Big Band Sounds to Fill the Air

It’s time to enjoy the best in big band music as the world famous Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.

It’s time to enjoy the best in big band music as the world famous Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra brings their big band sounds to Broken Arrow May 16, 2009. It’s the final show of the Encore Series, brought to you by the Broken Arrow Arts & Humanities Council.

“Green Eyes,” “Amapola,” “Tangerine,” “I Understand,” “I'm Glad There Is You,” and “Maria Elena” are all great songs, and all hits of the fabulous Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.

In the spring of 1934 the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra was born, at Nuttings-On-The-Charles in Waltham, Massachusetts. Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey were on the scene to stay. Unfortunately, this was not to be. In early June, 1935, at the Glen Island Casino, Jimmy and Tommy had an argument over the tempo of a tune, and Tommy walked off the bandstand. Now Jimmy was the leader.

Jimmy Dorsey was considered one of the finest clarinet and alto saxophone players of his day, and was always playing solos that simply amazed his fellow musicians, as well as his audiences. For 18 years after Tommy departed the band, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra had many hits. Jimmy’s greatest hit, and the last instrumental hit by any artist, was “So Rare.” Jimmy was given a gold record for “So Rare” two days before his death, on June 12, 1957.

The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra continued for the next 33 years under the leadership of the great trumpeter Lee Castle. Upon Lee's death, the baton had passed for a decade to Jim Miller. The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra is now under the direction of trombonist Bill Tole.

Bill Tole has recorded with legendary artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and many others over the past four decades. He portrayed the part of Tommy Dorsey in the movie “New York, New York” in 1977, starring Liza Minelli and Robert DeNiro.

Bill has continued his musical credentials as the leader of the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. The combined energy of the band with Bill's sweet, smooth, sentimental style will take the listening audience from the 1940s right through the decades to the present day.

On June 2, 1992, Nancy Knorr, the lead singer with the Pied Pipers, became the featured vocalist with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. With the elegance and sound of the 1940s, Nancy will recreate a tribute to the legendary Helen O'Connell with her own style and vocal ease.

Tickets are $15 and are available at all four AVB locations – downtown Broken Arrow, 121st & Elm in BA, 51st & Mingo in Tulsa and the newest location next to Bass Pro Shop in BA – and Arrow Flowers at 213 S. Main in downtown Broken Arrow. Members of the BA Arts & Humanities Council receive a 2-for-1 special on tickets.

Sponsors for the 2008-2009 Encore Series season include the Oklahoma Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Windstream Communications, AVB and Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

For more information about the Encore Series or the BA Arts & Humanities Council, visit the official website at  www.artsba.org, or call (918) 259-4300 x. 258 or 244.

For more information, contact

Broken Arrow Arts & Humanities Council

(918) 259-4300 x. 258 or 244

www.artsba.org