FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 20, 2011 SWING CENTRAL JAZZ ANNOUNCES TWELVE HIGH SCHOOL BIG BANDS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN 2012 SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL Savannah, Georgia – Twelve of the nation’s top high school jazz bands have been selected to participate in the seventh annual SWING CENTRAL JAZZ High School Jazz Band Competition & Workshop, an event produced by the Savannah Music Festival. Pianist/composer Marcus Roberts leads a group of 19 esteemed musicians/educators as the Associate Artistic Director, along with Associate Director Jim Ketch, trumpet player and Director of Jazz Studies at UNC Chapel Hill. Participating students work with jazz masters across three days, perform in showcases on Savannah’s River Street, play in competition rounds, and attend a variety of SMF performances during their stay, which takes place from March 28 through 30, 2012. “Through off-season development of our curriculum and increased content on our web-based learning center at swingcentraljazz.org, our jazz education programs continue to grow,” remarks SMF Executive & Artistic Director Rob Gibson. “We are committed to the concept that nothing does more for jazz than the mentoring of young adults by worldclass musicians.” In 2012, the nationally recognized SWING CENTRAL JAZZ program features the following bands going head-to-head for $13,000 in cash awards: Advanced Jazz Band from Battle Ground High (Battle Ground, WA) Agoura High School Studio Jazz from Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, CA) Champaign Central H.S. Jazz Ensemble from Champaign Central High School (Champaign, IL) Champaign Central H.S. Stage Band from Champaign Central High School (Champaign, IL) Dillard Center for the Arts Jazz Ensemble from Dillard High School (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Hume Fogg Silver Jazz Band from Hume Fogg Academic High School (Nashville, TN) Leon High School Jazz Ensemble 1 from Leon High School (Tallahassee, FL) Lower Moreland H.S. Jazz Ensemble from Lower Moreland High School (Huntingdon Valley, PA) Mount Si H.S. Jazz Band 1 from Mount Si High School (Snoqualmie, WA) Newport H.S. Jazz 1 from Newport High School (Bellevue, WA) Temple H.S. Highlighters from Temple High School (Temple, TX) The Lovett School Jazz Ensemble from The Lovett School (Atlanta, GA) The 2011 SWING CENTRAL JAZZ clinician team includes: Trumpets Jim Ketch Sean Jones Terell Stafford Saxophones Jeff Clayton Bill Kennedy Jack Wilkins
Trombones Wycliffe Gordon Ron Westray Paul McKee Guitar Dave Stryker Drums Jason Marsalis Leon Anderson Herlin Riley
Bass Rodney Whitaker Rodney Jordan Jeffry Eckels Piano Marcus Roberts Bill Peterson Aaron Diehl Kevin Bales
As part of SWING CENTRAL JAZZ, each participating band receives a visit from a SWING CENTRAL clinician in February to help them prepare for the event. On March 29, all bands perform in public showcases at Rousakis Plaza on River Street. On March 30, select combos perform on Reynolds Square. Competition rounds take place all day on March 30 at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts, and are webcasted for family and friends who aren’t able to make the trip to Savannah. Each band plays three selections: “Grease Bucket” Composed and arr. by Wycliffe Gordon, “Sweet Georgia Brown” arr. by Sammy Nestico for the Count Basie Orchestra, and “Conservation” by Bobby Watson.
The three top-scoring bands each receive an honorarium ($5000 for first, $2500 for second and $1000 for third place) and perform the opening set at the SMF production Swingin’ & Wailin’ (featuring SCJ clinicians) at 7:00 p.m. that night. Other competitors receive a $500 travel stipend. SWING CENTRAL JAZZ!is sponsored by Wet Willie’s Management Corp. and Bob & Jean Faircloth. Additional support for finale concert is by Rus & Jan Boekenheide, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the D’Addario Music Foundation. ABOUT SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL The Savannah Music Festival presents a world-class celebration of the musical arts by creating timeless and adventurous productions that stimulate arts education, foster economic growth, and unite artists and audiences in Savannah, Georgia. The 2012 festival runs from March 22 through April 7, including more than 100 performances of world-class jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass, gospel and other genres of American and international roots music in intimate venues throughout the historic district of Savannah. For more information, visit http://www.savannahmusicfestival.org. MEDIA CONTACT: RYAN MCMAKEN at 912.234.3378 x104 or ryan@savannahmusicfestival.org ###