Published On: December 2nd, 2015By Leticia Fehling

Eisenhower’s DeVionne Jones Makes All-State Jazz

DeVionne Jones

DeVionne Jones has done it again. [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Last year, the Eisenhower High School student made All-State Band. This year, the Ike trombone player made All-State Jazz.

He is the first two-year all-stater from Eisenhower since Phuong Nguyen who made it in 1994 and 1995. DeVionne broke a 16-year drought last year making the All-State Concert Band. This year he has done something few students are able to do and crossed over genres to make it in jazz.

In October, four Eisenhower students earned spots in the Region band. The musicians were Óscar Saldana on piano, José Barrios on tenor sax, as well as Gabriel Aguilar and DeVionne on trombone.

The musicians could then submit their audition recordings for Area tryouts. There were 60 trombone players from across Texas who auditioned for the Area level. DeVionne placed third and earned a spot in the top Jazz Ensemble.

DeVionne Jones and Michael Owens

Michael Owen is proud of DeVionne’s major achievement. Owen is band director at Ike High.

“This shows what happens when one has a dream, sets goals, and works toward those goals,“ said Owen. “After making All-State last year, DeVionne set a goal. He wanted to make All-State Jazz. Since February he has focused on accomplishing this difficult task. And he did it.“

DeVionne will travel to San Antonio for the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Texas Music Educators Association convention. He will spend three days in rehearsals before his final performance on February 13.