SCC jazz band wins district contest

By: 
Erin Sommers Graphic-Advocate Editor

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For the 19th straight year, a Calhoun County school jazz band, under the direction of Tom Plummer, has won the Class 2A North Central Iowa Bandmaster’s District Jazz Contest.

This year, the contest was held in Webster City.

Plummer’s contest winning streak began when he was directing the Southern Calhoun jazz band and has continued with South Central Calhoun’s success Dec. 6.

“It just proves that we have a great tradition going here,” Plummer said last week. “I’m very proud of it.”

At the Dec. 6 competition, the band performed four pieces, “A Walkin’ Thing” arranged by Bob Curnow, “Makin’ Whoopee” arranged by Thad Jones, “Jack the Bear” by Duke Ellington and “Two Seconds to Midnight” by Alan Baylock. 

Three judges score each performance at the district level.

“They really liked our performance,” Plummer said. “They liked all four songs. They said the four songs really matched up with the band’s strengths.”

Senior trumpeter Katie Welander said she’s looking forward to building on the judges’ comments.

Welander is excited about “listening to the difference (from) the improvements we can make from just one set of judges’ comments,” she said. “The first competition is always a little rough.”

Another senior, Colin Brown, who plays trombone, said he and other band members do have a sense of whether they’re playing well.

“I feel like Saturday went pretty well,” he said. “We can definitely improve things for our next contest.”

Band members praised Plummer, as well as the entire band for their enjoyment of music and the fun the group has together.

The group works hard, practicing at 7:20 a.m. three mornings a week.

“It’s always worthwhile,” senior bass guitarist Ryan Nicholson said. “We’re always having productive practices, getting through everything and having Mr. Plummer critique us.”

The district win qualifies the band for the Iowa Jazz Championships March 31 in Des Moines.

In addition to the group win, several soloists also received awards. Those students are Jacob Clark, Colin Brown, Zach Ludwig, Joel Wernimont, Ryan Nicholson, Abby Clark, Courtney Andersen and Sarah VanHulzen. The rhythm section received an Outstanding Performance award.

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