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Tokyo Tech News
Tokyo Tech's Latin jazz band, Los Guaracheros , won third prize at the 47th Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest (YBBJC) held on August 14.
Los Guaracheros hoisting trophy and commendation certificate
YBBJC is regarded as the most prestigious contest for university big bands in which 35 winners from nationwide preliminaries compete once a year. Some contest participants have gone on to become professional musicians. The wide variety of music fascinates audiences every year. A CD made up of recordings from the top ten bands will be on the market in October.
Los Guaracheros swinging barefoot at YBBJC
Riku Shinjo / Los Guaracheros bandleader
3rd year, Inorganic Materials
I am honored to win third prize in the 47th Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest, a nationwide contest of university big bands. We are blessed with the excellent environment at Tokyo Tech where we can practice in the open air, with support and encouragement from the Student Support Division and alumni. Los Guaracheros continues to deliver good music. Your support is much appreciated.
Takuya Yamashita / Los Guaracheros bandleader
3rd year, Inorganic Materials
I am honored to win third prize in the 47th Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest, a nationwide contest of university big bands. We are blessed with the excellent environment at Tokyo Tech where we can practice in the open air, with support and encouragement from the Student Support Division and alumni. Los Guaracheros continues to deliver good music. Your support is much appreciated.
Akira Sawano / Los Guaracheros concert master
3rd year, Chemical Engineering
Los Guaracheros members have been preparing for YBBJC since January. For the 15-minute performance in the contest, we chose the pieces we would perform, commissioned a professional to arrange them, and held a training camp just prior to YBBJC. We devoted our 2016 summer to practicing for the contest. As a result of all those efforts, we gave our best performance at the competition. I am filled with emotion as we won third prize. I am grateful to all persons concerned.
Current and former Los Guaracheros members
Los Guaracheros, one of Tokyo Tech's music clubs, has more than 50 years of history. Affectionally called "Los Gara", the big band plays jazz music mainly based on Caribbean tunes.
Los Guaracheros has about 70 members from Tokyo Tech and other universities and actually consists of two bands, regular and junior. Members of the regular band are chiefly 3rd-year bachelor-level students, while most 1st and 2nd-year students belong to the junior band. Their trademark stage costume is a colorful aloha shirt throughout the year, which creates a lively impression on audiences along with their swing.
The band plays at university festivals including the Tokyo Tech Festival, various joint concerts, and their regular concert in December. Their music is highly acclaimed and often attracts big audiences. Los Guaracheros won second prize in YBBJC in 2015.
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