Submitted by Phil Kelly, Jul 6, 2007 13:50

Dear Will : Nice article ..however, you should also be made aware of the fact that big bands are still alive in the Pacific Northwest ( both in schools and at the professional level ) Many of the high schools in the Seattle area have very well developed big band programs such as Garfield HS ( where director Clarence Acox has THREE bands going ) and Roosevelt HS under the direction of Scott Brown. Both of these bands consistently place very high ( or have won ) the Essentially Ellington event for the past several years. Not to mention that several other area shools like Edmonds -woodway , Shoreline ,and others have well developed jazz programs. Professionally, Seattle for its size has a fairly healthy jazz community that also manages to produce several excellent "Monday Night Bands" that are made up of the a-team local guys ( plus a few regular ringers from the LA scene quite often ) like Jim Knapp, Jim Cutler, the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and ..oh yeh, my own group, the Northwest Prevailing winds. We all have CDs out there if you should find yourself interested in some of the sounds currently emanating from the Cascades. I guarantee you'd be surprised! Phil Kelly www.philkellymusic.com NW Prevailing Winds SW Santa Ana Winds Origin Records

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