All Blues, the combined Otago Girls' and Boys' High Schools jazz band, performed at the Dunedin Youth Jazz Festival Band Competitions at Hanover Hall on Friday 4, August. The band was awarded a silver award for their fine performance of three classic jazz compositions: "Moten Swing" by Benny Moten; "Milestones" by Miles Davis and "Birdland" by Joe Zawinul. Individual instrument awards were also gained by Finn Marshall and Jehaan Gydien, who delivered the "Most Promising" performances on Alto Saxophone and Flute respectively.

As a band director, I was particularly impressed by the overall ensemble playing of the band and their ability to play in the different genres - "swing", "modal" and "jazz-rock" fusion. The solid foundation of Rata Williams on the drums and Jenny de la Harpe on the electric bass allowed us to explore these different genres with ease. Strong solos were performed throughout the set by Finn Marshall (alto), Jehaan Gydien (flute), Jayden Lu (tenor), Oban Voice (trumpet), Nikita Lu (trombone), Theresa Radka (trombone) and James More (guitar). These players particularly shone but the entire band are to be congratulated for a fine performance: Jasmine Potter, Phoenix Harris, Henry Hodgeson, Katherine McArthur, Harper Dean, Odin Callandar, Connor Purvis, Emily Lokman, Louis Stevenson, Anson Fung, Caleb Wayne and Sarah Pushenko.As chairperson of the Dunedin Jazz Foundation, I was pleased by the smooth running of the event and the choice of Hanover Hall as a venue. Using the home of the "Dunedin Jazz Club" as the venue for the band competitions created a buzzing atmosphere that was supported by the attendance of parents on the upper level. We also ran a workshop at the University of Otago Recording Studio and a jam session at Yours Cafe on Saturday afternoon. I would like to thank Eugene Shields for helping with the administration of the festival and all trustees / committee members of the DJF for helping to stage the event.