On Sunday, February 17th, competition finalists gathered to honor the memory and music of Charles Mingus. Each band gave a commendable performance and displayed incredible heart and dedication. Adjudicators considered rhythm, improvisation, interpretation, musicianship, and “Mingus Spirit” in their evaluations.
2013 Mingus Awards
Best Big Band
Non-specialized: Boston Latin School Big Band
Specialized: SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra
Best Combo
Non-Specialized: Rio Americano Minguys Jazz Combo
Specialized: SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Combo
Mingus Spirit Award
Batterman Ensemble, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
Outstanding Combo Arrangement
O.P. & Nostalgia in Times Square: Coleman Hughes, Newark Academy Combo
Outstanding Sections
Sax Section – Lexington High School Big Band
Sax Section – Tulsa Jam’bassadors All-City Band
Outstanding Soloists
Alexa Dumont – Bass – Foxboro High School
Noah Harrington – Bass – Lexington High School
Logan Kane – Bass – SFJAZZ
Kanoa Mendenhall – Bass – SFJAZZ
Jonathan Haywood – Drums – Tulsa Jam’bassadors All-City Band
Garrett Parrish – Drums – Lexington High School
Elena Pinderhughes – Flute – SFJAZZ
Scott Veilleux – Guitar – Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts
Joey Cozza – Piano – Rio Americano Minguys Jazz Combo
Peter Garofolo – Piano – Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
Kaze Mauser – Piano – Tulsa Jam’bassadors All-City Band
Julius Rodriguez – Piano – MSM Precollege
Sam Hart – Saxophone – MSM Precollege
Julian Lee – Saxophone – MSM Precollege
Emery Mesich – Saxophone – Rio Americano Minguys Jazz Combo
Nathan Rice – Saxophone – Newark Academy
Coleman Hughes – Trombone – Newark Academy
Willens Jean-Jules – Trumpet – Boston Latin School
Andrew Stephens – Trumpet – Rio Americano Minguys Jazz Combo
Liam Werner – Trumpet – MSM Precollege
FINALISTS:
Rio Americano Minguys Combo
Foxboro High School Jazz Combo
Newark Academy Combo
SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Combo
Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Jazz Ensemble 3
Batterman Ensemble, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music
MSM Precollege Combo
Boston Latin School Big Band
Lexington High School Big Band
Newark Academy Big Band “Chameleon”
SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra
Tulsa Jam’bassadors All-City Band
MSM Precollege Big Band
This year, Sue Mingus offered the opportunity to play on Charles’ own legendary Lion’s Head bass in the Competition!
BEST COMBO – REGULAR Category
Lexington High School Jazz Combo; from Lexington, MA
BEST COMBO – SPECIALIZED Category
Jazz House Small Group, Jazz House Kids; from Montclair, New Jersey
BEST BIG BAND – REGULAR Category
Lexington High School Jazz Ensemble; from Lexington, MA
BEST BIG BAND – SPECIALIZED Category
Jazz House Big Band; Jazz House Kids from Montclair, New Jersey
MINGUS SPIRIT AWARD
The Rivers Big Band, Rivers School from Weston, MA
OUTSTANDING SOLOIST AWARDS
Twenty outstanding soloist awards, from both the combo and big band categories, were also given out on Sunday.
The winners are listed below:
Dakota Austin, tenor saxophone Greater Hartford Academy of the Performing Arts, Hartford, Ct.
Alex Butterworth, drums Jazz Ensemble 3, Greater Hartford Academy of the Performing Arts, Hartford, Ct.
Jeremiah Campanelli, drums The Rivers Big Band, Rivers School, Weston, MA
Josh Gilbert, trumpet Lexington High School Jazz Combo and Ensemble, Lexington, MA
Alden Hellmuth, alto saxophone Jazz Ensemble 3, Greater Hartford Academy of the Performing Arts, Hartford, Ct.
James Hotchkis, bass The Rivers Big Band, Rivers School, Weston, MA
Coleman Hughes, trombone Newark Academy Combo, Livingston, NJ and Jazz House Kids Big Band, Montclair, NJ
Julian Lee, alto saxophone Jazz House Kids, Montclair, New Jersey
Isaac Levien, bass Lexington High School Jazz Combo and Ensemble, Lexington, MA
Cameron Macintosh, drums Jazz House Kids, Montclair, New Jersey
Conor Malloy, drums Jazz House Kids, Montclair, New Jersey
Zoe Obadia, alto saxophone Jazz House Kids, Montclair, New Jersey
Adam O’Farrill, trumpet LaGuardia High School Jazz Sextet, LaGuardia High School, New York, NY
Garrett Parrish, drums Lexington High School Jazz Combo and Ensemble, Lexington, MA
Nathan Rice, soprano saxophone Newark Academy Combo, Livingston, NJ and Jazz House Kids Big Band, Montclair, NJ
Wallace Roney, Jr., trumpet Jazz House Kids, Montclair, New Jersey
Lenard Simpson, alto saxophone Batterman Ensemble, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Paul Wagenseller, tenor saxophone and clarinet Jazz Ensemble 1, Medfield High School, Medfield, MA
Michael Wang, trombone Rio Americano Jazz Combo, Rio Americano High School, Sacramento, California
Liam Werner, trumpet Jazz House Kids, Montclair, New Jersey
OUTSTANDING BIG BAND SECTION
Lexington High School Rhythm Section, Lexington High School Jazz Ensemble from Lexington, Massachusetts
Kenny Wong Labow, guitar; Evan Tarrh, piano; Isaac Levien, bass; Garrett Parrish, drums
Band Director: Ken Gable
Note some dates are wrong: Mingus Orchestra free concert is at St. Bart’s Saturday, Feb 18th and Mingus Big Band is at Jazz Standard Fri-Sun, Feb 17-19. Sunday is the Charles Mingus High School Competition at Manhattan School of Music with performance by Mingus Dynasty. Please check our site for all of the details! Hope to see you!
LET MY CHILDREN HEAR MUSIC (THE CHARLES MINGUS INSTITUTE) PRESENTS:
MINGUS ORCHESTRA “Better Get It In Your Soul” Music of Charles Mingus
St. Bartholomew’s Church 325 Park Avenue (at 50th Street) Saturday, February 18, 2012 – 7:30pm
To celebrate the 90th anniversary year of the birth of Charles Mingus, Grammy award-winning Mingus musicians will return to St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue to perform a concert in conjunction with the 2012 Mingus High School Competition & Festival – one of the year’s most important events in jazz education. The weekend includes a day of workshops run by seasoned Mingus musicians and music educators as well as a full day on Sunday devoted to the Competition at Manhattan School of Music. The Mingus Orchestra concert at St. Bart’s will feature the premiere of new arrangements by both Gunther Schuller and Boris Kozlov including “Inquisition” and “Purple Heart” and the usual wide range of Mingus compositions from lush and intricate orchestral pieces to swinging blues. Gunther Schuller will conduct his arrangements.
The Mingus Orchestra features Brandon Wright, Wayne Escoffery, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Philip Harper, Michael Rabinowitz, John Clark, Douglas Yates, David Gilmore, Boris Kozlov, and Donald Edwards. It is produced by Sue Mingus. NPR will be broadcasting the 2011 concert from Feb 9 on jazzset.npr.org. (Check your local station for dates at times of broadcast. WBGO 88.3 FM AND WBGO.ORG will broadcast Sunday, February 12, at 6pm and Wednesday, February 15, at 6:30pm.)
The St. Bartholomew Concert and the Competition are free to the public but contributions will be welcomed at the concert or online at http://letmychildrenhearmusic.org.
“The Orchestra upholds the boisterous Mingus legacy while delving even deeper into his repertory.” – The New York Times
“The lean, sharp ten-piece band features such uncommon instrumentation as a bassoon and a French horn, but this isn’t staid chamber jazz. When the spirit of the late, great one hits them, they steam.” – The New Yorker
“Had American symphony orchestras not discriminated against African-American musicians throughout much of the 20th century, Charles Mingus might have led an entirely different career. Mingus was as much a student of Beethoven and Debussy as of Fats Waller and Duke Ellington, and his classical aspirations found their outlet in dozens of compositions written for a sort of jazz-band-plus that included non-jazz instruments like bassoon, oboe, and French horn. It is to this often-overlooked portion of Charles’ legacy that the Mingus Orchestra is devoted.” – Andy Schwartz
“I think it is time our children were raised to think they can play bassoon, oboe, French horn, English horn, full percussion, violin, cello. If we so-called jazz musicians who are composers, spontaneous composers, started including these instruments in our music, it would open everything up.” – Charles Mingus, Let My Children Hear Music liner notes
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts
