by Mary Hayes

On Saturday Jan 13, the AHS jazz band competed in the Bluffs Jazz Fest in Council Bluffs.  Atlantic ended up placing fifth overall. Senior Ben Parker was awarded outstanding soloist for both tenor sax and clarinet.

Freshman Kathryn Darrow said, “I think we did very well. We improved in the things that we have been working on in the last few weeks, but there are still some things that we need to work on.”

Band director Jarrod O’Donnell said they “played through all the pieces and did a really good job.” Going into this competition, the band wanted to “play with confidence and just play out.”

O’Donnell said they need to work on playing cleaner and playing with other soloists, but overall they did a good job.  At the next contest, which is state,  they are hoping for a division 1 rating, the best you can get.

The song “Holy Habanero” was one of the favorites that they played because “it’s really energetic and has a fast pace, and is fun to play” says Darrow.

Congratulations on placing fifth!