2008 Woodie Awards
A jazzy weekend in the Windy City
Brian Heinemann
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: A&E
The Kirkwood Community College Jazz Ensemble brought a diverse repertoire as they took their music to several Iowa high schools and the city of Chicago Feb. 22-24.
The group made their annual trip to Chicago, performing at the 41st annual Elmhurst Jazz Festival at Elmhurst College and touring at Iowa high schools on the way.
The trip started with "warm up" shows at the Cascade and Western Dubuque high schools on Friday. The band played eight selections at each high school, the first four of which were played in Chicago for the festival as well.
Ranging from blues to swing to Latin and vocal tunes, the band, directed by Tim Feldkamp, played with precision and worked out any last minute kinks to polish their performance just in time for the Saturday afternoon slot at Elmhurst.
The Elmhurst Jazz Festival is an invite-only affair and this year the Kirkwood jazz group was one of just four community colleges invited. Kirkwood has been a mainstay at the festival for the better part of two decades now, performing yearly alongside major colleges.
This year featured 36 four-year universities, with music schools such as Columbia and Millikin along with jazz bands from Purdue University, the University of Illinois, Michigan State University, the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Dayton and many others.
Several Kirkwood students took home awards. Two vocal tunes featuring Laura Seibert were met by rave reviews from the judges and won Seibert a soloist award. A bass feature titled "Broadbottom" earned bassist Keegan Barker a soloist award and an up-tempo swing tune titled "Airegin" was called the best song of the bunch by one of the judges.
Each year a panel of famous jazz musicians are selected to judge the contest . This year Kirkwood and the other schools in attendance were treated to a clinic and critiques from Dennis Mackrel on the drums, Gary Smulyan on the baritone saxophone and Jiggs Whigham on trombone. The three not only judged three days worth of music from the 40 colleges but also performed as a group on Friday and held a one-hour clinic on Saturday.
It was not all just about the performance for Kirkwood though. The KCC group was also treated to a four-hour concert Saturday night that featured three of the best college bands along with the Mingus Big Band and was able to view performances by several other premier universities.
The jazz ensemble can now take what they learned while in the Windy City and apply it in preparation for their final concert of the 2007-2008 school year.
The Instrumental Jazz Festival takes place Saturday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. and will feature guest artist Carl Saunders on the trumpet.
The group made their annual trip to Chicago, performing at the 41st annual Elmhurst Jazz Festival at Elmhurst College and touring at Iowa high schools on the way.
The trip started with "warm up" shows at the Cascade and Western Dubuque high schools on Friday. The band played eight selections at each high school, the first four of which were played in Chicago for the festival as well.
Ranging from blues to swing to Latin and vocal tunes, the band, directed by Tim Feldkamp, played with precision and worked out any last minute kinks to polish their performance just in time for the Saturday afternoon slot at Elmhurst.
The Elmhurst Jazz Festival is an invite-only affair and this year the Kirkwood jazz group was one of just four community colleges invited. Kirkwood has been a mainstay at the festival for the better part of two decades now, performing yearly alongside major colleges.
This year featured 36 four-year universities, with music schools such as Columbia and Millikin along with jazz bands from Purdue University, the University of Illinois, Michigan State University, the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Dayton and many others.
Several Kirkwood students took home awards. Two vocal tunes featuring Laura Seibert were met by rave reviews from the judges and won Seibert a soloist award. A bass feature titled "Broadbottom" earned bassist Keegan Barker a soloist award and an up-tempo swing tune titled "Airegin" was called the best song of the bunch by one of the judges.
Each year a panel of famous jazz musicians are selected to judge the contest . This year Kirkwood and the other schools in attendance were treated to a clinic and critiques from Dennis Mackrel on the drums, Gary Smulyan on the baritone saxophone and Jiggs Whigham on trombone. The three not only judged three days worth of music from the 40 colleges but also performed as a group on Friday and held a one-hour clinic on Saturday.
It was not all just about the performance for Kirkwood though. The KCC group was also treated to a four-hour concert Saturday night that featured three of the best college bands along with the Mingus Big Band and was able to view performances by several other premier universities.
The jazz ensemble can now take what they learned while in the Windy City and apply it in preparation for their final concert of the 2007-2008 school year.
The Instrumental Jazz Festival takes place Saturday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. and will feature guest artist Carl Saunders on the trumpet.
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