Not feeling blue: Jazz Band finishes first at Blue Note Jazz Festival
By Owen J. On March 2, the Roland-Story Jazz Band traveled to Waukee Northwest High School for the second annual Blue Note Jazz Festival. The jazz band has played a great year so far and had its best performance yet on Saturday. Competing against three 2A bands, Roland-Story finished first, with Des Moines Christian in second, West Marshall in third, and Van Meter in fourth. Along with the first place finish, Roland-Story received outstanding soloist awards for every soloist, which included: Aubrey Britten, bass; Wrigley Propp, bari sax; Mason Schnurstein, guitar; Brooke Thompson, trumpet; Aiden Tompkins, tenor sax; Samantha Warnick, flute; Caleb Watson, tenor sax; and the entire saxophone section. In this competition, the band added a fourth song to their set, "Sagebrush" by Annie Booth, a slower, contemporary piece that adds more variety. The other songs include "Hipper by the Dozen" by Al Horney, a swing piece, as well as "Chicken Scratch" by Kris Berg ...