In just its second year of existence, Kentlake's Jazz Ensemble took top honors in the Heritage New Orleans Jazz Festival. In 1999, the Jazz Ensemble finished 1st in its classification at the Reno Jazz Festival and 3rd at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. That same year, the group undertook the challenge of performing the Ellington/Strayhorn “Jazz Nutcracker Suite” in its entirety, and committed to making it an annual event by performing it again during the subsequent holiday seasons. That annual performance has since evolved into the highly popular Jingle Jazz Concert. One of the benefits of being a new high school in these times is having up to date technology, which includes digital recording capabilities. The jazz ensemble students have recorded, engineered and produced a composite CD of the 1998-2000 and 2004 Kentlake Jazz Ensembles, and even contributed the cover art as well. Just this week the Kentlake High School Jazz Ensemble has been declared the winner (by taped audition) of the “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Contest”, sponsored by Selmer Music Co., resulting in a performance by the recording group at Kentlake on March 21, 2001. To top it off, the 2001 band was selected as one of the top 15 groups nationally and performed at the prestigious Essentially Ellington Festival in New York City. In 2004 the Jazz Ensemble took Grand Sweepstakes honors at the New Orleans Heritage Festival, which it also attended in 2010.