10 Apr 2002
Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Jazz Combo Repeats First-place Win
DALLAS– The Dallas Independent School District's Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Jazz Combo clinched a spot on the main stage of the 45th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival to be held Sept. 20-22, 2002.
Directed by Bart Marantz, Booker T. Washington's six-member combo on Saturday, April 6, beat out schools from across the nation at The Monterey Jazz Festival's 32nd Annual National High School Jazz Competition, earning the right to return to the festival for the second year in a row.
Mathew Marantz, alto saxophonist, won the Best Jazz Soloist award at the competition in California.
The world–famous jazz group played to an appreciative, standing room only crowd at the festival, event officials said. "I'm very, very excited for the students, for Dallas and for the Dallas Independent School District," Marantz said. "These are incredible musicians."
The combo, comprised of a senior, a junior and four sophomores was the recipient of Down Beat Magazine's Best Jazz Combo in North America in 2001.