Hilo’s Island Swing Orchestra will present “A tribute to Benny Goodman” Sunday at Honokaa People’s Theater.
The performance opens with a silent auction at 3 p.m., featuring paintings by Big island artists Shirley Pu Wills and Alex Sanches, followed by the concert from 4-6 p.m.
“We want people to come enjoy high quality music from the golden age of big bands,” said Creative Director Marius Stranger. “This time, we chose to present one big band leader, and my first choice was Benny Goodman. He was known as the ‘King of Swing.’ His concert at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1938 is described as the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history. During the era of segregation, he also led one of the first integrated jazz groups.”
The Island Swing Orchestra started in 2007 as a rehearsal band and gained nonprofit status in 2014.
“Ideally, a big band includes 17 musicians plus singers”, Stranger explains. “It was difficult enough to find enough experienced players in Hilo, so we decided this year to become a project band with the best players from all parts of the island. The band’s singers are all classically trained with experience from opera or art songs.
Featured vocalists for “A Tribute to Benny Goodman” are Amy Mills, Lisa Taylor and Marius Stranger. Bill Noble, Jesse Snyder, Paul Lindbergh, Adrian Jones and Dave Link are on saxophone and Jesse Snyder will play all Benny Goodman’s clarinet solos. Armando Mendoza, Joshua Timmons and Charles O’Kelly are featured on trumpet and Jenny Brown, Susan Garrod and Wendell Hayes are on trombone. Annu Shionoya is on piano, Brian McCree on bass and Joe Gargiulo on drums.
Tickets are $20 in advance at Basically Books in Hilo, Kona Bay Books in Kailua-Kona, Waimea General Store in Waimea, Taro Patch Gifts in Honokaa or at the door. Student tickets are $10 and available at the door.
Info: 339-0084