July 9th

BIG BAND NIGHT

Larry McWilliams recently retired from the Ball State University School of Music where he was a trumpet instructor, member of Da Camera (faculty brass) Quintet, the Muncie Symphony, and the Director of Jazz Studies program.

Under his direction, the Jazz Lab ensemble earned the reputation of being one of the finest collegiate jazz bands in the country. It has gained regional, national, and international attention by participating in numerous jazz festivals, including the Elmhurst Jazz Festival in Chicago, Notre Dame Jazz Festival, Mobile Collegiate Jazz Festival, and the Kansas City Conservatory Jazz Festival. Some of the international jazz festivals were the Vienne Jazz Festival, France; The Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland; the Umbria Jazz Festival, Italy; and the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Netherlands.

During his years at Ball State University, McWilliams  became a leading adjudicator, clinician, and soloist for many high school and college jazz festivals throughout the Midwest, as well as sponsoring a very successful high school “Dimensions In Jazz” festival at Ball State that has just celebrated its  42nd anniversary.

McWilliams has extensive performing experience with name bands and known Broadway shows such as the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Hello Dolly and Cabaret. Other performing experience included freelance work in New York and Las Vegas, and tours and show work with Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, Pia Zadora, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra Jr., The Spinners, The Temptations, Red Skeleton, and the Manhattan Transfer vocal group. During the summer of ’07, McWilliams was Guest Soloist for the International Band Festival which is held in Besana Brianza, Italy, semi annually. McWilliams plays Bach and Conn Trumpets exclusively and is an active clinician for the Conn/Selmer Corp.  In 2013, he was inducted into the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation Hall of Fame.

“Big Band Night”

American Legion March.................................................................Charles Parker

                         

Big band music will be selected from the following:

   

   This Could Be the Start of Something Big……………………………………Steve Allen

   One Note Samba………………………………….…A. Carlos Jobim/ arr. Mike Tomaro

   What Kind of Fool Am I………………………………………arr.  Manny Mendelson

   Fly Me to the Moon - vocal……………….………………………………Bart Howard

   Orange Colored Sky - vocal………..........................................arr. Roger Holmes

   I Can't Get Started……………………………….Trumpet Solo by Larry McWilliams

   Summer Samba……………………….………………………………arr. Bob Florence

   Corner Pocket.................................................Count  Basie /trans. David Berger

   Johnson Rag..................................................................................Glenn Miller

   Don't Get Around Much Anymore...........................Duke Ellington/ arr. Al Cobine

   Tuxedo Junction............................................................................Glenn Miller

   Pennsylvania 6-5000…………………………………............................Glenn Miller

   But Not For Me......................................................................arr.  Bob Mintzer

   Lets Dance.............................................................................Benny Goodman

   Sing-Sing-Sing………..………………………….….....B. Goodman/Arr. Dave Wolpe

   The Savior Is Waiting.............................................................Ralph Carmichael

   Unforgettable – vocal duo………………….………….…………………Nat King Cole

   Amber Waves of Grain - A Tribute to America………….…………arr. Larry Norred

   In The Mood..................................................................................Glenn Miller

Star Spangled Banner..............................................................Sousa / Damrosch

Cherresa Lawson is Director of the award-winning Kokomo High School Choirs.  She received a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Ball State University is active as a performer and teacher. She was the 2005 American Traditions Competition semi-finalist and has performed jazz, blues, and pop music at numerous venues across the Midwest for several years with various artists including the Caribbean Consort Steel Band.

Gary Wallyn is a native of Chicago, Ill. He graduated from St. Joseph College and Indiana State University and served as a band director for 21 years at Princeton and Kokomo High Schools. More recently he served as interim music director and instructor at St. Joseph College and Indiana State University and is currently the band director at Alexandria Schools near Anderson. As a vocalist, Wallyn is a member of the Indianapolis Symphonic Chorus, is a soloist with the St. Joan of Arc Church Choir in Kokomo and has been featured on numerous occasions as a baritone soloist with the Kokomo Symphony Orchestra. When he’s not singing with the Kokomo Park Band, Wallyn can be found playing in the Kokomo Park Band’s saxophone section.