by Shawn Goretsky (8th)

A couple of weeks ago, the CMS Jazz Band competed in its final festival at Abington. Overall, it was a very successful season, so here’s a quick recap.

First, here’s what we performed. The band played three songs selected by Mr. O’Neill. We opened with Poco Loco by Carl Strommen, a repetitive jazz piece that featured almost every section. Soloists included Caitlin Timer (8th) on flute, Nathan Delosso (8th) on trumpet, and Macie Monastero (7th) on alto saxophone.

We also performed Pink Panther Mambo by Henry Mancini, a jazzier take on the classic theme. Featured soloists were Macie Monastero (7th) on alto saxophone, Nathan Delosso (8th) on trumpet, and Shawn Goretsky (8th) on drum set.

Our final piece was the well-known Jazz Police by Gordon Goodwin. This piece included solos by Sirasid Fungfueng (6th) on alto saxophone, John Clarke (7th) on guitar, Cameron Moore (8th) on tenor saxophone, Tim Jung (6th) on trumpet, Sean Wheeler (8th) on tenor saxophone, and Shawn Goretsky (8th) on drum set.

This season, we competed in two festivals, where bands are scored as Very Good, Outstanding, Excellent, or Superior. Our first festival was at Upper Moreland, where we competed against about seven other bands and earned a rating of Excellent. We also received the Best Trumpet Section award, and Macie Monastero won Best Solo.

Our second festival was at Abington, where we competed against about four other bands and again earned a rating of Excellent. Nathan Delosso received Best Solo, and the band won Best Trombone Section.

We also performed at our spring concert and hosted our own jazz festival, though these were non-competitive events. Overall, the season was a success, and we’re looking forward to next year.