Jazz Society Battle of the Bands at Jimmy Maks

I had the pleasure of working with the Jazz Society and 5 local high school bands for a competition at Jimmy Maks last Tuesday.  These kids could really play!  The house was full and appreciative.  The adjudication was by Devin Phillips, Mike Horsfall, and Art Abrams - are you kidding me?!?  What an all star panel!!!!  One of the things that everyone seemed to really enjoy was the feedback that these judges gave to the kids after each set.  The judges comments were instructive, positive, and educational.

West Linn won and will have to come back to defend the trophy next year.  Thanks to all of those who helped make it a success.  See the note below from Kevin Egan of West Linn.  That kinda says it all!

Eric,

 

What a great night! My compliments to you and the Jazz Society members. It's a great format that really shows what the kids can do. I'm pretty sure it's the first jazz competition I've been involved with where all of the directors were hanging out and enjoying each others' groups! The audience was supportive, and I'm not sure we could have asked for a better inaugural event.

Winning was great, but I came away from that night extremely happy for all of the kids that were given the opportunity to play on one of Portland's premiere jazz stages. Thank you again for all of your hard work.

 

Kevin