The 28th edition of the Essentially Ellington Competition for High School Jazz Band took place May 11-13 at Jazz At Lincoln Center in New York City. A jury had selected 15 bands out of the 100 which had entered the competion.
Most of the events during the three days were streamed giving Duke Ellington and big band fans a unique opportunity to learn and enjoy another young generations approach to this music and be impressed by their skills and talents.
The website will only provide a couple of snapshot from the event but more can easily be found on YouTube and other social media and local websites.
Here is what we have chosen from what we recorded in the attic of the house.
The winner of this years competition, Osceola County School for the Arts from Kissimmee, Fla. also won last year and if one looks back over the years one see that there is a core group of high schools that are among the three top winners over and over again
The list of participating high schools and winners this year are here together with the band section and individual musicians that the jury singled out particularly.