Scott Roos
Special to the Herald
When the inaugural Prince Albert Big Band Festival gets underway on Saturday, March 28, audiences can expect an afternoon steeped in swing, swagger, and the unmistakable roar of a full jazz orchestra.
Among the featured performers making the trip up Highway 11 will be Saskatoon’s own Toon Town Big Band – a seasoned ensemble that has spent over a decade celebrating the enduring power of big band jazz.
Taking place at Vincent Massey Public School, the festival launches a new tradition for the city. The event brings together student musicians and veteran performers in a shared celebration of big band music, with performances from the École St. Mary High School Jazz Band, Lakeland Junction Big Band, Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band, and the visiting Toon Town Big Band.
Doors open at 3:30 p.m., music starts at 4 p.m., and admission is by donation which will serve as an open invitation for the community to come out and hear the big band tradition alive and well.
For Toon Town bandleader Larry Hume, the upcoming trip to Prince Albert is another chapter in a long-running musical story.
Hume, a trombone player, has been leading the ensemble since 2010, though the roots of the band stretch back even further. Before adopting its current name, the group played under the banner of the Saskatoon Jazz Society Big Band at the city’s famed jazz venue known as “The Bassment.”
“The band actually started as the SJS Big Band in the Jazz Bassment,” Hume explained in a recent interview with the Herald. “We played there for about eight or nine years. Then in 2010 we turned into the Toon Town Big Band.”
That long history means the group has developed a rare kind of chemistry. Several of the musicians have been playing together for two decades or more, a longevity that shows in the tight ensemble sound and easy camaraderie on stage.
“A bunch of us have been together for 20 to 25 years,” Hume said. “That makes a difference.”
Today the Toon Town Big Band features 17 musicians who share a love of the classic big band sound. Their repertoire stretches across nearly a century of jazz history – from the swinging elegance of Count Basie’s legendary orchestra to modern chart-toppers by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. Along the way, audiences will hear music made famous by iconic vocalists like Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and Ella Fitzgerald, along with instrumental showpieces associated with big band legends such as Maynard Ferguson and Buddy Rich.
The band’s set lists also reach into more contemporary territory, including arrangements by modern jazz ensembles like The 8-Bit Big Band, proving that the big band tradition continues to evolve.
Fronting the ensemble on a handful of tunes will be vocalists Graham Dyck and Darcie Lich, whose performances add another layer of personality and charm to the show.
But for Hume, the secret ingredient behind the band’s longevity isn’t complicated.
“We just want to have fun,” he said with a laugh. “We love the music and we love the people in the band. That’s really what it comes down to.”
Hume keeps a simple philosophy when it comes to building the group as well: musicians need to play well, show up, and get along with the rest of the band. If they can do those three things, and there’s a spot open in the band, they’re welcome.
That sense of enjoyment carries over into the band’s performances, where the musicians move comfortably between swinging dance numbers, straight-ahead jazz charts, and classic big band showpieces. With a repertoire that runs into the thousands of arrangements, Hume says the band can tailor its program to suit almost any audience.
And that flexibility will come in handy when the band arrives in Prince Albert.
“We’ll have something for everybody,” Hume said. “Good singers, great soloists, and a lot of musicians who are there to put on a good show.”
For Hume and the band, the road trip north is part of the fun as well. Members will be piling into carpools and vans to make the journey together. It’s another reminder that for all its polish on stage, the Toon Town Big Band is still, at heart, a group of friends who love making music together.
And when that unmistakable wall of brass and rhythm fills the room at the first-ever Prince Albert Big Band Festival, there’s a good chance the audience will feel that joy too.
