Big Band Express will take you back

Special to the Green Valley News

Residents who grew up in an era of some of the finest music still thrill at the sound of Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. It seems we just can’t get enough of the big band sound and “real music.”

For one night only, the Big Band Express, Tucson’s dynamic 16-piece group of jazz professionals is coming to Green Valley, bringing its stepping-back-in-time top tunes.

Adding to the grand night, local velvety-voiced vocalists Regina Ford and Joey Lessa will sing with the band for one night of musical memories March 3.

Often referred to as the top-notch big band of the Southwest, the Big Band Express will perform “It’s All Right with Me,” “St. Louis Blues March,” “Swingin’ Shepherd Blues,” “88 Basie Street,” “Sing, Sing, Sing” and other memorable tunes, guaranteeing an evening of toe-tapping, finger-snapping 20th century oldies.

With Ford and Lessa on the program, this may well be a standing-room-only night in Green Valley. Rolling out solos and an occasional duet, the audience will recall happy musical hits — “Put on a Happy Face,” “Send for Me,” “Big Spender” and the tune made famous by Frank Sinatra, “My Way.”

Not enough? Add “On a Clear Day,” “What a Difference a Day Makes,” “Makin’ Whoopie” and a personal favorite, “When I Fall in Love.”

Members of the Big Band Express are more than a group of local guys and gals who like big band music; this is a group of pros who have worked with top names in entertainment.

Drummer Tom Patrick, who founded the group in 1994, has played for Bob Crosby, Liberace, Jack Jones and Vicki Carr.

Bass player Geoff Hamilton has played for Bob Hope and the Fifth Dimension and with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

Lead trumpet player Ken Smukal was a jazz soloist with the U.S. Air Force “Airmen of Note” in Washington, D.C. and worked with several top names including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Lou Rawls and Joe Williams.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.