The Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band is still early in it’s existence, but they’re already scoring big gigs.
The band will have an opportunity to play the Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon as part of the “Building Bridges with Music” show on Sunday, March 23. The Saskatoon Youth Jazz Orchestra will also be performing at the event.
Nick Fanner, the director of the Saskatoon Youth Jazz Band, said the idea for the show came together when he was teaching at a beginner band workshop with PA Youth Jazz Band director Scott Roos.
There was already a concert scheduled for March 22 called The Women of Jazz. The Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra, who is putting on the show are providing discount tickets for the Prince Albert group. Fanner is also doing a workshop.
“I said to Scott, ‘why don’t we just do a performance together with the Youth Jazz Orchestra here,’ because it’s kind of the same cup of tea that he’s trying to get going in Prince Albert,” Fanner explained.
The SYJO has been around since 2017. Fanner said the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra (SJO) board of directors wants to see the music continue. The SJO and SYJO frequently share the stage together.
Fanner said that since all of the talent was going to be there for the Women of Jazz concert why not take advantage and hold second concert with youth musicians.
“I thought, ‘well, we could do a concert the next day. If Scott’s bringing his group into Saskatoon, why don’t we get together and do a concert,’” Fanner said.
Roos said the inspiration for starting the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band partially came from what Fanner was already doing in Saskatoon. Before the band even started, Roos reached out to Dean McNeill, a professor of Brass and Jazz at the University of Saskatchewan, who suggested he reach out to Fanner.
They then both worked on the Beginner Band Camp in the fall and taught trumpet lessons together. Roos put the idea into Fanner’s mind and they started discussions in September.
“At first we were talking about maybe playing The Bassment and the dates didn’t work out,” Roos explained. “That’s when we pivoted and started to look at the Broadway Theatre.”
Roos said that the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band is a little younger in age than the Saskatoon Youth Jazz Band.
The concert is on March 23 at 2 p.m. at the Broadway Theatre. Fanner said there is a bit of a budget so there can be some production values.
“We’ll have a simpler sound system and we’ll have the lights and that kind of thing,” he explained. “It’ll just be a little less production, but it’s a nice place to play in and I think is always attractive for kids too to play in a real place, a real theatre or a real venue. Anytime you’ve got a chance to perform, it makes things real.”
Fanner said he is also spreading the word to elementary schools in Saskatoon so that any student who plays in a jazz band can attend for free.
“That’s in part due to the support of the Saskatchewan Band Association,” he said. “The SBA has given me a small grant which will help us to make sure that we can cover the cost of renting the theatre.”
He added that the SBA is supporting the event because they do not know how much of an audience they will get.
“I said let’s make it available to elementary school kids because again, for the elementary kids, they come to this concert they go ‘hey that could be me in a few years,’” Fanner explained.
He explained that the whole idea is to pay music forward because the members of these bands are future community ensemble players and this can show them it does not end when they graduate.
The two bands will be playing separate sets and not together.
“(The) hope is that for the PA Youth Jazz band, our band will be there to cheer the model on with whatever audience we have, and then we’ll play a longer set because we’ve been around for a little longer,” Roos explained. “We’ll play a longer set following that that they can hear and go, OK, so that’s where we’re going kind of thing.’ It just helps to connect the dots.”
Roos said that players in the SYJO have moved on to the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra. He is hoping that playing the show will help the Prince Albert jazz band grow.
“I think it’ll be good for us to see some of that stuff’s going on because I’m going to see that they’re going to be playing more advanced repertoire and different things and you know some of those guys are going to be older. Hopefully some of our guys will be able to see like, OK this is the next logical step this is where we hopefully want to take our band in the future is kind of a similar route,” he said.
Roos added said that the relationship with Fanner has been fluid and come together quickly after the beginner band clinic where they worked well together. He said that other than an open house they hosted in 2024, this will be the band’s first concert.
Roos said that all of this comes from him going on a run of getting connected to the right people.
“Sometimes doors open for you that you wouldn’t necessarily expect and they also open quicker than you would think they would,” he explained. “You get a bit of a run of luck and off you go.”
Playing the Broadway Theatre will also be a treat for the players. Roos said that he has seen countless amazing musicians across all genres at the Broadway.
“I think just getting on that stage and getting to experience maybe a little taste of the quote unquote, big time. I mean hopefully that’ll inspire our guys… I can’t think of any venue that would make it a more real.
“I’m just honoured with the opportunity and we’re working really hard to make sure that we perform admirably and it’s a gig that we’re looking forward to and we’re taking very seriously. We’ll enjoy it. When we get up there it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Fanner said that he saluted Roos for taking the initiative and arranging the trip to provide the opportunity for his band to learn.
