As an old sax player and bandleader it does my heart good to see these young people play swing music as it should be played. They are all amazing! Keep up the great work!
I first came across this tune in the PBS presentation of "The Singing Detective", and I was hooked! Wow, what an amazing performance this was, what a lucky audience this was. MAKES ME SAY "THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT". They really are! They show such great enthusiasm and affection for the music and had amazing solos. Congratulations, Mr. Wenman
Excellent performance. I hope that these young musicians continue to play jazz such as this. They are doing something very valuable--keeping jazz alive. Thanks for posting this.
One of my favorite Ellington pieces, sublimely executed! And, if I may paraphrase Dr. King: I have a dream that one day children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their cool. Thanks for keeping the dream and the Duke alive!
the 2 tenor and alto saxes Had a Great Solo! Me as a Bari , alto and tenor sax play impresses me on how good they did! and same with the clarinet player!
There is an arrangement of this available, we did the rockin in rhythm part in band. Firstly i thought that we weren't that bad but then I heard these folks and they are absolutely killing it.
As a band director/conductor I trained kids to play symphonic quality literature, and win many awards. However, my students were never exposed to this kind of jazz. These musicians are awfully well trained, and are beyond intelligent. These kids are now finishing degrees in many fields with great success. Bravo Issaquah High Band. Your leader is quite a ⭐️
Minor clarification: While Issaquah High School does have a good music program, this group is Mt Si High School in Snoqualmie, WA (about 10 miles East of Issaquah)
No Cat Anderson, no Lawrence Brown, no Harry Carney, no Duke at the piano, BUT.... Listen please!!!! Extraordinary teenagers playing with swing, "gusto" and catching the "Ellingtonia" Spirit.... Thumbs up, please...
Not just playing the notes....but making music and entertaining. Must have been a thrill to be a part of and it's a sure thing these people you know and play together with will be life long friends
The trumpeter could not hit the very high notes of Cat Anderson. That is very difficult. A very goof performance otherwise. Take a bow. You are a great band. You have brought out the essence of Duke Ellington.
This performance has nothing to do with Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm " original classic. The global sound of the orchestra is very weak and apathetic , and the musicians as soloists try to do their best but they did not succeed . Surely Winton Marsalis ' Orchestra plays Ellington 's masterpieces in a better way , a lot better .... Mount Si High School Jazz has no swing, musicians do not play "vibrato" or "glissando" as the original members of Ellington Orchestra did, and - finally - the pianist hasn't got the "heavy" left hand of Duke Ellington... come on boys... get back home and try to listen 24h a day, for 7 days a week, the entire 1956 Newport Concert and then try to play again Ellington 's tunes ...
Chill out, dude! No one plays like the Ellington band. These are teenagers playing extremely hard charts! Some may pass Johnny Hodges on sax, or Anderson. But they were extremely good.
Very good HS band! They sound and look awesome...but I only wished there was a screamer player on Cat Anderson's part. The young blonde lady, although solid, didn't cut it.
How does it work in USA? In my country, there is a conservatory for students after elementary school, after like 3 years at conservatory they would be able to play like this maybe MAYBE. Are those students from music high schools or are they just musicians at normall high school? Its fking crazy how they play and they look very young.
This is a public high school jazz band from a small town about 35 miles east of Seattle. Many of these kids started playing in the 6th grade middle school jazz band, and most are Sophomores and Juniors (10th / 11th graders). My son (Conner Drake) is the pianist and he was a Sophomore at the time.
The piano is self-developed ideas, the result of A LOT of listening to the pros (and similar recordings). No transcriptions, but it could be a good exercise for a student to transcribe this (and the pro recordings!!) --a 2015 band member
Ethan Machamer the piano player is my brother, he did not transcribe it, he made it up but very closely related it to the original recording, you should check that out. Just look up Duke Ellington’s performance of it.
It’s a shame they paid Matt dirt and he had to leave. Teachers in that district make half what other districts nearby make while the superintendent is paid the same as Seattle.
I do not agree with all those youtubers who expressed their views before me... This performance has nothing to do with Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm " original classic. The global sound of the orchestra is very weak and apathetic .... musicians as soloists tried to do their best but they did not succeed . Surely Winton Marsalis ' Orchestra plays Ellington 's masterpieces in a better way , a lot better .... Mount Si High School Jazz has no swing, musicians do not play "vibrato" or "glissando" as the original members of Ellington Orchestra did... and - finally - the pianist hasn't got the "heavy" left hand of Duke Ellington... come on boys... get back home and try to listen 24h a day, for 7 days a week, the entire 1956 Newport Concert and then try to play again Ellington 's tunes ...
@@radamdrake When Ellington wanted to expand his band in 1928, Ellington's clarinet player Barney Bigard recommended Hodges. But Duke struggled a lot to convince Hodges to take part to the team...Hodges told Ellington he was not ready to play in the orchestra...because he didn't feel to be ready...he felt he had yet to study and learn...! So replied in 1928 the Greatest alto saxophone of all times to the Greatest Jazz Composer of all times !!
Your criticism (which for some mysterious reason you felt compelled to post twice) only makes my eyes roll. Comparing an outstanding high school band with a great professional band is ridiculous.