Feb. 28, 9:00 A.M.

After loading a charter bus and leaving West at 7:15 a.m., the jazz bands arrive at Coe College in Cedar Rapids.

Jazz Ensemble performed at 9:00 a.m. and Jazz Collective performed at 10:00 a.m.

Jazz Ensemble placed fourth in Class 4A and Jazz Collective’s lead trombone Michael Shonrock ’25 was named an honorable mention performer.

Right after playing, around 11:15 a.m., the bands loaded the bus and departed for Chicago.

Before heading down to Giordano’s for Chicago’s signature deep-dish pizza, the bands explored the city with a tour guide from Bob Rogers Travel and saw the Sears Tower.

Also known as the Willis Tower, this building is a 110-story, 1,451-foot skyscraper in the Chicago, Illinois area.

It was the tallest building in the world in 1973, and although that title was taken by the CN Tower in Toronto, the Willis Tower is still one of the largest skyscrapers in the world.

The jazz bands then went to Giordano’s, a deep-dish pizzeria chain in Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago is known for deep-dish pizza, and although it might be controversial to fans of a New York style-slice, the bands had to take the opportunity to try it while they could.

Feb. 28, 7:00 p.m.

The bands visited Jazz Showcase, the oldest historic jazz club in Chicago. Founded in 1947, some of the biggest names in jazz have performed there: Count Basie, Freddie Hubbard and Dizzy Gillespie, to name a few.

There, the band watched a performance by the Kyle Swan Quartet featuring Lenard Simpson on saxophone. Swan played drums, though he also plays trumpet and violin, along with Christian Dillingham on string bass and Swan’s brother, Christian Swan, on piano.

Kyle Swan is a Grammy Award-winning drummer who has played for over 20 years. He earned a degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. He’s performed in international music festivals from Haiti to Spain and has toured with other Grammy Award winning artists like Kurt Elling, Brian Lynch and Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

March 1, 10:30 a.m.

After performing in the 40th annual Jazz in the Meadows competition at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively, Jazz Collective placed second in the second band category and Jazz Ensemble placed third in class 3A.

At 12:30 p.m., the students boarded the charter bus to head home.

The bands arrived back at West at 4:40 p.m. Jazz Ensemble made their way to the University of Iowa to perform with their 16-piece jazz orchestra, Johnson County Landmark, at 7:00 P.M. at Voxman.

Despite the end of the trip, the jazz bands still had many performances the following week.

On March 4, there was a concert at 7:00 p.m. in West High’s Arganbright Auditorium featuring all three jazz bands: Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Collective and Jazz Lab.

On Saturday, March 8, all three bands traveled to Davenport Central High School to compete in the Southeast Iowa Band Association Jazz Festival.

Jazz Collective placed second in the second band category and Jazz Ensemble advanced to the Iowa Jazz Championships with a wild card invitation. They’ll perform at the Iowa State Center in Ames on April 8.

Jazz Ensemble will also perform in the Corridor Jazz Project concert on March 11 in the Voxman Music Building Concert Hall. The concert is free to attend.

CJP is a project featuring local high schools that each perform with a professional jazz player. Each band had a professional recording session that will air on KCCK-FM, Iowa’s Jazz Station, which produced the event.

On Jan. 27, West’s Jazz Ensemble recorded “Chick on the Grill” by Victor Lopes and “Ms. Garvey, Ms. Garvey” by James Marshall at Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids. Their guest artist was saxophonist Dr. Damani Phillips, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Iowa.

They’ll play the same set with Dr. Phillips on March 11.