They’re bringing big band back.
The 19-piece jazz band Flat Iron Jazz will once again be playing the annual Big Band Spring Swing Fling at the Lacombe Memorial Centre.
Proceeds from the fifth-time fundraiser are going the Lacombe Performing Arts Centre, as they have for the last two years.
“It’s a semi-formal event, people basically get dressed up,” said Ponoka- based band member Tony Hoffman, band representative and bass player.
The event takes place April 12 and includes a silent auction, cocktails, dinner and a dance. Tickets are selling for $60 and can be purchased in Ponoka at Flowers for You.
Flat Iron Jazz tours the province playing at festivals and events, including Music in the Park in Ponoka and several performances at schools. “We go out and we try and inspire young people to go out and play music,” said Hoffmann
“And at the end of the day, it’s about getting the music alive, especially big band music,” he added.
Hoffmann says the band stands behind the importance of the Performing Arts Centre as well as the role musical and theatre arts has to play. “They’re critical. We’re seeing a reduction, less and less music in schools.”
He mentioned how, on the point of the importance of music in education, pleased he is as Ponoka Secondary Campus revives its music program.
Most of the band’s members reside in Ponoka and Lacombe, with a few hailing from Red Deer, and Hoffmann says the majority of them are original members; yet new blood is welcomed.
“I would say the level of play of the jazz band is quite good,” said Hoffmann. “It’s a great sound.”
As a big band jazz group Flat Iron Jazz thrives on the swinging, saxophone-loving, horn-tooting sounds of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s.