saxophonist Bob Wilber, from among 15 bands from the U.S. and Canada invited to New York to take part in the three-day finals that also included workshops and jam sessions with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

For the competition, JALC selects and transcribes original arrangements of Duke Ellington compositions, which this year were sent to more than 900 high schools. A total of 82 bands entered the competition.

This year, participating bands had a choice of six Ellington compositions to perform, including “Blue Serge,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “The Mooche,” and “Theme from ‘The Asphalt Jungle.“’

At Saturday night’s concert, the JALC orchestra performed compositions chosen for next year’s competition that for the first time will feature not only Ellington works but also tunes by Benny Carter, including “Symphony in Riffs” and “Movin’ Uptown.”

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