The Blue River Big Band

Jefferson Pointe – September 3, 2010

By Jason | Published: August 31, 2010

Our third straight performance at Jefferson Pointe is coming up soon – this Friday, September 3. Click here to read about our performance at Jefferson Pointe last year.

This has quickly become one of our favorite places to perform and it’s not hard to see why. The atmosphere is so relaxed that it’s just really easy to lay back and enjoy playing. There has always been a great turn-out at Jefferson Pointe (approx. 600 in 2009) which increases the energy level significantly during the show. For all those reasons (plus the restaurants in the immediate area) I must say that if I were not in the band this would be the performance that I would most likely come to.

As always, we’ll be playing a great variety of tunes. Some will come from the tunes that we’ve been featuring all summer like an excellent Tom Kubis arrangement of “When You’re Smilin’” which has become one of our favorite numbers this year as well as a Basie-style tune called “Queen Bee” composed by Sammy Nestico. Dawn will be singing a really nice mix charts covering everything from Latin (“Gentle Rain”), jazz (“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”), blues (“Every Day I Have The Blues”) and R&B (“Fever”).

But for Jefferson Pointe we like to make sure to throw in some charts that are especially fun to listen to (pop, rock, etc). For example, we’ll be playing a rousing version of “Dance to the Music” to make sure things didn’t get too serious.

We hope to see you there!

Posted in 1: Upcoming Performances | Leave a comment

Columbia City, IN – Libarary Concert Series

By Jason | Published: August 2, 2010

We were out at the Whitley County Courthouse in downtown Columbia City on August 14, 2010 from 6-7:45pm as part of the Library’s summer concert series (click here for Google Maps). We have been playing out here since the band started back in 2001 so this concert occupies a special place in our musical hearts. The crowd turnout was great and everyone had a really good time, helped the band to lay back and have fun.

We had a really nice mix of classic big band (I’ve Got You Under My Skin), some great blues charts (Every Day I Have The Blues), Latin (The Gentle Rain) and a few pop tunes (Dance to the Music) thrown in for good measure. We continued to play some of the great tunes that we used in 2010 like Cole Porter’s “You Do Something To Me” and an up-tempo version of “Till You Come Back To Me”.

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Kehoe Park, Bluffton – August 1, 2010

By Jason | Published: July 25, 2010

Click below for an article from the Bluffton newspaper about this performance!

The News Banner – Aug 2, 2010 pg 2

We were thrilled to have perform in Bluffton for the first time at a really nice outdoor facility – the Kehoe Park. This performance was a part of the Kehoe Park Summer Concert Series.

We be used a lot of the same tunes as in the Foellinger concert but there were some differences. We opened up the concert with a simple blues tune called “One More Blues” and opened it up so nearly everyone in the band took a couple choruses of blues solos, which was really fun. We played an excellent Tom Kubis arrangement of “When You’re Smilin’” which has become one of our favorite numbers this year as well as a Basie-style tune called “Queen Bee” composed by Sammy Nestico.

Dawn sang a really nice mix charts covering everything from Latin (“Gentle Rain”), jazz (“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”), blues (“Every Day I Have The Blues”) and R&B (“Fever”). Most of these tunes are new for that band this year.

In addition to these new tunes, we pulled out some great tunes that we haven’t played for several years like a fun New Orleans style arrangement of “Just A Closer Walk”. And for the big band purists out there, we played the original version of “Sing Sing Sing” featuring our drummer, Kevin Haydl, as well as a few other big band classics.

Finally, one really cool thing during this concert was that the audience was able to get their hands on some maracas (a Latin percussion instrument) and shake them furiously during a couple Latin tunes that the band played. We love audience participation!

Posted in 2: Past Performances | 1 Comment

Foellinger Theater – July 24, 2010

By Jason | Published: July 21, 2010

On Saturday, July 24, 2010 from 8-10pm we had our second straight performance at the beautiful Foellinger Theater in Fort Wayne, IN. Tickets for the event were $4. Click here to read about our performance there in 2009.

We did some additional preparation for this event and had a 100% new line-up of tunes from last year…not a single repeat! So we had plenty of new and fun tunes for eveyone . We played an excellent Tom Kubis arrangement of “When You’re Smilin’” which has become one of our favorite numbers this year as well as a Basie-style tune called “Queen Bee” composed by Sammy Nestico. And, the band always enjoys playing at least one upbeat pop tunes so we threw in a rousing version of “Dance to the Music” to make sure things didn’t get too serious.

Dawn sang a really nice mix charts covering everything from Latin (“Gentle Rain”), jazz (“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”), blues (“Every Day I Have The Blues”) and R&B (“Fever”).

In addition to these new tunes, however, we pulled out some great tunes that we hadn’t played for several years like a fun New Orleans style arrangement of “Just A Closer Walk” and we performed the classic ballad “God Bless The Child” which featured Dr. Paul Worfel on trombone. For the big band purists in the crowd we played the original versions of “Sing Sing Sing” and Earl Hines’ excellent alto sax feature “Harlem Nocture” which featured our lead alto, Mark Fritz.

Performing at Foellinger always seems to inject an extra boost of energy into the band…and this year was no exception! We all had a great time and I think the crowd did, too. Below is a picture from our appearance at Foellinger in 2009.

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Old Settler’s Concert – June 23, 2010

By Jason | Published: June 19, 2010

Old Settler’s has always been one of my personal favorite times of summer and it was such great to have the opportunity to be a small part of it! There was a really diverse line-up of bands who performed throughout the week and Blue River Big Band was out there on Wednesday, June 23 from 8-9:30pm. We had lots of new tunes to debut for our loyal Columbia City crowd including Cole Porter’s “You Do Something To Me”, an upbeat version of “Til You Come Back to Me”, a great swinger “Deed I Do” and many others – and all of those just listed featured our vocalist, Dawn Ward. We also had new features for the band including “Queen Bee” and “When You’re Smilin’”, which are two excellent big band charts in a Basie style. And of course the food and rides were just around the corner.

Unfortunately we did run into a bit of weather…the band was only able to perform from 8 until almost 9pm, cut a half hour short by a storm coming in complete with a tornado warning! But at least we got an hour or so in and had a good time. Thanks to Old Settler’s for having us.

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Honeywell – Blue River Express – June 24, 2010

By Jason | Published: June 19, 2010

We played at the Honeywell Center for the first time on Thursday, June 24 from 5-7pm as part of the Honeywell Center Sizzlin’ Summer Plaza Music Series! We had everyone from Blue River Express for this including piano, bass drums, trumpet, trombone, two saxophones and our vocalist. We performed several great jazz standards like “It Don’t Mean A Thing” and “Take the ‘A’ Train” that featured the band but we also featured our vocalist on a lot of tunes like “I Get A Kick Out of You”, “Route 66″, “Night and Day” and a lot more! We had some Latin numbers also to change things up a bit! This was basically the same set of tunes that we played the week before at Brew’ha and we all had a great time with it a second time around! There was a lot of sun that day but there was a great crowd who managed to stay in the shade pretty well!

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Big Band Fest – June 26, 2010

By Jason | Published: June 19, 2010

See the website for more information - http://fortwaynebigbandjazzfest.com/. See below for a poster.

There were 4 big bands performing for this event, each playing a 50 minute set starting on the hour beginning at noon. The Blue River Big Band’s set was from 2:00 – 2:50pm. There was also an “All Star Band” playing from 4:30 – 5:30 made up of players from the 4 big bands and several BRBB players participated in that as well.

The event was outside at the public library in downtown Fort Wayne - click here for Google Maps.

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Crossroads Benefit Concert – July 8, 2010

By Jason | Published: June 19, 2010

Here’s a poster for the event and see below for a special message from Blue River Big Band trumpeter James Zanker.

Hello. I want to personally invite you to a special combined Benefit Concert for Crossroad Children’s Home presented by the Blue River Big Band www.blueriverbigband.com and the CHORDS Vocal Ensemble. www.ChordsMusic.org I encourage you to attend this program because, firstly, it is for a really good cause – www.crossroad-fwch.org – and secondly because I selfishly want you to hear two music ensembles that are very dear to my heart. I have been playing in the Blue River Big Band since very near its beginning in 2001 and singing in the CHORDS Vocal Ensemble since 1989. Both these music groups are excited about performing together — I sincerely hope you will call 484-4153 x 2002 and purchase tickets for you and your friends — tickets are only $10.00 each, tax-deductible, and I GUARANTEE you will receive every penny back and more of fun entertainment at Sweetwater Auditorium on Thursday, July 8th, at 7:30pm. Both the event poster and the entire program are attached to this email. Also look for an article about this concert in the News-Sentinel on Thursday, June 24th! Bring some friends and enjoy a wonderful evening of music in a BEAUTIFUL new auditorium! Thank you! JPZ

Blue River Big Band and CHORDS Vocal Ensemble

I’ve Got You Under My Skin

Back Home Again In Indiana

Sway - Dawn Ward, Vocal Soloist

Route 66 - Dawn Ward, Vocal Soloist

La Rubia - Mark Fritz, Saxophone Soloist

Battle Hymn Of The Republic

America The Beautiful - Dawn Ward, Vocal Soloist

• Blue River Big Band •

Star-Spangled Banner

To The Flag An American Trilogy - James Zanker, Soloist

If God Be For Us

Since Jesus Passed By - Shawn Westbrook, Soloist

From The First Hallelujah To The Last Amen!

• CHORDS Vocal Ensemble •

TEN-MINUTE INTERMISSION

How Great Thou Art / Majesty

I’m Feelin’ Fine! Operator - Dawn Ward, Vocal Soloist

• CHORDS Vocal Ensemble •

I’m A Believer

Come In From The Rain - Dawn Ward, Vocal Soloist

Trombone Boogie

When You Wish Upon A Star - James Zanker, Trumpet Soloist

Respect - Dawn Ward, Vocal Soloist

• Blue River Big Band •

Then Came The Morning

In God We Still Trust - Shawn Westbrook, Soloist

Hallelujah To His Wonderful Name

• CHORDS Vocal Ensemble •

Standing On The Promises

Posted in 1: Upcoming Performances | Leave a comment

Blue River Express at Brew’ha – June 17, 2010

By Jason | Published: June 10, 2010

Blue River Express performed at Brew’ha Coffee House in Columbia City, IN for the third time on June 17, 2010 from 7-9pm. Brew’ha has become one of our favorite places to play just for the sake of getting out and blowing our horns for awhile. The atmosphere is always relaxed, the coffee flows like a mighty river and everyone has a good time…the perfect storm for hearing some jazz.

This time, though, was a little different – our vocalist, Dawn Ward, joined us to sing on quite a few tunes. We played tunes that we had not performed much in public including “How High the Moon”, “Night and Day”, “I Get a Kick Out of You” and lots of others. We also had a guest drummer with us – Brandon Ford from Fort Wayne, and a guest keyboardist - Tim Reed from Manchester College. As we like to say…a good time was had by all!

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Warsaw Parks & Recreation – June 4, 2010

By Jason | Published: June 3, 2010

Our summer season kicked off on Friday, June 4 at the main park in downtown Warsaw. The concert will began at 7pm and ended at approximately 8:30pm. We had performed at the park in Warsaw a few times before and always have a good time at this location and 2010 proved to be no different. This always seems to be a particularly family oriented event complete with couples enjoying a nice evening and kids out dancing in front of the band. This year had I had a trophy I would have definitely given it to one little girl who danced her heart out on several tunes.

We debuted several songs that we’ll be featuring throughout the year including “You Do Something To Me”, “Every Day I Have the Blues”, “When You’re Smilin’”, “Deed I Do”, “Fever” and quite a few more.

The weather was a bit of a concern that day but the forecast was not very definitive so the concert was still held outside. Quite a few people showed up despite the chance of rain and we did okay for awhile but about 30-45 minutes into it I noticed all of the umbrellas come up at once! A handful of people did leave but many brave souls endured – some stayed under their umbrellas while some came and joined the band underneath the pavillion. We were all one big happy family! It was a lot of fun.

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

The Blue River Big Band is on Facebook!

By Jason | Published: March 27, 2010

Please check out and become a fan of The Blue River Big Band on Facebook! This has additional photos, music samples (including live recordings) and an event listing where you can keep up-to-date with the latest goings-on of the band. Look for us under The Blue River Big Band.

Posted in 3: Other News | Leave a comment

Blue River Express at Brew’ha – Thurs, Feb 18

By Jason | Published: February 8, 2010

In November 2009, Blue River Express performed at Brew’ha Coffee House in Columbia City and had a great time…which is why we were really excited when Brew’ha invited us back to play for them again. We played out there on Thursday, February 18 from 7-9pm. We were originally planning to be there on February 10 but unfortunately we got snowed out that night…

Jazz is an art form that is truly meant to be enjoyed live and, in my opinion, in a casual, intimate setting like this one. We featured several members of the band and had a new keyboardist from Warsaw join us – Jim Pattison. This was a really enjoyable evening - thanks to all who braved the cold and joined us!

Brewha Coffee House is located at 120 N. Main Street in Columbia City, IN and can be reached at 260-248-4111. Visit www.brewhacoffeehouse.com for more information about Brew’ha.

Here’s a pic from our November performance at Brew’ha.

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

The Second CD

By Jason | Published: December 20, 2009

The Blue River Big Band has released its second CD! Our first CD featured tunes that we played in our early years and this new CD features a wide variety of our latest tunes and includes our vocalist, Dawn Ward, on a number of charts. We released this CD during our 12th Annual Christmas Concert and it will be available at all future performances as well as at Brew’ha Coffeehouse in Columbia City, IN.

Here is a sneak peak from the new album. This song is called Sway and has become a fan favorite! See the Video tab under the Media Gallery for a full clip of this tune.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Posted in 3: Other News | Leave a comment

12th Annual Christmas Concert – December 20, 2009

By Jason | Published: December 8, 2009

On Dec 20, 2009 at The First Church of God in Columbia City, IN The Blue River Big Band had our 12th Annual Christmas Concert. It was a great time with a large audience of over 600 people. This event has become a Columbia City tradition and of course had plenty of big band style Christmas music. We really wanted to present something different this year so most of the songs were ones that we had never performed before. We featured mostly light-hearted, well-known and fun tunes from the 20th century such as “Winter Wonderland”, “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”, and “Santa Baby”. We also played an excellent arrangement of “March of the Toys”. And, like every year, the cookies and punch made by the Delts were a tremendous success…there was a long line for them after the concert as many people stuck around to talk.

The free-will offering taken up to benefit the Delts, a women’s organization that supports a variety of local charities, raised nearly $1,700! We thank everyone who gave to this excellent organization that does a lot of good in the community.

The video below is from 2008 but will give you a taste of how much fun The Blue River Big Band has playing Christmas music!

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Ballroom Dance – December 12, 2009

By Jason | Published: December 7, 2009

This is the third year in a row that we took part in the Warsaw Ballroom Dance Association’s dance season. One thing I always love about this event is that the dance floor is always full ALL EVENING! These people really enjoy dancing and most of them know how to do it really, really well. It was a lot of fun to watch them swing and sway out there while we played waltzes, foxtrot, cha-cha, samba, tango, a little rock for good measure and just about everything else… We threw in plenty of Christmas music as well to fit the season.

The Blue River Big Band prides itself on providing great music for ballroom dances and at the right tempo, which is of utmost importance for dancers! We use the official NDCA (National Dance Council of America) tempo chart to be sure that we don’t play a tune too slow or too fast.

The event was held on December 12, 2009 from 7:30-10:30pm at the North Webster Community Center (State Road 13, 301 N. Main Street, North Webster, IN).

If you’re interested in the Warsaw Ballroom Dance Association, contact Ray and Barbara Gsell at (574) 269-2287 or email them at rg0328@comcast.net.

Here’s a picture from when we performed at a 2008 Warsaw Ballroom Dance Association event.

LG Dancers

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Dawn Ward sings with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in 2009 Holiday Pops

By Jason | Published: December 6, 2009

The Blue River Big Band’s vocalist, Dawn Ward, sang in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic’s 2009 Holiday Pops concert series. The holiday pops is truly a cherished local tradition and the Fort Wayne Philharonic works very hard to perform the concert in many locations in and around the Fort Wayne area (a total of 9 concerts in 2009). Dawn sang a total of ten songs in each performance. Most of the songs were in a fun pop style (hence the name of the concert) with a particular emphasis on Christmas music written after 1950, such as “White Christmas” and music from “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”, although Dawn also sang more classical pieces such as Schubert’s beautiful rendition of “Ave Maria”. Of course there were also several excellent pieces that the orchestra performed without vocals – one of my favorites was “March of the Toys”. Pictures were not allowed during performances but here’s a shot of Dawn on stage after a show.

Posted in 3: Other News | 1 Comment

Jason and Todd perform with the Fort Wayne Civic Theater

By Jason | Published: November 21, 2009

Two brass players from The Blue River Big Band, Jason Klingaman (trombone) and Todd Ward (trumpet) performed in the Fort Wayne Civic Theater’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in November 2009. As anyone who has seen the video version of “Fiddler” or has seen a live performance knows, the story and music of “Fiddler” are both loved world-wide, and for good reason. The down-to-earth nature of the story has a unique ability to connect with everyone who watches it and the music is rich, lively and deep. The show was really fun to play with plenty of places where Todd and I could really let plenty of raw brass sound rip through the theater hall! This production used a cut-down pit orchestra so we were the only brass players and were accompanied by excellent area musicians, with the full instrumentation also including guitar, flute, clarinet, drums and three keyboards. Here’s a short video introduction to the performance: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=167684249293. Photography wasn’t allowed during the show but here here’s a shot of us sitting in the pit before a performance.

Posted in 3: Other News | Leave a comment

Blue River Express at Brewha in Columbia City – Nov 10, 2009

By Jason | Published: October 27, 2009

Blue River Express performed at Brewha Coffee House in Columbia City on Tuesday, November 10, 2009. This performance was exactly what we had hoped it would be – playing some great jazz music in a casual and intimate setting. In my opinion, this is the way jazz was truly meant to be enjoyed. As usual, we played a wide variety of tunes to keep it interesting – plenty of swing, some rock, Latin, pop, blues and of course some straight-ahead jazz.

We had the full group there although Dawn (vocalist) couldn’t be there and Carolyn (keyboards) was at the Columbia City High School musical production that evening so we asked Nick Bobay, IPFW student from Fort Wayne to come and join us. Nick is a Percussion Performance major at IPFW but is also a very gifted piano player! This was Nick’s first time with any of the Blue River bands. It was a pleasure to have him with us…always fun to meet new musicians in the area.

Brew’ha is really an excellent place to enjoy live music. We had a nice crowd show up…we even heard a comment that this was one of the busiest Tuesday nights in recent history! Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the evening with us.

Here’s a picture from the event.

Brewha Coffee House is located at 120 N. Main Street in Columbia City, IN and can be reached at 260-248-4111. Visit www.brewhacoffeehouse.com for more information about Brewha.

Posted in 2: Past Performances | 1 Comment

Foellinger Theater (Fanfare ’09) – September 5, 2009

By Jason | Published: September 24, 2009

The Blue River Big Band had the special priveledge of being asked by the Fort Wayne Philharmonic to share the stage during the Philharmonic’s Fanfare ’09 concert series. On September 5, 2009, we played four tunes in the middle of a “Stage & Screen” performance by the Philharmonic where they played great tunes from Broadway and Hollywood, including selections from my childhood (and current) favorite movie – “Star Wars”. The proceeds from the concert went to support the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.

One thing we really enjoyed was to have Akira Murotani, a trumpet player in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, join us as a special guest. Akira had played with us the previous summer during a concert in Columbia City and had wowed the audience with an amazing slow blues solo, so we requested Akira to perform a flugelhorn feature with us – the tune was the 50′s favorite “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”. It was a lot of fun to work with him and, despite having been kicked in the mouth by his daughter earlier that day (which makes it difficult to play a brass instrument!) Akira nailed that tune.

This was a truly excellent event – everyone in the band stayed to listen to the fantastic music of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Hearing then live reminded me that I need to get in and listen to the Philharmonic much more often! The Blue River Big Band would like to thank everyone who helped to make this event possible.

Click the link below to see the program from that evening.

Fanfare Concert Program from 9-5-09

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

Jefferson Pointe – September 4, 2009

By Jason | Published: September 4, 2009

The Blue River Big Band had a fantastic time performing for a crowd of around 500 to 600 at Jefferson Pointe in Fort Wayne, IN on September 4, 2009 as part of the Friday Nights Live series. This is an excellent venue to enjoy good music…relaxed and outdoors with beautiful landscaping. We had amazing weather, which was a real bonus. There was also plenty to do and see at Jefferon Pointe after the concert with lots of shopping options (if you’re into that kind of thing…I usually just go straight for Barnes & Noble) and a nice variety of restaurants.

This concert truly had a little of everything. We had some classic big band with Duke Ellington (Harlem Nocturne featuring Mark Fritz on alto sax and Do Nothin’ Til you Hear from Me with Dawn on vocals), Count Basie (I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Moten Swing), and Glenn Miller (Leap Frog), we had some pop/rock with two Beatles tunes ( Ticket to Ride arranged by our trumpeter James Zanker and Yesterday) and Respect, Dawn sang a patriotic number (America the Beautiful) and the band had fun singing in Cab Calloway’s classic slow blues tune Minnie the Moocher – plus a lot more! We really had a good time playing at Jefferson Pointe…and I think the audience did, too.

Here are a couple pictures from the performance (click on each for a larger image).

Posted in 2: Past Performances | Leave a comment

The Blue River Big Band would love to hear from you. Feel free to contact us with comments, questions, CD orders or to arrange for the band to perform at your event.

To contact The Blue River Big Band please send a message using the Contact Us page above, or you can call or email us:

Call:
Todd Ward at (260) 413-2345, or
Jason Klingaman at (260) 348-6241

or Email:
todd@blueriverbigband.com, or
jason@blueriverbigband.com

News by Category
Recent News

News by Category

Recent News