Foxborough jazz band wins national honor
The Foxborough High School Jazz Ensemble won second place in the Jazz at the Lincoln Center's ninth annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival held in New York May 22-24. This was the group's eighth trip to the competition.
Naeemah Hicks, spokeswoman for the event, said for bands to even make it to the competition, which she calls ''the Super Bowl of high school jazz competitions," is a feat in itself. This year, 104 high school bands nationwide submitted recordings before the list of finalists was narrowed to 15. Each had 20 minutes to perform three Duke Ellington compositions in the finals.
This is the fourth time the Foxborough ensemble has won recognition at the competition, judged by such distinguished jazz musicians as Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center artistic director. The group won first place in 1997, second in 1998, and honorable mentions in 1999 and 2000, said Hicks.
This year, group members Marliese Ballon, a bass player, and Jeff Richardi, who plays the tenor saxophone, also won recognition as outstanding soloists. Brian Carpentier, who plays the alto sax, won a soloist honorable mention.
The Garfield High School Jazz Ensemble, of Seattle, won first place, and the Sun Prairie High School Jazz Ensemble I, of Sun Prairie, Wis., placed third. Foxborough's reeds, brass, and rhythm performers won recognition as outstanding sections.
Steve Massey, director of the Foxborough ensemble, said the opportunity to compete in the Lincoln Center event was special.
''The performances we gave over the weekend were so memorable, it's almost impossible for me to verbalize," he said.
The 23-member Foxborough band was randomly chosen to play first, not the easiest thing to do, said Deb Navedo, who attended the event to watch her son, Ivan, 17, perform. ''It's like opening any show. The crowd's cold. . . . But, on the other hand, the kids came out shining."
Hicks agreed. ''People knew that they were going to place because of the level of playing," she said.
For second place, the students won a trophy and $1,500. They also got to perform with Marsalis as guest trumpet soloist in a post-competition concert.
''Performing with Wynton was an experience like no other," said Ivan Navedo, who plays clarinet and baritone sax.
Although the Foxborough ensemble continually makes the finals, Massey said there are no secrets to its success. ''I just think we work really hard -- myself and the rest of the music staff and the teachers here giving lessons -- and the kids respond to that, and that has built a tradition of excellence," he said. ''The standards are high and the rewards are great."
But Deb Navedo gave the credit to Massey, who has two children, one of them a Globe reporter. ''He spends a lot of time with the kids in terms of team building and interpersonal relationships as well as on the techniques of music," Navedo said. ''He encourages the students to become broadly competent in many areas of music."
