All State Jazz band

 Rachel made it through two rounds or auditions and got into All-State Jazz Band this year! It's quite an accomplishment and very exciting! The performance was on a Thursday night up in Mesa, and she had to be there all day Wednesday and Thursday for rehearsals, so the school was going to pay for a hotel room, but we thought it would be a fun opportunity for her to visit with her second cousin, Mariah, and Susie was gracious enough to rearrange her schedule allow Rachel to stay with them and to get her where she needed to be. Jacob drove her up Tuesday night and Wednesday morning Susie drove her to downtown Mesa and passed her off to Mr Bailey who would keep track of her during the day.

She said it was a lot of fun playing with lots of really great musicians. Everyone got at least one solo, and Rachel ended up with a couple of them. They ate lunch with some of the other Tucson band directors and students both days and went out to dinner Wednesday night with some of them. Since jazz musicians are predominantly male, Rachel was a bit in the minority and some of the meals she just hung back with the directors since some of the guys are weird. But even that was part of the charm. She had a good time all around and loved being able to paricitpate. 

We drove up Thursday night to watch the performance, and Susie's family came, too. We ate dinner together then went see the show. And it was so good! The only complaint was that it ended at 9pm, then we still had 2 hours to drive home. Rachel was amazing on her solos, and we all enjoyed the music. Mr Bailey sat with us and it was touching to see him wiping tears away after Rachel did so well on her first solo. 

The kid next to Rachel has the "jazz stank face" that means he's really digging what she's playing.