THE BALTIMORE BIG BAND IN HOLLAND
by Jim Fozard

Today, the Baltimore Big Band is a memory documented by the videos made by Rip and Billie Rice, and an agenda book of rehearsal dates during which the programs of two of the three musical groups representing the Columbia Concert Band on its Netherlands tour were prepared. On the last day of our tour we made a gift of our music to the Phileutonia Big Band led by Sander van der Loo. My memories include my pride in the Baltimore Big Band players and my savoring the compliments of our Dutch friends in the Phileutonia who said, “we want the Phileutonia Big Band to swing like your big band.”

“The Baltimore Big Band” was the name given the Columbia Concert Band Jazz Ensemble by Gert van Kraay, director of the Phileutonia, who explained to me that he wanted as many performing groups as possible to be listed for the “American Night of the Proms,” the first Dutch venue for performances by the Columbia Concert Band Wind Ensemble, the Starvation Army Band, and the Columbia Concert Band Jazz Ensemble. I was privileged to be the musical leader of the latter two groups. Rehearsals of the Starvation Army Band, a group that plays frequently together, emphasized preparing our three excellent substitute performers, Jeff Knoll, drums; Bill DeVuono, clarinet; and Larry Engel, trumpet. I was privileged to serve as the director of the Big Band for the Netherlands trip because our regular director, Robert Miller, was unable to go on the tour with us. Preparation of the Big Band for the tour required shaping the efforts of 20 musicians, many of whom had never played together before, toward our common goal of performing together for a week in the Netherlands. Based largely on what I learned playing under Robert Miller, my first goal for preparing the band was to have a group that would swing; the second was to have a tight ensemble and good musicianship.

The Baltimore Big Band was a musical hit in all its performances in the Netherlands. Audience response to three of our four performances was palpably positive. The band played with energy, excitement and competence. Above all, it did swing throughout its numbers, a point made by the Dutch newspaper reviews of the performances and many Phileutonians who heard the group in Columbia in 1995 and in 1996.

I was particularly proud of the performances of the Baltimore Big Band because of the players’ enthusiasm and their hard work to achieve a high level of competence in less than a dozen rehearsals of which only three had the entire group present. Almost an hour’s worth of selections were prepared and more than a third of those were new to the regular players in the Jazz Ensemble. Indeed, the reason this article is titled a short history is that over half of the players do not play with the regular Jazz Ensemble or with the Columbia Concert Band. Of the regular Jazz Ensemble players, only tenor saxophonist Jody Shochet and vocalist Jill Sandler performed their regular Columbia Jazz Ensemble roles.

Jill, by all standards, was terrific. Her renditions of “Fever” and “God bless the child” were among the best received of our performances. The band did an outstanding job in providing the lush and complex settings for her performances. Brent Mathews did the third vocal we used, “Stormy Weather.” The backup by the band embellished the plaintive, bluesy quality of his rendition.

I programmed instrumental numbers representing a range of styles and traditions in American big band jazz. Our Glenn Miller number was “Volga Boatman,” a showy Finnegan arrangement that featured a brass section fugue accompanied by a hand clapping figure performed by the sax section. Rip Rice obtained the arrangement. Our Basie-style number was the Nestico arrangement of “Nice ‘n Easy,” a frequently played number in our regular CCB Jazz Ensemble. Stan Kenton’s tradition was represented by “Opus in Pastels” very nicely performed by the saxophone section with a clean rhythm section accompaniment. Rip also obtained this arrangement for us. Our tribute to Les Brown was his theme song, “Leap Frog.” “New York, New York” and “Shiny Stockings” were conventional big dance band arrangements emphasizing ensemble playing that we used as openers or encores in our performances. These two arrangements were lent to us by George Quinan, leader of a local big band, Hunt Valley Jazz.

As indicated, the composition of the band was unique for the tour. In the saxophone section, Maurice Feldman played lead alto, Anne Overall second alto, Jody Shochet, first tenor, Jeff Beavin, second tenor and Rip Rice, baritone. In the trumpet section, only Les Elkins was from the parent group. The others included Brian Balmages, Jack Watts, Larry Engel, Brad Zimmerman, and Brent Mathews. The trombonists were Harold West and guests Ed Steubing, John Flaherty (who played baritone in the Wind Ensemble) and Jerry Bartlett who played trombone parts on his baritone. I played with the section on a few ensemble passages. The rhythm section was that of the Starvation Army band: Louise Carlson, keyboards; Jeff Knoll, drums; and Tom Harwick, electric bass.

Should the Baltimore Big Band ever play again, the first number I would call up would be “Thanks for the Memories,” a song title that captures my appreciation for my musical friends who created and shared a terrific musical experience.

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