by Corgan Petersen

On Saturday, Jan. 31, the State Jazz Band Contest was held in Atlantic.  This contest was held for the Southwest district of Iowa.  Jazz bands came from 14 different high schools to compete for a division I rating.

Unlike many jazz contests, state doesn’t have jazz bands competing against each other for places.  Instead, each band competes against themselves to do the best that they can.  State also gives ratings based on performance.  The scale is as follows: V=Poor – Major fundamental flaws, lack of pride in performance, no concept of good fundamental sound or style, the lowest rating you can get.   IV=Fair – Major flaws, slightly below average.  III=Good – Consistent flaws, average performance.  II=Excellent – Small imperfections in the performance.  I= Superior – Very little flaws in the performance.

During the contest, nine bands received division I ratings, including Atlantic.  Four received division II, and one band received a division III rating.  After each band performed they went to a clinician who would give them advice on how to make themselves better.

High School band director Jarrod O’Donnell said, “I thought we did really well.  I knew it was going to be really close on what we got for a rating. Because of our swing song and our latin song we were really solid, but our ballad was kinda shaky.  It could’ve gone either way, but our swing and our latin were good enough to give us the I.”

The jazz band’s last performance and contest will be on Feb. 16 in Glenwood.  It will be the SWIBA District Jazz Festival, and it is the qualifier for the State Jazz Championship.