| Big Band Alumni
Now in its 15th year of regular performances, Hollywood’s Johnny Vana Big Band Alumni Orchestra continues to please concert audiences and swing dancers wherever they perform their music of the big band era extending into the 21st Century. The band appears at special events such as corporate parties and public music festivals and other events. It is frequently seen on television and heard on jazz and swing radio programs. The Johnny Vana Big Band Alumni Orchestra has appeared on the Jerry Lewis Telethon originating in Hollywood, the Daytime Emmy Awards, Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters and the annual Sweet and Hot Music Festival in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The band is composed of veterans of the swing and dance band era from 1935 through the 1950s who are plentiful in Hollywood. Many musicians settled here because of regular employment by the motion picture industry, recording companies and at live venues. As might be expected from the name “Alumni,” virtually every member of the band has played in popular bands of the big band era such as Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, David Rose, Gordon Jenkins, John Williams, Quincy Jones, Les Brown, Buddy Morrow, Freddy Martin, Jerry Gray, Bob Crosby, Billy Vaughn, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Henry Mancini, Billy May, Stan Kenton, Sy Zentner, Claude Thornhill, Richard Maltby, Tex Beneke, Tony Pastor, Billy Butterfield, Count Basie and others. Most of the musicians perform because they prefer to maintain their skills rather than drifting into retirement. They call it “keeping their chops up.” This enthusiasm for the music is passed on to the audience. The band rehearses every Tuesday morning unless the time conflicts with a contracted engagement. The band is ready for all public and private events that need great musical entertainment. Those who have heard this band play, live or on recording, always come away with a strong positive impression. The Alumni keeps alive the authentic popular, swinging sounds of the 1940s and 1950s, performed with the same passion intended by the song writers and arrangers of the Big Band Era.
Recent Performances
Jerry Lewis Telethon Daytime Emmy Awards Los Angeles Chamber Music Foundation Annual Sweet and Hot Music Festival 2004, 2005, 2006 Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters 2006 Seniors' Prom with Shirley Jones at Irvine Marriott 2006 Universal Hilton Hotel New Year's Eve Gala 2007 |
| HOLLYWOOD'S SWING BAND Johnny Vana and the Big Band Alumni |
| To book the band: Jack Lloyd 818-343-7243 |
