Big Band of the Week

Today’s installment is the last in our 33-part Big Band of the Week series. Who would have thought at the outset that there were so many big bands in the Baltimore metro area or such a wide variety? if you haven’t read previous profiles we encourage you to do so; and to check out some of the area’s big bands as you see them listed on our calendar. | Read more>> Read More

Drummer Tom Schwartz took over trombonist George Quinan’s Hunt Valley Jazz Band in 2000, purchased its library and changed the name to Thom Roland Dance Band. He says that the band’s book of charts from the 1940s – ‘70s is patterned after Shades of Blue’s: i.e., | Read more>> Read More

What do you do if you want to return to big band jazz after not playing your horn for years, but you cannot find a band in your area? Well, if you’re Bob Luce, you start your own. That’s what the computer scientist/tenor saxophonist/vocalist did in January, 2014. | Read more>> Read More

One of the busier big bands in Baltimore is The Shades of Blue Orchestra, founded in 1976. The smooth, polished, swinging sounds of this ensemble can be heard via a wide array of audio tracks on its website. There are about two dozen longer clips on the band’s Jukebox webpage, each 90 seconds, and each presenting a flowing montage of snippets from the whole tune. | Read more>> Read More

With a name taken from a hit song of 1944, you might expect Baltimore’s Sentimental Journey Orchestra (SJO) to stick to tunes from the Swing Era. That was true when Don Steinwig, veteran of the Swing Era’s Jan Savitt and his Top Hatters big band, formed SJO in 1977, but the band has since expanded its repertoire. | Read more>> Read More