The third annual Big Band Bash and fundraiser for the jazz program at Delta State University will be held at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 19, at The Warehouse, 229 North Sharpe Avenue in Cleveland.
Cost of admission is $20 per person (doesn’t include dinner). Seating and dinner service will begin as early as 6:30 p.m., followed by the Big Band at 7:30 p.m. All donations benefit the Delta State Jazz program and the Department of Music.
The Bash is a dinner and dance that brings back to life a time when swing was king and the music of Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Tommy Dorsey ruled the airwaves and filled the dance floor. The Delta State University Jazz Ensemble, also known as the Fighting Okra Big Band, is again the feature band for the evening.
This year the director’s baton has been passed from “Trumpet King” Paul Hankins to saxophonist Bret Pimentel. Pimentel, in his second year as faculty in the Department of Music, earned his doctorate in music performance at the University of Georgia. “I have heard a lot about this performance, and we are very excited about playing at the Warehouse again,” said Pimentel. “We are working up a great music folder and everyone will hear plenty of Basie, Ellington, Dorsey and Miller. This should be fun for the public and the band.”
Fans of that big band sound can dance or just sit and tap their toes while ordering fare from a special Warehouse menu. Prizes will be given to the best dancers and the best-dressed. “I’ve come to this the last couple years, and we all had a wonderful time. That band is outstanding and we danced for three hours. We are definitely going back,” said Ed Coleman, President, Mid South Water and Irrigation. If you like Basie, Dorsey and Miller and are fond of good food, you won’t want to miss this.
For information and tickets, contact Rogers Varner at 662-846-6636 or the Department of Music at 662-846-4615.
