Long day at the jazz festival

The Pacific Northwest is a hotbed of jazz performance. It starts in the schools with great educational programs and many kids from the greater Seattle area go on to music schools in New York or Los Angeles.

There are a lot of school jazz festivals which give the students opportunities to perform, be critiqued and to listen to one another. There are so many great adult jazz musicians in the area that will spend a day or two in a darkened auditorium listening to band after band and then will spend fifteen minutes or half an hour working with the band in a clinic.

Junior High and High School jazz festivals are a cultural experience. The kids dress up, often in ill-fitting tuxedos. As awkward as many of them are, some of them play like seasoned pros.

Performing is serious business for the students but attending a festival is often a very long day for them, especially if the festival involves travel. This photo of Patrick is at the end of the festival when everyone is tired and heading for home.