Roland-Story at The Iowa Jazz Championships

By Bradey H.

On April 2nd, the Roland-Story Jazz Band played at the Scheman Building in Ames for the annual Iowa Jazz Championships. After placing first at the SCIBA (South Central Iowa Band Association) Jazz Festival to qualify for the championships, the band continued participating in contests and practicing four times a week to improve for this performance.

Just a few weeks earlier, the band had clinics with retired Southeast Polk band director Ted Hagan and Drake jazz professor Bob Meunier. Using the advice from these two experts, the band finished polishing the four pieces they were going to play for the championships. The songs to be performed were “Hipper by the Dozen” by Al Horney, “Chicken Scratch” by Kris Berg, “Sagebrush” by Annie Booth, and “Hit the Bricks” by Gordon Goodwin. The band had only performed “Sagebrush” once before, so a majority of the practice time was devoted to it. In the final days leading up to the event, the band’s director, Kevin Masemann, made the final changes of soloists playing on each song. 

Finally, the hour of the performance arrived. As the members finished changing into their performance clothes, they were herded into the warm-up room. There was a buzz of excitement in the air. The band did a final run-through of the songs and tuned their instruments before taking the stage. Mr. Masemann introduced the band and then turned to kick off the first song. The band played through all of their songs and finished to the sound of thunderous applause. 

The band finished their day in Stephens Auditorium where awards would be held. All participating bands were treated to a concert by the Blake Shaw Big(ish) Band before awards were announced. After the concert had finished, the awards ceremony began. The band members waited in anticipation until Roland-Story was announced in third place, the highest Roland-Story has placed since 2008.

When asked about the performance, senior Cole Olson had this to say: “It was definitely the best we’ve played compared to other competitions and previous years. The band as a whole felt really together.” Roland-Story also won three outstanding soloist awards: Aubrey Britten on bass guitar, Mason Schnurstein on guitar, and Samantha Warnick on flute. Roland-Story ended their jazz season on a great note and hope to place first in next year’s season.

Location: Scheman Bldg, 1805 Center Dr, Ames, IA 50011, USA

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