maybe you haven't been able to tell from other pages on this site, but jazz is a huge part of me. i listen to jazz, i play jazz, i love jazz. since i got serious about music back in high school, i have had the opportunity to perfrom in two high quality jazz ensembles, and i'd like to take a minute here to recognize all the people involved in them.

harlingen high school south jazz ensemble
1997-98

personnel

director:
  tommy fee

saxes:
  derek rodrigues, alto 1, soprano
  patty camacho, alto 2
  robert gonzalez, tenor 1
  eli muņoz, tenor 2
  alex flores, bari

trombones:
  reagan brumley, tenor 1
  david palomo, tenor 2
  kenneth partridge, tenor 3
  philip hoeflinger, tenor 4/bass
  matt benavidez, bass

trumpets:
  randy vela, trumpet 1
  andre garcia, trumpet 2
  hector peņaflor, trumpet 3
  david gonzales, trumpet 4

rhythm:
  vanessa hoelscher, piano
  roy barajas, bass
  nick gonzalez, drums/aux. percussion
  danny atkinson, aux. percussion/drums

accomplishments

    west oso coastal bend jazz festival- superior rating, 2nd place class 5A, 2nd overall
outstanding soloists: reagan brumley, alex flores, derek rodrigues

    texas a&m university-kingsville jazz festival- superior rating, 3rd place class 5A, 3rd overall
outstanding soloist: reagan brumley

    rio grande valley jazz festival- superior rating, 1st place class 5A, second overall
outstanding soloists: reagan brumley, alex flores, andre garcia, nick gonzalez, derek rodrigues, randy vela

    american classics: breckenridge classic- outstanding performance in large school division
outstanding soloist: reagan brumley, outstanding soloist of contest

    university of texas at austin jazz festival- 3rd place class 5A, 3rd overall
outstanding soloists: reagan brumley, alex flores, andre garcia, nick gonzalez, derek rodrigues, randy vela

festival program:
    scissors and glue, doug beach; 'round midnight, thelonious monk, arr. by dave wolpe; granada smoothie, mark taylor, sop. sax transc. by derek rodrigues

this band also performed several times during the course of the school year, including the hawk band christmas and spring concerts, the harlingen south hall of fame, and several other public performances

abilene christian university jazz ensemble
1998-99

personnel

director:
  christopher m. anderson

saxes:
  ken snow, alto 1*
  brian daniel, alto 2
  april martin, tenor 1
  amber mcdonald, tenor 2*
  derek rodrigues, bari*

trombones:
  marcus t carroll, tenor 1
  reagan brumley, tenor 2
  michael daugherity, tenor 3
  brazos condra, tenor 4/bass
  ben jordan, bass

trumpets:
  jacob faske, trumpet 1
  randy trowell, trumpet 2
  trey smith, trumpet 3
  wade sanchez, trumpet 4*
  charles wood, trumpet 5

rhythm:
  chris rampey, piano
  evan willerton, guitar*
  colin peden, bass
  chris brush, drums/aux. percussion
  jeff rogers, drums/aux. percussion

*this is the line-up for the spring semester of 1999. in the fall of 1998, dylan pfeifer played alto sax 1, derek rodrigues played tenor sax 2, ken snow played bari sax, the guitar chair was shared between wes martin and evan willerton, and some guy named drew played trumpet 4.

accomplishments

    in addition to making great strides towards playing together that no acu ensemble has ever made, this band was received extremely enthusiastically by its listening public at its four concerts throughout the year. we received thunderous applause like none other we had heard before following our performance at sing song, acu's annual variety show.
    our proudest moment, however, came in late april when we made a cross-town trek to castle sound productions (michael henry martin, owner) to record tracks for a cd to be released in the spring of 2000. this venture involved staying up until all hours of the night, bludgeoning certain sections of certain charts to death, and our drummer jeff rogers earning himself the proud distinction of "coffee whore." so far, we have put in a lot of hard work, but surely the final product will prove to be worth it all, and then some.

there's no place like home