Randolph Jazz Band earns third place at Morningside Competition

SIOUX CITY, IA — Randolph Jazz Band students spent Wed., Feb. 5 morning in Sioux City, Iowa sharing their jazz skills and learning some new from a man who makes his living delighting audiences with the timeless musical genre. The event which included a jazz clinic as well as competition of registered participating schools marked the launch of the 48th annual Morningside Jazz Festival at the college.

Randolph Jazz students, who have participated in this event for many years came away from the 2020 competition with third place overall in class 1A. None of the students currently in jazz band had ever placed at the competition though all had attended before.

The band, directed by Lowgaen Schmidt, performed the following for the competition,”Song for My Father” by Horace Silver, “3 am” by Paul Baker, and “Green Onions” by Booker T. and the MGs arranged by Roger Holmes. Students performing solos during the competition were juniors Alex Heiman and Tyson Junck, both who had solos in all three arrangements and freshman Lily Umburger who performed a solo piece during the “Green Onions” arrangement.

Following their stage performance students were invited back to their classroom to meet Jazz musician Marcus Lewis who delighted students with some coveted pointers and tips. Lewis whose last jazz project debuted on the iTunes jazz charts at number 2, holds a bachelor of music in jazz performance from Valdosta State University and a master of music in trombone performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, according to his web biography.

The RHS jazz students will next compete at USD in Vermillion and at the Coyote Jazz Festival at Norfolk in March.