Hello and Welcome 

     Rio N.Y.N. is the longest running vocal jazz ensemble at Rio Linda High School. It was established in 2005 which was  Mr. Murray's first year at Rio Linda High School.

     The class began as "choir advanced."  Mr. Murray quickly turned it into a vocal jazz ensemble with some classical songs thrown in with the jazz pieces. The group entered the festival arena for the first time in the history of the school in January of 2006 by attending the Folsom Jazz Festival. 

     The ensemble, over the years, has performed at Folsom Jazz Festival, Reno Jazz Festival, Santa Cruz Jazz Festival, CSU Sacramento Jazz Festival, Columbia College Jazz Festival, Oceanside Jazz Festival, Fullerton Jazz Festival, The Sacramento Music Festival, Music In The Parks Music Festival - Santa Clara, Vallejo, and Anaheim, Disney Jazz (Anaheim, CA), Disney Performing Arts (Anaheim, CA). 

     N.Y.N. has passed auditions to perform at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai China, the Olympics in 2014 in London England, The Manhattan Jazz Festival, Disney Jazz in Florida, and The New York Voices Jazz Festival in Chicago.

     We will be reviewing  music & Jazz fundamentals. We will be focusing on close harmonies, intermediate to advanced vocal techniques, beginning to intermediate jazz vocal techniques, beginning to intermediate vocal improv techniques, beginning jazz piano - voicings of chords, arranging pieces for performance, and jazz theory. We will be performing difficulty level 1 to 3 charts from contemporary arrangers such as Jeremy Fox, Roger Emerson, Kerry Marsh, Kirby Shaw, Craig Murray, and Michele Weir.

     This ensemble will be limited to 12 to 16 singers - one on a mic. The reason is that jazz festivals usually provide 12 mics with an occasional festival providing 16.  You will be expected to hold your part as part of a quartet in rehearsals and on stage. We will be doing from 3 to 5 part harmony plus a solo line. We perform with a jazz combo.

2025 - 2026  Repertoire 

CSU Sacramento Jazz Festival (December 6, 2025) - Combo
Opener - Take The A-Train - Written by Billy Strayhorn, Arranged by Kirby Shaw
Ballad - Always- Written by Irving Berlin, Arranged by Kirby Shaw
Closer - Sandu - Written by Clifford Brown, Arranged by Rosana Eckert

Winter Concert (December 11, 2025) - Combo

Opener - Take The A-Train - Written by Billy Strayhorn, Arranged by Kirby Shaw
Closer - Sandu - Written by Clifford Brown, Arranged by Rosana Eckert

Woodcreek Jazz Festival (February 7, 2026) - Combo

Opener - Sandu - Written by Clifford Brown, Arranged by Rosana Eckert,
Ballad - At The End Of The Day - Written by Rosana Eckert, Arranged by Michele Weir
Closer - Route 66 - Written By: Bobby Troup, Arranged by Kirby Shaw

Spring Concert (March 19, 2026) - Combo
Opener - At The End Of The Day - Written by Rosana Eckert, Arranged by Michele Weir
Closer - . Route 66 - Written By: Bobby Troup, Arranged by Kirby Shaw

District Festival  (March 25, 2026) - (w/backing tracks)
1. Take The A-Train - Written by Billy Strayhorn, Arranged by Kirby Shaw
2. At The End Of The Day - Written by Rosana Eckert, Arranged by Michele Weir
3. Sandu - Written by Clifford Brown, Arranged by Rosana Eckert
4. Route 66 - Written By: Bobby Troup, Arranged by Kirby Shaw

Crossover with CCAA Jazz Band - TBD

L. A. Swing Tour (April 9 -12, 2026) - Oceanside Jazz
Opener -     Route 66 - Written By: Bobby Troup, Arranged by Kirby Shaw
Mid-Tempo - Master Blaster - Written by Stevie Wonder, Arranged by Jason Alex Smith,
Edited by Craig Murray
Ballad -     At The End Of The Day - Written by Rosana Eckert, Arranged by Michele Weir
Closer -  Don't You Worry 'bout A Thing - Written by Stevie Wonder, Arranged by Kerry Marsh, Edited by Craig Murray

Music In The Parks - Knott's Berry Farm
Opener - Route 66 - Written By: Bobby Troup, Arranged by Kirby Shaw
Ballad -     At The End Of The Day - Written by Rosana Eckert, Arranged by Michele Weir
Closer -  Peroxide Swing - Written by Andrew Van Slee, Arranged by Steve Zegree & Sarah Zegree

Medieval Times Performance (w/backing tracks)
Opener -     Take The A-Train - Written by Billy Strayhorn, Arranged by Kirby Shaw
Ballad - Always- Written by Irving Berlin, Arranged by Kirby Shaw
Closer - Peroxide Swing - Written by Andrew Van Slee, Arranged by Steve Zegree & Sarah Zegree

Spring Tour - Six Flags MITP (May 2, 2026) - (w/backing tracks)
Opener - Master Blaster - Written by Stevie Wonder, Arranged by Jason Alex Smith,
Edited by Craig Murray
Ballad - At The End Of The Day - Written by Rosana Eckert, Arranged by Michele Weir
Closer -  Don't You Worry 'bout A Thing - Written by Stevie Wonder, Arranged by Kerry Marsh, Edited by Craig Murray

Pops Concert - (May 14, 2025) - Combo
Opener - Master Blaster - Written by Stevie Wonder, Arranged by Jason Alex Smith,
Edited by Craig Murray
Closer - Don't You Worry 'bout A Thing - Written by Stevie Wonder, Arranged by Kerry Marsh, Edited by Craig Murray

Vocal Jazzers - We are working on going to Oceanside / MITP Knotts Berry Farm festival - April 9-12, 2026 and we will be performing at Medieval Times in the courtyard.
We will also be performing at the Music In The Parks Six Flags, Vallejo - May 2, 2026 with the rest of the department.

Performances

     We will have three home performances (Winter Concert, Spring Concert, and Pops Concert) as well as a performance at the District Festival Of The Arts. 

     We will attend a few festivals each year. The ones with an " * " are confirmed and the ones with the " ^" are open for discussion.

CSU Sacramento Jazz Festival*
Woodcreek Jazz Festival*
D. F. O. T. A. - Festival of the Arts
L. A. Swing Tour - Oceanside Vocal Jazz Festival / Knotts Berry MITP Festival
Spring Tour - Music In The Parks Music Festival - Whole Department (Vallejo CA)*

We will have other "outside" performances other than those listed. We will be singing Christmas Carols in December for the Christmas Parade in Rio Linda. And as they come up I will let you know and see if we can do them. If it is more than 2 weeks before we will make it "required" and if it is less than those two weeks then we can see who can make it.

National Anthem - This year we will be learning the national anthem as a soloist, trio, quartet, and choir. We have many requests to go and perform the song for sporting events, meetings, etc.

Uniforms

Ladies: Jazz Swing Dresses, black closed toe flats (no more than 1 inch heels), both the gold and the red belts (we’ll choose before we go on), and nude nylons (whatever is appropriate for you).

Gentlemen: 2-piece tuxedos, crazy cool tie, black dress shoes (no boots), black dress socks, and black long-sleeved collared shirt.

You will have a Music Handbook packet to fill out and sign, as will your parental unit(s) (parents, guardians, etc.)

Fundraising - All funds that are raised via a fundraising effort sponsored by the Music Department (regardless of where it is held) remains in the department should you decide to leave the ensemble. If we have your consent form to do the LA Swing (Oceanside Jazz Festival, etc.) then we have already spent that money on your behalf based on your signature, and that of your guardian/parent.

Travel - Beginning 2021 we changed our travel patterns. We will be going to local festivals and one big festival each year. Beginning in Fall 2025 we will discuss more than these festivals prior to the end of the previous school year.

MrM