Grand County High School senior Alan Snow was recently selected as a bass player for the Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band for the 2016-2017 season. He will be playing both the upright and electric bass.
Snow first learned about the Crescent Super Band while performing earlier this year with the All-State Jazz Band in St. George.
Organized in 2001 under the direction of award-winning performer, author and educator Caleb Chapman, the Crescent Super Band has frequently been hailed as one of the best professional bands in the world to be comprised entirely of young musicians.
With youthful energy, the band has performed its big band arrangements for thousands. While the ensemble has been featured at many of the world’s most prominent music festivals, its crowning performance was a headlining debut at a packed Carnegie Hall in May 2013.
On multiple occasions since 2007, DownBeat Magazine has recognized the Crescent Super Band with its coveted “Downbeat Award.”
The band has also won 13 “Best of State” awards for Utah, including 10 consecutive years as Utah’s “Best Professional Band.” In 2016, the band’s members were also named national finalists for Wynton Marsalis’ prestigious Essentially Ellington Competition.
The Crescent Super Band has caught the attention of many of today’s top artists, as well. Since its inception, the band has performed with over two hundred guest artists, including Jeff Coffin, Esperanza Spalding, Dave Matthews Band, Maroon 5, Journey, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Tower of Power, Rolling Stones and the Saturday Night Live Band.
The band has been selected to play at the 8th Annual JEN (Jazz Educators Network) Conference in New Orleans during the first week of January 2017.
The Cresent Super Band will have multiple regional performances throughout the winter and spring in Utah, including the Peaks Jazz Festival in Salt Lake City on Feb. 24-25, 2017. It has also been invited to perform at several jazz venues in Austria, Germany and Hungary during a two-week tour this upcoming summer of 2017.
Snow has been playing music since the third grade, starting with an afterschool program. In fourth grade, he started working with BEACON Moab Strings Program Director Nanci Flesher and eventually the BEACON Moab Strings Program.
Snow started on guitar, but at Flesher’s advice, he moved to the upright bass, and says he loves it.
At Grand County High School, Snow has been a member of the award-winning marching band, jazz band and concert band programs. Last fall and this summer, Snow performed weekly at the Moab Backyard Theater and has recorded two albums with Quicksand Soup.
Snow said he would like to thank the many teachers and professional musicians for sharing their time, patience and skills with him, as well as the Moab Music Festival and the community for their continued support of local music programs. He would also like to thank all of the people who have supported him along the way, including family and friends, and the teachers, staff and administrators at the Grand County School District.
Snow plans to further his music education after high school by attending college to study music.
Snow will be doing several fundraisers to help him with the expenses of traveling to New Orleans and Europe. The Crescent Super Band plans to sell a Christmas CD that it will be recording this fall.
Snow and his family will start fundraising by selling pork burritos. They are currently taking orders until Saturday, Oct. 8, for delivery on Saturday, Oct. 15. They are $20 for a dozen, or a half dozen for $15.
If you would like to place an order, contact Tammy Snow at 435-260-0798.
All proceeds from the fundraisers will go to his travel-related expenses.
Alan Snow to perform bass with Crescent Super Band
