Big Band Showcase!!!

Our very own Associate Professor of Bands Mr. Lawrence Gibbs has put together an AWESOME big band/jazz/swing et al group and they will be having their first performance this saturday, 7 pm at the dixie theatre...

http://www.dixiecenter.org/

""Dance the night away at the Big Band Showcase presented by the Dixie Center for the Arts and featuring the Lawrence Gibbs Orchestra. The grand finale of the 2006 Holiday Artist Studio Tour weekend (presented by North Central Louisiana Arts Council) will take place in the beautifully restored historic Dixie Theatre in downtown Ruston, Louisiana at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 4 in a concert of classic swing music. The Lawrence Gibbs Orchestra consists of professional and semi-professional musicians who are focused on the preservation of classic jazz music of the Big Band Era. Gibbs fronts this swing orchestra and plays clarinet solos with the energy and authority of a modern-day Benny Goodman, while his sidemen are testimony to the rich tradition of band music in North Louisiana, and dancers will be happy to hear that the Dixie has a brand new dance floor in front of the stage. Guest soloists include: Lisa Lee-McCalmon, vocals; Jack White and Mike Spears, trumpet duo; Brian Lassiter, trumpet; Paul Woodard, jazz violin; Randall Barron, clarinet; Erick Camp, string bass.

The group's primary goal is reintroducing to the public the great music of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, among others. Many of the selections have not been heard in original form for many decades. Gibbs explains that recordings were frequently made at faster tempos, in order to fit the confines of a 78 rpm single. His orchestra will play this music at the more relaxed tempos that Swing Era dancers would have heard in live performance. The orchestra hopes to reintroduce the public to this great music and extend its life well into the 21st Century.

Lawrence Gibbs has been a member of the Louisiana Tech University Music Faculty since 1989 and is currently Associate Professor of Bands, Professor of Clarinet and Saxophone and Director of Jazz Ensembles. Mr. Gibbs is also Co-Founder and Manager of "The Russ-Town Band" a local select community band formed in 1994 in Ruston, LA. He also serves as Artist/Clinician for the Selmer Band Instrument Corporation. His professional experience included a five year stint in Las Vegas and he has performed with Bob Hope, Liberace, The Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Connie Francis, Susan Anton, and the gospel group "The Martins," among others. Mr. Gibbs is currently Principal Clarinet with the Monroe Symphony Orchestra.
This performance is part of the regular Dixie Season. For non-season ticket holders, tickets to the Big Band Showcase are $15/main floor, $12 for the balcony and are available by calling (318) 255-1450 (Visa/MasterCard) or by visiting the Dixie Center for the Arts, located at 212 North Vienna, Ruston, between 9 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. All seats are reserved.""

Thanks for this info. Sounds like fun. I love the Big Band stuff, especially Glenn Miller.

your welcome... you should definately check them out, they are sounding AWESOME... Gibbs has accomplished his goal of making it sound like it did back when it ruled the airwaves... truly awesome...

i love big band et al and especially glenn miller as well...