Roosevelt Jazz Band Wins Essentially Ellington

Great news from NYC - the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band has once again won top place in the Essentially Ellington Jazz contest.  This is the fourth time that RHS Jazz has won which ties with Garfield High School's four wins.  No other schools in the country can match these records.

Congratulations to both Roosevelt and Garfield for their inspired work. 

From the Times:

No Seattle band had taken first place at the competition since Garfield High School won in 2010. Since then, local bands had consistently made the finals, with Roosevelt netting third in 2013 and second in 2011 and 2012, but fell short of grasping the brass ring.

Started by Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1996 and opened to the West Coast in 1999, Essentially Ellington is the most prestigious competition in high school jazz. Fifteen bands compete each year, with Garfield High School and Snoqualmie’s Mount Si High School joining Roosevelt in making the cut this year, from a field of 112 bands across the country. 

In addition to Roosevelt’s victory, “outstanding” citations went to eight local soloists. From Roosevelt: Will Knight and Carter Eng, trumpet; George Fulton, tenor saxophone; Nick Altemeier, baritone saxophone; Eli Sullivan, “doubler” on soprano and saxophone; Elise Toney, trombone. From Garfield: Aidan Siemann tenor saxophone; Tyler Feldman, guitar.

Four band sections were also deemed outstanding: Roosevelt for brass, trombone and trumpet; Garfield, for trombone.

To note, this achievement was put up at a Facebook page and one person pointed out that in the photo, there were no black students in the Roosevelt photos.  There are also none in the Garfield photos.  I pointed out this story from the Times in 2003.

Many black students have been priced out, or are opting out, of an art form that has its roots in African-American culture.

In the past, hip-hop kids like Maxie and Clark might have been playing jazz — a popular, rebellious, oral tradition performed by community-tutored musicians in black neighborhoods. Today, jazz is an American classical music, accounting for less than 2 percent of total U.S. record sales.

The majority of the district's black students are from low-income families who can't afford private music lessons. And music has become an expensive luxury at budget-strapped public schools forced to cut programs and staff. Some also say jazz no longer appeals to young black students, that hip-hop is a much more powerful draw.

Clarence Acox, black director of the Garfield jazz band, which made the Ellington finals again this year, says cuts in elementary-school music instruction mean low-income kids never get a chance to start.

"The top jazz musicians in high schools didn't start out as jazz musicians," agrees Roosevelt band director Scott Brown. "They started out learning band instruments in elementary school."

So I would venture that it's less about hip hop being more accessible to black students and probably more about lack of opportunity to start early.

That was in 2003 and I note that both the Roosevelt High music director, Scott Brown, and the Garfield High music director, Clarence Acox, are STILL working hard for excellence in these jazz bands.   But SPS gives very little to support these bands and it's the hard work of parents and boosters that sustains them.  Both high schools have jazz booster clubs that provide scholarships for travel to events. 

It is sad that there are two great jazz bands in two different high schools and yet the district has done little to diversify who is in them.  What about equity?