Pine City has been taking part in the Head of the Lakes Jazz Festival for many years, under the direction of Kevin Cahill and Brad Mariska. Photo courtesy of Pat Erickson.
Over 40 students in the Pine City Jazz Bands traveled to Duluth this past Saturday to take part in the Head of the Lakes Jazz Festival. The bands performed on the campus of the University of Minnesota-Duluth and were critiqued by panels of jazz performers and educators of national prominence. The students also attended performances by other school bands, attended a meet-and-greet with internationally acclaimed trumpet soloist Ingrid Jensen, and attended an evening concert featuring Jensen with jazz ensembles from UMD. Nearly two dozen outstanding jazz bands from throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin took part in the day’s festivities.
Two members of Jazz One received Outstanding Soloist Awards: Nicole Sebastian for her vocal solo on the Gershwin classic “Summertime” and Aaron Nisley for a bari sax solo on “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” Overall, the ensembles were praised for their selection of challenging literature and strength of intonation.
This was a final tune-up for Jazz One, which will be in concert tonight (Monday) at the Senior High Winter Concert. The performance begins at 7:30 in the Pine City Elementary Auditorium.
