A&E
12
Xavier High School
Jazz band Begins to play On Saturday, January 26, Xavier’s Jazz Ensemble kicked off their competitive season by competing at the State Jazz Band Festival. The band received a Division II “Excellent” rating, missing a Division I rating by one point from two judges. “State is difficult because it’s the first performance as a group,” director Ms. Kelli Swehla said. “I thought, in general, it was a solid performance.” With just over two weeks until the next competition, the band is looking to improve in many areas, including intonation, balance, blend, and overall general authority and precision. “As an ensemble, we just need to work on the little things that make the group go from excellent to superior. Retaining those things every time we perform is the key,” Swehla said. No matter the rating, members
The members of Xavier’s Jazz Band rehearse their song, Red Bank Boogie, before school in the band room. Cassie Busch Photo
of the band are happy with how they performed. “I thought we did a good job, since it was our first performance of the season,” senior Noah Hagen said. Hagen
Valentine’s Day Top Fives
Xavier’s Top Five Movies 1.
A Walk to Remember
Crazy Stupid Love 3. The Proposal 2.
4.
The Notebook
5.
The Vow
Xavier’s Top Five Songs 1.
Love Story-Taylor Swift
2.
Just the Way You Are-Bruno Mars
3.
Wanted-Hunter Hayes
4.
Little Things-One Direction
5.
Fallin’-Alicia Keys
Taken from a poll of 25 Xavier students
Meghan Gerke A&E Writer
has been a member of Jazz Band during all four years of his high school experience, playing both the French horn and the trombone. “I hope that the group will get
better from here. We most need to improve on balance and the overall effect of our music, rather than just playing the notes,” Hagen said. The next competition for the band will be the Tallcorn Jazz Festival at UNI on Friday, February 15 at 10:30 A.M. They perform the following weekend at 11 A.M. on Saturday, February 23 at the Coe College Jazz Summit. The last competitive performance for Xavier’s Jazz Band is the Northeast Iowa Bandmasters Association Jazz Festival, also known as NEIBA, which will be held at Waterloo West on Saturday, March 2.
Ashley Pudil A&E Writer