Calkins: Incredibly, the Central High jazz band did it. They won the whole thing.
The Central High jazz band won first place at the Essential Ellington contest in New York. (Courtesy Leia Spengler Baker)
Geoff Calkins
Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.
As Wynton Marsalis announced the winners, the 24 members of the Central High jazz band held hands.
The contest had been winnowed to three.
Hundreds of jazz bands from across the country and the world had competed to be included in the Essentially Ellington contest. Thirty bands had been invited to play at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
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