The 2015-2016 Jazz Band recently had the privilege of performing at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival. The challenging and wonderful piece, entitled The Migration Series, written by composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel, was played by this class of high school students with the skill and finesse of a well practiced professional ensemble.
Their next public performance is The Nutcracker Suite by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, a 1960’s take on Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. The Roosevelt Jazz Band is one of the few bands in the United States to have the score. Ellington reworked Tchaikovsky’s tunes into swinging versions; ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ becomes ‘Sugar Rum Cherry’ and ‘Arabian Dance’ is now ‘Arabesque Cookie.
