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COMING ATTRACTIONS in & around Redding and Northern CA...

Where we've been and what's on the schedule:

Did you miss this one? Don't miss the next one...      OR better yet, book real live music for your party.

2011

Dec 10  -  the Jazz Combo is heading up I-5 to McCloud for a big dance to benefit the McCloud schools' music programs. 7:00 PM at the Mercantile Hotel - Call 530-859-2634 for details and more info. 

Dec 18  -  the Big Band at the Redding Elks' Lodge for the Rivercity Jazz Society's monthly concert and dance. That's on a Sunday afternoon, from 1:00 to 4:30.  Let's pack the joint and show them how much support local big band music has in Redding & the North State! Are you "In the Mood" for some dancing ???

March  31  --   The Big Band swing the Boondocker Ball to help in the major fundraising for the proposed new Northern California Veterans' Museum. This is going to be built off of Knighton Road, out toward the Redding Airport, and will be a huge facility dedicated to all who have served.  The Redding Jet Center's huge hangar at the Redding airport was packed last year with diners, dancers and great auction/raffle prizes!  Check out some photos:

April 13  --   We had the Big Band at Central Valley High School for a big Spaghetti Feed and concert with the student musicians. We do all we can to help keep music in our local schools! For just a few dollars, you can help this program continue the progress under director Carlo Fazio. 

Jun 16   --  Shasta District Fair! the Big Band at the grandstand opening night of the Fair! This was one 90 minute show of great swing and jazz music. The fair's professional sound and light guys were very complimentary, saying it was as good a show as any they've helped present anywhere in the state. AND they told us Nancy is the best singer, period. I coulda told 'em that.

Sept 03  -  the Jazz Combo is heading up I-5 to a private compound on the Upper Sacramento for a big family celebration. Happy 90th birthday, Lettie!

Oct 08?  -  the Jazz Combo at the Cascade Theater for a fun Saturday night sponsored by CH2M Hill benefiting the Schreder Planetarium and Whiskeytown Environmental School. Help a good cause and you get to dance on stage right in front of the band! Date yet to be determined.

Oct 27 ?  - the Big Band will return to the Power to Seniors Soup Kitchen. This event was back bigger and better in 2010 and 2011! Keep your eyes on the papers for more info. Great Food, prizes & dancing.

HO! HO! HO!  Let's have a party!!! Email us your ideas for a big Christmas dance and party next year. We're wondering where to have it. Help us get it going and win tickets to attend.

Don't forget we have The Christmas CD. 

        We did it  !

We're making a list!  Reservations for your copy gladly taken. OR send $15 to 1725 Chicory Court and we'll send you one.  Ask about discounts for multiple CD orders. This is a marvelous gift for anybody on your gift-giving list!

March 12 & again in 2012 on the 24th --  Hope you were there. This was the Rivercity Jazz Society's 12th annual Youth Jazz At The Mt. Shasta Mall Day. Nancy & Steve were there all day representing our band and the RJS, listening to young players from local high and junior high school bands.  Music all day Saturday in Redding's Mt. Shasta Mall Food Court, with donations and raffle proceeds given to the participating schools. Join us next year!   And          Ask about the new 501(c)(3) Straight Ahead Big Band Institute we've organized to support big band music in the Redding area. Donations will gladly be accepted and are tax deductible.     Check it out:

April 22  --   We had the Big Band at Sequoia Middle School for a Wednesday evening of fun and music with the kids and us playing lots of swinging music for the benefit of their program. This has been great for the kids and the school, so call Sequoia now and plan to attend next year. Note that Deb has finally retired to enjoy the good life, so let's get a big crowd for her successor and really support the kids!

         Also check out http://www.redding.com/news/2007/mar/22/big-band-big-heart/   

Check back soon for more 2011 - it's going to be a great year ! 

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Look for our  CDs available at various outlets.  In Redding you should be able to find them at the Turtle Bay gift shop, Bernie's Guitar, Clyde's Next Generation, The Enjoy Store, and from our friends at Tops Sunset Market. Also available at select stores in Palo Cedro, including Music Max, & at Weaverville's Highland Art Center.

Also all available through CDbaby.com. 

Or contact us directly for as many as you want. We ship free.

Nancy said it’s time for a Christmas CD from the Straight Ahead Big Band, and we wanted to do it last year, but too many things got in the way. Stuff happens. As before we crammed the whole group into the Patchcord studio; we got most of the music recorded in one very long afternoon, Feb. 21, 2009. There was a little more work to do, and we got that done on May 6. Thanks to everybody who helped make this all happen. Players on this CD are Bob Hansen on Piano, Tom Andrews on Bass, Dave Westfall on Guitar, and Tracy Manuel on Drums. Of course Nancy Fischer is the vocalist. Saxes are Steve Fischer, Lou Polcari, Mitch Hawley, Tyler Spencer and Ken Reed. Ruth Polcari is our flutist. Trumpets are Sal D’Acquisto, Dick Morris, George Goehner, Carlo Fazio and Paul Senn. Trombones are Todd Wright, John Schlenz, Steve Clausen, Ron Largent and Bill Corum. We are very fortunate to make music together as a group over the years. It is only with difficulty that we change. Last year we lost our long time friend and tenor sax player, Craig Williams. He was and is in our minds and hearts as we put this album together. On a much happier note, we are pleased to be featuring our new drummer, Tracy Manuel, who had never done anything like this - not too surprising since she just recently turned sixteen! She brings a fun fresh perspective to us old guys in the band. Special thanks to her mom & dad, Laura & Kent, for letting her join us and driving her to rehearsals and gigs. 

Under the leadership of Steve Fischer, the 18-piece Straight Ahead Big Band plays a wide variety of music associated with famous big bands, and especially the "straight-ahead" style of bands such as those lead by Count Basie. (Hence the name of the group.) 

The band started in Redding about twenty years ago, as a rehearsal band, when its founder and former manager moved up from Santa Cruz with a folder of big band charts. Before long there were 16 musicians from Redding and the surrounding Northern California area molded into a swinging group with a nice big band sound. 

It wasn’t long until people began hearing the band and asking it to play for various events, and since then there have been many concerts, club dates, fairs, festivals, parties and weddings all over the north state. The group has grown a little and changed a few personnel over the years, as happens in the band business, but Steve and a couple others of the original group are still in it and going strong, and many of the others still fill in when schedules permit. 

Steve & his wife Nancy have squeezed the band into Redding’s Patchcord Studio several times now, producing four big band CDs:"First Take," "Second Track," "The Third Time," and now "All I Want 4 Christmas," plus a combo CD, "Take Six."  All CDs offer a fine variety of ensemble work, solo instrumentals and vocals in a most enjoyable big band style. If you have a chance to catch the big band in a live setting, you’re in for a real treat, because there is nothing that compares to a real full sized band of this type, and this group does it very well, indeed. 

Whether for listening or dancing, there will be something for every fan of big band music at each performance. Besides Count Basie, there are the familiar sounds of Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, and Stan Kenton to listen for, as well as newer music in the genre and tunes written and arranged by some of the band's past and present members. The big band sound that filled America's dance and concert halls for years is alive -- swinging and thriving right here in Redding!!!