Festival Facts

• Since its beginning in 1978, the festival has brought more than 14,000 high school musicians to campus.
• Ensembles have come from as far as Iowa, Tennessee and Hawaii to compete.
• TCU hosts a different
  professional jazz artist each year for the evening concert. Legends like Maynard Ferguson and Count Bassie have jammed in Ed Landreth Hall.
• This year, 27 ensembles from 21 high schools will compete.

Jazzin' it up
TCU Jazz Festival marks 24 years of high school music competition

By Melissa Christensen
Skiff Staff

Whether you’re “In the Mood” to “Jump, Jive and Wail” or enjoy a “Moonlight Serenade,” TCU Jazz Studies Director Curt Wilson has an offer no jazz lover could resist.

About 500 high school students from 21 high schools will compete in the 24th annual TCU Jazz Festival Saturday in Ed Landreth Hall Auditorium and PepsiCo Recital Hall. The first ensembles start at 9 a.m.

R.L. Paschal Senior High School students Matt Koger and Walter Winton rehearse with the school’s jazz ensemble Wednesday. The group will compete in Saturday’s festival.

“It’s free wall-to-wall music,” Wilson said. “There are 500 of the best players in Texas on this campus all in one day.”

Keeping with the festival’s tradition, the two TCU Big Band ensembles and the Purple, White and Blues vocal jazz ensemble will perform at 7:30 p.m. in Ed Landreth Hall Auditorium. General admission is $10 and admission with a TCU ID is $5. The awards ceremony for the festival will follow.

“This day is a chance for us to bring the best high school jazz ensembles in the state of Texas and beyond to perform in front of professional adjudicators, hear the TCU groups and an internationally-known guest artist.”

Trumpeter Conte Candoli, best known to the public as a member of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show band, will join the TCU jazz ensembles for several pieces at the evening concert. Candoli is considered a contemporary legend among musicians, Wilson said.

“He’s listed in our jazz history textbook,” he said. “It’s pretty neat to have someone like that here.”

Wilson stumbled across Candoli while the TCU jazz ensemble was traveling through Vienna, Austria last summer. After one of their performances was rained out, the TCU musicians stopped at a jazz club featuring Candoli and the Vienna Jazz Orchestra. Wilson hired Candoli on the spot to be a guest at this year’s festival.

“He is a legend,” Wilson said. “He’s been at it for half a century.”

Along with the high profiles of its annual guests, the festival is credited by area band directors as one of the best competitions in the state in terms of judging and the quality of competing bands.

“It has a big reputation in the state of Texas as a respectable jazz festival,” said R. L. Paschal Senior High School band director Brian Standridge. “The guest artists have always been fantastic players. The kids just love them.”

TCU alumnus John Alstrin, who is now the director of jazz studies at Lake Highlands High School in Richardson, is bringing two ensembles to the contest.

“Some directors are intimidated to bring their groups because there are such outstanding players (competing) at the festival,” he said.

“Improvisation is what makes jazz unique, and the festival is known for weighing improvisation heavily into their judging.”

Last year, Standridge’s ensemble garnered the Outstanding Band Award in the 5A division.

“This festival always has good judges, and for us, the location is real close,” he said.

Alstrin said his experience as a TCU jazz student was a major factor in deciding to bring his groups here, noting that the festival doubled in size during his five years at the university.

“This will be the pinnacle of our jazz ensemble’s semester,” he said. “I’m trying to give them as much info as I can about TCU so they can become familiar with their environment.”

He also said listening to professionals, like Candoli, perform is the best way for his students to learn jazz.

“Half of the reason for going is to listen to the guest artist,” he said.

Looking back on the festival’s 24 years, Wilson said he could only see the festival continually moving in a positive direction.

“I just hope the festival continues,” he said. “Maybe someday with more facilities we can get larger. I would like to envision maybe even a corporate sponsorship someday.”

Tickets for the evening concert may be purchased at the door. Wilson said the money raised will cover the overhead costs of the festival and help fund the jazz ensemble’s trip to Hawaii this summer.

Melissa Christensen
m.s.christensen@student.tcu.edu
Skiff staff member Brandon Ortiz contributed to this report.