While the weather has been all over the place in recent days, music lovers can be assured calming Valley Winds are in the forecast.
The Valley Winds’ 18-piece Big Band will play a matinee at the Canmore Legion, April 16, from 4-6 p.m.
The afternoon’s entertainment, said director Ben Miles, “let’s us get out of the classroom and put our music before an audience. We had a Christmas show and a fall fundraiser dance show, but this one will be jazz-focussed.”
Big Band at the Legion is a free event and will feature select vocals by Leanne Decoteau, along with four trumpets and trombones and five saxes and rhythm section players.
As a big band, said Miles, “it’s tough to find musicians to fill out large organizations. Right now, we need a bass player (electric or standup), although we will have one for the Legion show.”
The big band is just one segment of the Valley Winds Music Association, which began in 1994 and which includes choir and jazz band and attracts performers from around the Valley and Calgary and Red Deer.
“The whole thing started as a simple, adult ‘let’s get out and have some fun concept’. It still is that, but over the years it kept growing into the three groups we have today.”
For Miles, also a trumpet player who appears in a trio regularly in the Valley, becoming involved in the association’s big band was a natural fit. The Humber College grad said. “big band has always been my favourite music. It’s different in today’s economic climate, though, because it’s hard to keep a big band going.
“Today, the big band is a part-time thing, but I like to think we’re keeping the tradition alive. We’re a community of musicians keeping the spirit alive.
“In the ‘50s and ‘60s, big bands waned because rock and pop were making their way into the mainstream. But there’s a lot of great music out there and there’s a lot of opportunity for composers and creativity.”
By keeping the big band sound alive in the Valley, said Miles, musicians, new musicians and former musicians have a chance to sit in and make music happen.
“In the band we have doctors, realtors and people who played in high school, but haven’t since,” said Miles. “Having the band lets people in the community know they can come back and get into it.
“For me, it’s a social thing, but at the same time, I like to put the music out there; it gets our hearts beating and it’s very exhilarating to be in those moments.”
Big Band at the Legion will have two 45-minute sets and will feature classics like “Tuxedo Junction”, a funky version of “Brick House” by the Commodores and classics by John Coltrane. Decoteau’s vocal offerings will range from R&B to classic swing.
“It’s great the Legion is making a place for us,” said Miles. “It’s hard to find a place for a big band, but hopefully this will work out and we’ll be able to make it a seasonal effort.
“Big band is about energy and ballads and arranging with some drive behind it. It’s a fun sport and a good two-hour social event.”
