Farmington High School Jazz Band will host the US Army Field Band for a free concert Oct. 29

• Photo: FHS Jazz Band

The Farmington High School Jazz Band will host the Jazz Ambassadors, the US Army’s Field Band, for a free concert on Monday, Oct. 29. The Jazz Ambassadors have played before audiences around the world, and are bringing their music to FHS. The high school jazz band will do three numbers as an introduction, and FHS band director Jeff Gottwig, an Army veteran, may jump in to play a few tunes with the Jazz Ambassadors. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., in the high school concert hall. It is open to the public.

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Two very talented jazz bands will together to do a free concert for the community later this month at Farmington High School.

The FHS jazz band will host the United States Army Field Band, commonly called the Jazz Ambassadors, Oct. 29, and the concert promises to be one to remember.

The Jazz Ambassadors are the US Army’s 19-member ensemble that travels around the world to entertain audiences. The jazz band does all types of music – big band swing, bebop, contemporary jazz, standards, Dixieland and more. Members of the Jazz Ambassadors are selected through highly competitive auditions, and are among the most talented musicians in America.

“They’re really good,” Farmington High School jazz band director Jeff Gottwig said, “and they’re coming here because one of the members has heard the Farmington jazz band and thinks we’re really good.”

The FHS jazz band is well known around the state, thanks to winning several competitions over the years. Gottwig was approached by a member of The Jazz Ambassadors, and the two came up with an idea for a joint concert.

“This is an opportunity for the community. This is one of the top-rated bands in the country. I mean, this is the best of the best. These are some of the best musicians in the country,” Gottwig said of the Jazz Ambassadors.

The Farmington High School jazz band will open for the Jazz Ambassadors. FHS students are working on three pieces in preparation for the event, which will be held in the auditorium at Farmington High School. There is a possibility that Gottwig, an Army veteran, will also sit in on a few pieces with the Jazz Ambassadors, but “we haven’t worked out those details yet,” he said.

Gottwig and his band are not nervous about performing for such an elite group of musicians. Not at all. Besides, the audience will hopefully be full of folks from Farmington, so students want to impress them just as much.

“We’ve held our own for the last 30 years. We’ve never not placed in any of the festivals we’ve been in. We certainly want to make a good showing, but this is more of an opportunity for us to showcase our program to the people of our area. We’d like all walks of life to come down to Farmington and hear our band,” Gottwig said.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., at Farmington High School. It is free and open to the public. The concert hall seats 800.

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