© 2009 - SLD Web Designs. All rights reserved.
JAZZ ENSEMBLES
The St. Charles East High School Jazz Workshop has a long history of excellence dating back to its inception in 1974.The Workshop was a featured performer at The Midwest Clinic in 2000, the Illinois Music Educators State Convention in 2004 and the IAJE Regional Convention in Chicago in 2005. The band has also been a three time finalist in Jazz at Lincoln Centers Essentially Ellington Jazz Band Competition and Festival, where they have had the good fortune to work with Jon Faddis, Rodney Whitaker, Marcus Printup, Wayne Goodman, Victor Goines and Ron Carter. A highlight of the 2006-2007 season was the Jazz Workshop's trip to Beijing and the Henan Province in China.
Students in the jazz bands learn the basic concepts of improvisation, including scales and modes. Students are also exposed to a wide variety of music, including arrangements of standard tunes, blues, modal tunes and original compositions. Students perform 4 concerts yearly at St. Charles East High School, and often perform at festivals and in the community.
Jazz at St. Charles East
There are multiple jazz bands at St. Charles East High School, with the only audition group being the Jazz Workshop. All wind and percussion students must be also enrolled in one of the concert ensembles.
An emphasis of the jazz program is the performances of guest artists along with the bands. Guest artists typically work with and perform with all the different jazz bands. Past guest artists include:
SAXOPHONE: Mark Colby, Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson, Loren Schoenberg, Victor Goines, David Bixler, Mike Lee, Kevin Flanigan and Mike Bazan
TROMBONE: Jim Masters, Tom Garling, Jeff Childs, and Morgan Powell
TRUMPET: Ray Sasaki, Tom Tallman, Mike Steinel, Jim Seeley, Marcus Printup and Mark Hoffman
GUITAR: Rick Haydon and Jim Bonney
BASS: Dan Anderson
DRUMS: Herlin Riley, Chris Cash and Bill French
PIANO: Mark Maegdlin, Mike Kocour, and Vince Maggio
VOCALIST: Tom Birkner
