Jazz Big Band wins magazine award

Zoom screen shot of WSU Jazz Big Band.Throughout the pandemic, the WSU Jazz Big Band stayed focused on their craft, leveraging Zoom and other technologies to practice, perform, and record music together while physically distanced.

This spring, DownBeat magazine awarded the band its 2022 Graduate College Large Jazz Ensemble Award, recognizing the quality of the band’s asynchronous virtual recordings.

The music submitted to DownBeat is included on the Jazz Big Band’s latest CD, “Jazz During Lockdown,” which is available at wsurecordings.com, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and other online sites.

Cover of DownBeat magazine.
The June 2022 cover of DownBeat’s awards edition.

DownBeat is the most important journal in jazz and its student music awards recognize top jazz programs around the country.

“This award is a great tribute to our outstanding students and faculty in the School of Music,” said band leader and Regents Professor Greg Yasinitsky, who is retiring after spring semester. “WSU has won a number of DownBeat magazine awards over the years, but this one is particularly sweet.”

Top image:  A screen capture of a WSU Jazz Big Band asynchronous performance.

From the School of Music, posted at WSU Insider