December Jazz Ensemble Concert Program

One By One (1963) - Wayne Shorter; arr. Mark Taylor

Solo - Evan Turzynski, guitar

All Blues (1974) - Miles Davis; arr. Michael Sweeney

Solos - Garrett Marshall, piano & Tamina Reynoso-Lopez, tenor

North Africa (2005) - Chick Corea; arr. Mike Tomaro

Solos - Anna Braatz, Alaithia Leffin, Summer Tommerdahl

Purple Snowflakes (1965) - Gaye, Hamilton, Paul; arr. Jack Courtright

Soloist: Jack Courtright, Michelle Roehl

Joy to the World (2017) - arr. Richard DeRosa

Solo - Charlie Gustafson, rubboard

Rockabye River (1943) - Duke Ellington

Solos - Nathan Vigniavo, horn; Miles Zimmerman, alto

Let the Boy Play (2024) - Jack Courtright

Solos - Natalie Zick, alto; Jack Courtright, trombone

Traces (2016) - Camila Meza; arr. Jack Courtright

Solos - Aniya Bostick, vocals; Corey Pajarillo, guitar; Jack Courtright, trombone

Consensus (2025) - Jack Courtright

World premier - commissioned by the AVHS Band Boosters in celebration 50 years of band at AVHS and in loving memory of Shelley Rasmussen.

Solos - Miles Zimmerman, alto; Corey Pajarillo, guitar

A 2015 graduate of Apple Valley High School, Jack holds a Bachelor's in Applied Trombone and Jazz Studies from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Mark Kellogg and Larry Zalkind. While at Eastman, Jack also studied arranging with Bill Dobbins and was the recipient of the Lois Smith Rogers Scholarship, the Steven Witser Award for Excellence, a Performer’s Certificate, and was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda. Jack also holds a MM from the University of North Texas. At UNT Jack directed the Seven O’Clock Lab Band and the U-Tubes jazz trombone ensemble while studying with Nick Finzer and serving as Jazz Chair trombonist in the One O’Clock Lab Band. In addition to leading his own big band, Jack currently serves as Director of Jazz Ensembles at East Texas A&M University.

Jack was the winner of the 2021 UNT/Conn-Selmer International Jazz Trombone Competition, the International Trombone Association’s 2021 JJ Johnson Competition and 2016 Carl Fontana Competition as well as the American Trombone Workshop’s 2018 National Solo Jazz Competition. Under Jack's direction, the University of North Texas' jazz trombone ensemble, The U-Tubes, were named winners of the ITA's 2021 Kai Winding Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competition. He has performed at festivals and venues in Switzerland, Germany, Canada and across the U.S. As a performer, Jack can be heard on studio recordings with Charles Pillow (“Electric Miles” - 2017), the Saplings (“The Saplings” - 2017, “Go Digital” - 2019), SPACE (“Non-Trivial Problem” - 2019), Ben Britton ("Gravity Leak" - 2020) and Tommy Gearhart (“Listen” - 2020). He also leads an active freelance career, performing with groups such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Sundance Square Big Band, Dave Rivello Ensemble, Popstyle, Calle Uno, Orquesta Antonetti, Amendous Quartet, East End Brass, Prime Time Brass, Vileman and the Excaliburs and more.  

​As a composer and arranger, Jack’s writing has been performed by the One O’Clock Lab Band, Minneapolis-based jazz quintet SPACE, Rochester-based pop-fusion band The Saplings, folk/contradance band Lake Effect, and his works for trombone ensemble have been performed by groups at Eastman, UW-Eau Claire, UNT, TCU, NIU, the Merit School and the ITF's Kramer Choir, among others. Jack has also been commissioned to write works for the Hohenfels Trombone Quartet, Broken Bones Trombone Quartet, Lauren Rudzinskas (Mansfield University), Tim Smith (Buffalo Philharmonic), the Gabriel V Brass Ensemble (Boston) and the Apple Valley High School Jazz Ensemble (Apple Valley, MN).