EMILY REID/Arizona Daily Wildcat Kelland Thomas, assistant professor of music, plays with The Original Wildcat Jass Band Saturday night.

Doug Tidaback has all that jazz.

In only his second year as the assistant to the director of jazz studies, he has already led students from the UA and Pima County to large competition wins and organized the UA Jazz-a-thon.

More than 500 students, parents, teachers and musicians met at Bear Down Gymnasium Saturday for the Jazz-a-thon where ensembles of jazz students from Tucson participated in the festival with teachers and professional musicians.

Tidaback directed and performed with many of the groups.

He also teaches at the UA and serves as the Music and Education Director of the Arizona Jazz Academy. The academy gives students in Pima County the opportunity to explore and grow in the world of jazz.

"Jazz stimulates the three major ways we learn ÷ audio, visual and physical. It makes us more prime to learn," he said.

On April 5, jazz ensembles from the Arizona Jazz Academy and the UA Jazz Band competed against 350 ensembles in the 31st Annual Fullerton College Jazz Festival in California. The UA Jazz Band, under Tidaback's direction, beat out 14 other colleges for top honors in the University Big Band division.

Tidaback also directed the 2:30 Band and 7 O'Clock Big Band from the academy. The 7 O'Clock Big Band won first place in the high school division, the largest division of the festival. The 2:30 band took sixth place in the middle school division.

The UA has only been competing in the festival for two years, the same amount of time Tidaback has been directing them.

"Winning first place exceeded all our expectations," Tidaback said.

Four members of the UA Jazz Band received awards for outstanding musicianship. Jessica Lance, Robert Tashiro, Garrett McGaugh and Dan Bigler all received the awards from the International Association of Jazz Educators.

The Arizona Jazz Academy also had many students receive awards for outstanding musicianship from the International Association of Jazz Educators. Eighth-graders Paul Boettcher and Kassandra Hunter, members of the 2:30 Band of Arizona Jazz Academy, received these awards.

"It felt pretty good to win," Boettcher said. "Jazz is fun and I really like the sound."

"The festival was exciting with all the different bands and styles," Hunter said, "I would definitely go again."

Both students also performed at Saturday's Jazz-a-thon, along with other ensembles and professional musicians.

Mike Vax, international jazz musician, was a special guest at the Fullerton festival. He has been playing jazz for almost 45 years and has performed all over the world. He plays for Yamaha Musical Instruments and does jazz clinics for students around the world. Vax performed with many of the ensembles at the Jazz-a-thon.

"Jazz is America's only true art form. It started due to the number of different kinds of people in America," Vax said. "It brings people together, and could only have happened in America."