Hello, colleagues across the state of Alabama. I hope that the summer has provided you time to rest, reflect, enjoy time with family, and achieve all the goals you set for this short time away from school. I am excited to welcome Ben Posey as our Jazz Division Vice-Chair for the next two years. Mr. Posey is a band director at Bumpus Middle School, in Hoover, and is active in jazz education as a teacher. His jazz program at Bumpus continues to grow and many of his students have earned positions in the All-State Jazz Bands.

All-State Jazz Band auditions are some of the earliest auditions on our calendar, and we hope to make the All-State Jazz Band an event that your students look forward to each year.

Registration instructions, audition instructions, and audition materials are available online at myamea.org/aba. Registration and audition recording submissions are all done electronically. Students are required to perform scales, etude, and play-along tunes, all submitted electronically via a link. The deadline for registration and payment is October 30, 2019. The deadline for submitting student recordings is November 13, 2019.

The All-State Jazz Band festival takes place at the AMEA conference on January 16-18, 2020 at the Renaissance Montgomery. We have a stellar panel of clinicians to work with your students this year, including:

• Jim Ketch – Gold Band, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Tom Luer – Silver Band, Freelance Saxophonist, Los Angeles, CA
• Sallie Vines White – Bronze Band, Hoover High School, Hoover, Alabama
• Art Ruangtip – Middle School Band Rowlett High School, Rowlett, Texas

I hope that you have a successful start to your new school year and achieve the goals you set for yourself and your program. I also hope to see many of your students involved in the All-State Jazz Band audition and festival process. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you have along the way.