Garrettsville – The James A. Garfield Music Department presented the Third Annual Soup’d up Jazz Festival Saturday night at the elementary school. The fundraiser dinner attracted nearly 200 folks who came out to enjoy a wonderful soup and salad dinner along with some fantastic jazz music. Folks could choose from chili, chicken noodle, minestrone, potato and vegetable soups, add a salad, bread and a dessert and, voila, they had dinner. While they were enjoying a scrumptious meal they could kick back and listen to the talented students performing jazz selections. The sixth grade jazz band opened the show and delighted the crowd. They were followed by the middle school jazz band. The middle school jazz band featured solos by Janis Nystrom, on the clarinet and Lauren Jones on the Saxophone in Blue Dinosaurs. Both bands did a great job at entertaining the diners. The Varsity Gold Show Choir took to the stage taking us back in time by singing and dancing to a medley of songs from days gone by. The fifteen choir members rocked it out with choreographed dancing that was a delight for the audience. The choir closed out their show with “Build Me Up, Buttercup”. While the band members made adjustments to the stage, the boosters held their 50/50 drawing and Chinese auction for the gift baskets. The 50/50 winner chose to donate the money back to the boosters. The high school Black and Gold Swing Machine rounded out the evening playing tunes like “Keep the Motor Runnin”, “Picking up the Pieces”, “Love Shack” and more. The band featured soloists Stefan Wickli on the trombone, and Nick Crawford on the keyboard, Eileen Mangan on the trumpet, and Levi Milko on alto saxophone, Dan Anders and Travis Orr also performed saxophone solos. A great time was had by all. The jazz festival was sponsored by the band boosters. Proceeds from the event go to the band boosters.
