All That Jazz: Waukee Jazz I Nabs Second Place at State Championships

From the Waukee Schools website:

Waukee Jazz I made the Iowa Jazz Championships evening finals last month and received second place in Class 4A.

Outstanding soloists recognized were Justin Page - Alto Sax, Patrick Cunningham - Vibes, Ross Clowser - Guitar and Ryan Bernard - Drums. Ryan was also chosen as one of four top soloists for the entire day in Class 4A.

Waukee Jazz 1 finished its record-breaking year on April 18 at the Des Moines Civic Center. The band performed a set of four songs, without any breaks, at the state competition. They started with a swing tune called “Tri-Bop,” by Bill Liston and then transitioned to a ballad called “Until Then, Farewell,” by Ryan Cullen, followed by a guitar feature called “Pensativa,” by Mike Crotty and ended with “Rhythm-A-Ning,” by Thelonious Monk arranged by Paul McKee.

Jazz I is directed by Wayne Page and is an all-year activity that started in August and ended in April. Throughout the school year, students attended various competitions and earned several awards.

• Outstanding Soloist Awards:
  • Patrick Cunningham, junior
  • Ross Clowser, junior
  • Justin Page, sophomore
  • Zoe Scheve, senior

• Outstanding Soloist Awards:
  • Patrick Cunningham, junior
  • Ross Clowser, junior
  • Justin Page, sophomore

• Outstanding Soloist Awards:
  • Patrick Cunningham, junior
  • Justin Page, sophomore
  • Ross Clowser, junior
• Outstanding Trumpet section
  Outstanding Saxophone section
  Outstanding Trombone section
  Outstanding Rhythm section

• Outstanding Soloist Awards:
  • Patrick Cunningham, junior
  • Ross Clowser, junior
  • Justin Page, sophomore
  • Ryan Bernard, senior

• Outstanding Soloist Awards:
  • Patrick Cunningham, junior
  • Ross Clowser, junior
  • Justin Page, sophomore
  • Ryan Bernard, senior
  • John Akpan, junior
  • Ross Clowser, junior

• Patrick Cunningham, junior
• Ryan Bernard, senior
• John Akpan, junior

Alternate for 2013-All-State Jazz Ensemble

• Ross Clowser, junior
• Dustin Eubanks, junior

• Outstanding Soloist award-Jazz Championships
  • Justin Page, sophomore
  • Ross Clowser, junior
  • Patrick Cunningham, junior
  • Ryan Bernard, senior
• One of 4 award winning/scholarships for outstanding musicianship given for the day
  • Ryan Bernard, senior