(Listen to an audio report on this topic by Brooke Boyer. Additional recording by Frankie Lopez.)
Timber Creek’s jazz band performed at their first competition at the UTA Jazz Festival on Feb. 18. At the festival, the jazz band competed with many schools around Texas and received multiple Outstanding Musician Awards.
“The competition was super heavy because it was our very first time being there, but we did extremely well for our first time,” sophomore Karla Adrian-Caceres mentioned. “No one could believe it was our first competition.”
“We knew we were up against some people that were experienced at this,” jazz band director Kayla Nelson stated. “That’s why our goal was just to go, and also to watch the other bands and see how they were, because our kids have never seen other high school jazz bands, so they had no idea how they stood up against these people.”
Additionally, the following members of the group received Outstanding Musician Awards from the competition:
Quinton Porter – Awarded for piano
Andy Brooks – Awarded for guitar
Cooper Williams – Awarded for drums
John Pence – Awarded for baritone saxophone
Reese Hyatt – Awarded for alto saxophone
The trumpet section: Tanner Price, Brendan Chucci, Austin Bell, Tavin Stewart
“I got it [the award] for my solo over Isfahan, an alto sax feature, which means I soloed over the whole tune as the rest of the band accompanied me,” sophomore and alto saxophone player Reese Hyatt commented. “I practiced this song a lot. I really wanted to do it justice.”
As a treat to the competing jazz bands, special appearances were made from a couple well known jazz musicians. “[After we performed] we had a clinic with one of the judges that actually turned out to be a really famous drummer named Stockon Helbing,” freshman Abigail Corona said. “Then we got to watch other jazz bands perform…we went to another jazz clinic that Stockon and his sextet held,” Corona continued. “After that, we went to go grab some food and then we went to a concert they had at night that featured the Carroll Jazz Ensemble One and the UTA Jazz Band with the famous trumpet player, Bobby Shew.”
Not only did the competition serve as an opportunity to showcase the jazz band’s talented members, but it also gave them a unique experience that not all band members get to have in their high school career.
“It was a blast,” Nelson mentioned. “The people working the contest were really friendly and nice and helpful, and the kids had a great time. They learned a lot of stuff that they didn’t know before, and they are ready to go again next year.”
“It [the competition] was really fun,” Adrain-Caceres said. “We got to see so many great bands, and spending time with the jazz band is always super fun and exciting. My favorite part was definitely spending so much time with people that love band as much as I do.”