Comments on: Winners of Essentially Ellington 2008 played with Wynton and JLCO

By: Unbiased Observer

Unbiased Observer — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:44:50 +0000

It’s clear that garfield should have won. Everyone I was with agreed.

By: Dale R

Dale R — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:33:54 +0000

Uh oh…I won’t get into the arguing (I’m from the Connecticut band) but it was a great competition, it made me a much better player, and I can’t wait for next year.

By: Brittany anjou

Brittany anjou — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:44:26 +0000

Good good good good good. Brings back the good ol memories. keep it up roughriders!

By: Jazz mom

Jazz mom — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:35:51 +0000

I’d love to steer the high school music focus away from competition (even friendly rivalry) and more toward community building. I think Wynton and his crew reinforced this attitude shift this year. Wynton was especially supportive of our kids, encouraging them to continue pushing themselves toward Excellence. Although good things come from friendly competitiveness, even more reward comes from cultivating the rich community of next generation jazz-loving (music-loving) musicians.

I Especially Enjoyed hearing Wynton express the deeper values of what happens at the festival: spreading the love, connecting with like-minded individuals, supporting and learning from one another. If these kids go on to music careers, they’ll need each other. Even if they don’t, they’ll benefit more from the comeraderie they once felt with their peers and the generosity they expressed toward one another. Thank you, Wynton, for “spreading the love” through music, the most ephemeral of the arts.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:09:49 +0000

I don’t mean to speak for Berger, Marsalis, & the rest of them, but when it comes down to judging, the criteria is right there in the book. It’s all understood between them, what the experts agree is the standard. The scores get listed during or right after the performance. What’s there is and what’s missing isn’t. Then the tally… After the tally, the judges look and reassess to confirm the correctness of their assessment.

That’s the nature of competition. And this is a competition. It’s not an egalitarian thing; but, nonetheless, this does appear to be a democratic process.

(perhaps everyone should just have EE Overalls)

By: Jazz Fan

Jazz Fan — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:26:09 +0000

I meant In A Mellow Tone, not Jam-A-Ditty (although both bands played Jam-A-Ditty well).

By: Jazz Fan

Jazz Fan — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:25:27 +0000

As an unbiased observer of the competition, I would say I enjoyed Garfield slightly more than Roosevelt. While Roosevelt played exceptionally tight, I was blown away by the level of soloing on Garfield’s part, particularly on Jam-A-Ditty. I also loved Zubin Hensler’s friendly (and high-level) trumpet battle with Wynton. Bravo to all!

By: Pers. John Mitchell

Pers. John Mitchell — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:43:20 +0000

I agree with you Richard!!!

By: Richard Frank

Richard Frank — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:39:24 +0000

Just a thought. Instead of spending too much time on comparisons and judgement perhaps we should just applaud these young musicians for their dedication to the study of their instruments and their committment to jazz music and continuing its traditions. As a jazz educator from a small school in Ontario watching the final performances at the Lincoln Centre I was impressed with all three bands equally, enjoyed their musical contributions and made no judgements about which band or which soloist was better. What a waste of time and what a discredit to the amount of work that these musicians put in. Just a thought.

By: You need to get Ridd : Inkless Wells : Macleans.ca Blog Central

You need to get Ridd : Inkless Wells : Macleans.ca Blog Central — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:19:33 +0000

[…] high-school jazz musicians in America at the Essentially Ellington competition on the weekend and came away champions. Jeff Kula runs a fantastic jazz program at River East; a few years ago when I was out there for […]

By: adawg

adawg — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:10:54 +0000

You know Observer, that the soloists in Duke Ellington’s band generally played the same, pre-planned solos on Jam-A-Ditty. It seems to me that it is preferable to follow their example and play those same written solos well than to play improvisations that sound frantic and unmusical

By: observer

observer — Thu, 22 May 2008 03:20:32 +0000

Spack Spop- you’re right, roosevelt’s soloists were much better on Jam-A-Ditty, they showed how well they could play written solos. congratulations!

By: observer

observer — Thu, 22 May 2008 03:19:07 +0000

i can’t believe that a member of roosevelt’s band would say that garfield soloists play only blues licks and roosevelt’s soloists are better when roosevelt used about 6 soloists, none of whom won soloist awards and garfield won 3 including best overall. and their two section awards obviously show that garfield played cleanly not sloppily in comparison to their rivals at roosevelt.

By: Longtime Spectator

Longtime Spectator — Thu, 22 May 2008 03:05:57 +0000

In reference to James, it seems to me as if it was the same way it has been every year since I’ve been coming here. Roosevelt has a very tight ensemble and perhaps soloists who aren’t up to par with the Garfield soloists, and Garfield coming out with a set that brings the crowd up to its feet with amazing solos, but a little lacking in the ensemble. Personally, even though they’re both great, I find Garfield more crowd pleasing and would prefer listening to them, but I love hearing all the bands at the competition.

By: NANA AMO

NANA AMO — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:58:56 +0000

I wasn’t at the jazz clinic but I can imagine how awesome it was. I saw a similar event at the University of Minneapolis in 1995 with the great Wynton Marsalis in charge. Let all of us help keep Jazz alive!!!!

By: Pers. John Mitchell

Pers. John Mitchell — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:59:36 +0000

There’s no big difference between the 3 bands.
Congratulations to all of you guys!

We are proud of you and your way of playing music.

By: Brown

Brown — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:38:21 +0000

Of course the students are proud of their accomplishments! It is a testament to the caliber of this festival that people care enough to express their opinions as to which group “should have won” Placings aside, the music performed by these high school students in a fantastic venue in front of top-notch judges and a knowledgeable, enthusiastic and totally supportive audience was wonderful. I truly enjoyed each of the 15 bands.

It is inexcusable for comments such as Jack M’s to be accepted onto this website. Let’s keep it about the music at least! This is totally offensive.

Thanks to Wynton and the Jazz at Lincoln Center staff for an incredible festival…year after year.

By: Russell Blount

Russell Blount — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:19:26 +0000

I’m a part of the Garfield band, and just being able to play in New York with Wynton Marsalis kept a smile on my face the whole time.

No matter how close the decision was, and no matter who won, I’ll always remember the things I saw at Essentially Ellington. Hearing the JLCO, especially on “Jeep’s Blues” and “Single Petal of a Rose” left me in a daze.

Just looking forward to next year, and hoping its as good as this past one.

By: Pat Z

Pat Z — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:28:44 +0000

I played with Sun Prairie this weekend, and I thought all the bands out there were awesome. Placement out there dosent really matter, what is the difference? a Trophy and a little more money. I think just getting to play out there and really feeling the music is what matters. If you feel the music when you play and have a fun time doing it, you won.
I don’t know about you guys but I felt like all won out there.

By: James

James — Tue, 20 May 2008 07:31:55 +0000

thank you p little. as a spectator, the two were incredibly close. garfield’s blue serge was probably a tad better, roosevelt’s jam-a-ditty may have been a tad better, and both performed incredibly on their respective openers. Garfield’s soloists were slightly better, Roosevelt’s ensemble was slightly better ( a recurring theme). It was too close to call.