Jazz Combo State Competition

This past Friday I want to Hampden Academy to compete in a Jazz Combo festival. The five of us competed against six other jazz combos from our class. In my opinion I looked pretty damn classy. I don't usually wear a suit and tie, but I think it looked good. As for the music, it was a blast. The best feeling is getting up on stage and having fun. We all played well.

Being a state competition, the judges are tougher. Going in I expected us to get about the same score as last time, which was a 74. A 74 sounds, bad, but it's scaled to a rating of two out of six, where the best you can get is a one. So basically we did pretty well last time.

This time however, even with the tougher judges, we got an 82. We didn't get a one, but each of us had fun. It was totally worth the time and effort that went into practicing for this. (Yes, even the terrible blisters I got on my fingers... again.)

I'm going to see if I can get my hands on a video or a recording of our performance so I can upload it here. I think that my solo could have been a bit better, but the judges being a bit more strict I didn't get a one like last time. I was rated as a top soloist the at the regional competition as well as Doug. Unfortunately neither of us got a one at states. I honestly think that Doug deserved it, though. His solo rocked as usual.

The toughest part about going to festivals and competitions, for me, isn't the competition itself. I play music all day, but when you ask me to socialize it's a no-go. At festivals you're expected to go and talk to the other musicians/artists and the like to go and get to know each other. It's part of the spirit behind it all. This is where I fall short. As my friends go out and talk to others, I take a sideline seat and watch it all happen. I find these kinds of things physically draining. Not because it's been a long or hard day, but because it actually stresses me out to talk to the people. I've spent most of my weekend by myself because I'd rather not deal with people. This is probably a topic for another day. I'll have to keep this in mind.

As for some media, I have no idea what to put here for today, so I guess I'll just throw in another song that I really like.