All-State Jazz Combo

In 2017, the South Carolina Band Directors Association approved a proposal to start an All-State Jazz Combo that will perform as part of the Master Recital Concert on Saturday afternoon of the SCEMA Conference in Columbia. The audition procedures and play-along track downloads are available below. Additional information regarding the clinician will be posted as soon as possible. If you have any questions regarding the clinic or the auditions, please be sure to refer to the All-State Jazz Combo section in the Jazz Committee portion of the handbook or contact Mark Yost.

All-State Jazz Combo Audition Procedures

  1. Same as all-state jazz ensembles. See Section IV of SCBDA Handbook – Jazz.
  2. Students must audition for the all-state jazz ensembles to be considered for the all-state jazz combo.
  3. At the conclusion of the all-state jazz audition, students interested in the all-state jazz combo will be asked to play “Billie’s Bounce” by Charlie Parker – the tune used for the chord changes of the big band audition etude.
    1. Wind players will play through the melody one time and then, without stopping, improvise three (3) choruses using the Billie’s Bounce winds accompaniment track found on the All-State Jazz portion of Bandlink.
    2. Bass players will play the melody one time, then improvise two (2) choruses, and then perform a walking bass line for the last chorus using the Billie’s Bounce bass accompaniment track found on the All-State Jazz Combo portion of Bandlink.
    3. Piano, guitar, and vibes will play the melody one time, improvise for two (2) choruses and then comp for the last chorus using the Billie’s Bounce Piano, Guitar, & Vibe accompaniment track found on the All-State Jazz Combo portion of Bandlink.
    4. Drummers should play “time” for the first chorus as if performing with a combo playing the melody and then trade fours for two (2) choruses and solo for a complete chorus, and then back into time for the last chorus using the Billie’s Bounce Drum accompaniment track found on the All-State Jazz Combo portion of Bandlink.
  4. Both the original melody and the improvisation will be performed with the accompaniment tracks that are provided on Bandlink. (Be sure to use the Billie’s Bounce tracks, as the tempo is different than the tracks for the etude).
  5. The leadsheet for Billie’s Bounce can be found in Real Book Volume II and the Charlie Parker Omnibook, both published by Hal Leonard, and are available on Amazon and jazzbooks.com. THE LEADSHEET WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE ON BANDLINK.
  6. Clinic dates and times, as well as the adjudication rubric and additional information regarding the All-State Jazz Combo, can be found in Chapter 7 of the handbook.

    MP3 Tracks for 2018 Jazz Combo Audition