You've probably never heard of these guys. That's because we haven't put out an album yet! Anyway, the Jazz Disciples is the jazz band that I'm in. We have 5 trumpets, 5 saxes, 3 trombones, a 4-piece rhythm section (including yours truly on bass guitar) and 4-part vocals. It's got a swing/big band feel to it, but it's definitely jazz! So last weekend (Feb 7-8) we were in a statewide Christian music competition. We played the semifinals on Saturday, which was our first time playing outside of our church. We ended up getting 300 points out of a possible 300, a standing ovation, and a call for an encore! We were later told that no one had ever had a call for an encore at the semifinals in the 14 years they've done this contest. Anyway, out of about 40 groups in our category (group, adult-oriented), the top three groups (us and two others) went on to the finals the next day at the Seattle Center. So when we get there on Sunday, people already knew who we were, which was really weird. Our category ends up being about halfway through the contest (there were many categorys, including youth, rock groups, songwriting, etc.). After our performance, a few people told us that they thought they might have a shot at winning grand prize, but not after they saw us play! Anyway, we won first in our category, and took an unofficial second place overall. They only voted on one grand prize winner from all the category winners, but we got two votes for grand prize winner, and the girl that won it all took the other four votes. Plus we were given a couple of offers to record, and several different offers to play a show, including the Bite of Seattle, which is a big summertime event up here. A very cool weekend indeed - and my first musical competition ever. Anyway, just wanted to share the news with everyone!
Congratulations, Jeff, that's very cool news, indeed! Hurry up and take it into the studio so I can hear you guys! Man, I guess I can see why you don't like minimalist rock!
If I get a sample, I will try to post it on here. I think all we have is video right now, but I'll see what I can do. Dan... yeah. minimalist rock is about as opposite as you can get from 18-piece jazz! BTW, ever stand about 18 inches from a snare drum for five minutes? Man, did my ears hurt!
Congrats Jeff!! Really good news. I am not a jazz fan but would still like to give a listen. Post it if you get any!
Outstanding, Jeff! Congrats on a great effort! Email/PM me if you want me to place a video/audio file on this server. We can upload it and just link to it from a post.
I'll have to find out if I can get an audio/video recording after I get back from South Carolina in a couple of weeks. But I'm sure we'll have other opportunities to play, so if not this time, then soon!
I just found out that we are playing the spring Puyallup Fair, April 18th. 8 song set in an 1100-person capacity outdoor theater. Lots of work for the next month! I'm still trying to find some audio for everyone. I'll post it as soon as I can get my hands on it.
Too bad jeff, Z100 was just running a contest for the singers of tomorrow contest! could have entered you in it, think it's $50,000 prize and play for something, never know could have hit it big.
