A jazz big band at the University of Colorado at Boulder and its lead trumpeter have won Down Beat magazine student music awards, widely considered to be the most prestigious national recognition for jazz students.
The June issue of Down Beat magazine cites CU Jazz Ensemble I for "Outstanding Performance: College Big Band," and master's degree student Kevin Woods as "College Co-Winner: Instrumental Jazz Soloist." The band is led by Jazz Studies Director John Davis and is comprised of 17 undergraduate and graduate students on saxophones, trumpets, trombones, piano, bass and drums.
An enhanced podcast about the new CU-Boulder Down Beat winners featuring interviews, photos and music is available at .
The awards to Woods and Jazz Ensemble I are among 13 given to the CU-Boulder College of Music's Jazz Studies program in the last five years, more than any other school in the Rocky Mountain region. A number of Down Beat winners have gone on to become stars of the international jazz community.
The current winners were chosen for their recordings of the songs "It's All Right With Me," "Fun House" and "Nice Work If You Can Get It." All three songs are part of a new CD produced by the program titled "CU Over The Rainbow." Davis said Woods was recognized in part for great technical ability on the high-tempo Cole Porter tune "It's All Right With Me."
"It's a burning fast tempo," Davis said. "It's a real challenge to improvise well on a piece that fast. Kevin just soars on it."
Woods said fast bebop is his forte. "It's a great tune and a really fun arrangement to play," he said. "It's swinging and it hits hard."
Davis said Woods has a good jazz vocabulary at this point in his career. "Now he's starting to balance that with his own personality, and that's what you look for in a soloist. I think the Down Beat judges recognized that.
"These guys have only one or two minutes to tell their improvisational story," Davis said. "They have to be able to quickly demonstrate historical perspective and skill on their instrument, along with some personal depth, maturity and an individual voice. That's the highest level. It's a lifelong pursuit - every musician is striving to improve as long as they're playing, because there's always more to learn."
Woods said internalizing the work of jazz legends is an important part of the process, along with learning the nuts and bolts of jazz music theory. But eventually, you can't help but be yourself, he said. "I don't think you can ever get away from playing who you are and where you're from - it's so deeply ingrained in you."
Jazz has been a part of Woods' life since early childhood. He grew up in Washington state emulating his father, a jazz trumpeter. In 1999, Woods traveled with a big band to Italy for six weeks, playing concerts and learning from sessions with Italian jazz musicians. The band played several shows for monks in monasteries, he said. "They'd really appreciate the music, and when we'd finish they'd have a seven-course meal for us. It was an amazing experience."
Davis said the growth of jazz and its audience in the Denver area during the last 25 years has been impressive. The state's jazz festivals, schools and club and concert scene are flourishing. "Denver is a bustling, happening town now," he said. "Nationally, people understand that. Denver is a place they're hearing good things about."
The new "CU Over The Rainbow" CD, including the recordings recognized by Down Beat, also honors the life of Lynn Unkefer, a supporter of the program who enjoyed attending college concerts and jazz camp performances. The new CD is named for one of Lynn's favorite songs and the cover features one of her paintings.
"One of Lynn's favorite tunes was 'Over The Rainbow,'" Davis said. "It was a nice way for us to say 'thank you'. "
Interviews, photos and music from the new CU-Boulder Down Beat winners are available online at . For information on the CU-Boulder Jazz Studies department, see .
Down Beat magazine has chronicled the history of jazz and blues music since 1934. Annually it accepts taped submissions from scholastic and collegiate musicians for consideration in the student awards competition. Visit for more information on Down Beat Magazine.