On stage they’re known as the Combined Colleges Jazz Combo, but perhaps need a name change to better fit its recently-acquired gold status.
The five-member ensemble from Nelson College and Nelson College for Girls was one of the top brass at mid-June’s Ara JazzQuest, a prestigious Christchurch competition for Aotearoa’s secondary school rising jazz talent.
Tully King-Turner on saxophone, Oliver Diamond on trombone, Ciara Higginbotham on bass, Grace Palmer on guitar and Kinnaree Price on drums make up the group.
Oliver, who along with Tully are the band’s freshmen, says earning gold at the event is “pretty hard”.
So, perhaps a good excuse to do jazz hands.
“We’re pretty pleased, the past couple of years the jazz combo has got silver so we’re all pretty happy celebrating and whatnot,” he enthuses.
“It’s the best contest to go to for this sort of ensemble and the group has done it before, and so we thought we'd continue that and try and get gold this time, and we did.”
The competition required a 30-minute set, along with workshops with Ara Institute of Canterbury music tutors, before adjudicators assessed each group’s musicianship, cohesion and presentation at a gala concert.
The group will next perform at the Nelson Jazz Winter Fest later this month.
