The band has been a musical presence in the Greater-Vancouver area for the past 22 years, and are always open to new performance opportunities. We come equipped to be costumed in formal black tie and gown wear, military tans with wedge caps and our standard uniform – our “swing era” look complete with fedoras, suspenders, swing shoes and our signature blacks with yellow ties. We are an ensemble which prides itself on excellence – not only in our music, but in showmanship we incorporate energy and flare in our shows, and incorporate rehearsed choreography in our musical selections. We perform a variety of big band arrangements from the classic Big bands of the 1930’s such as Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Count Basie through the “crooner” hits of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, to the sultry sounds of Ella Fitzgerald, to present day swing classics from artists such as Michael Bublé, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Harry Connick Jr and pop and rock hits from Artists such as Chicago, Stevie Wonder and Spyro Gyra – just to name a few! The band performs for events such as dances, weddings, anniversaries, jazz clubs, pubs, fundraisers, corporate events, concerts in the park, and jazz vespers. Our ensemble has been providing exceptional big band/dance band music in the Vancouver area since 1999. The Bruce James Orchestra is a 19-piece Big Band “Bringing the Best of Big Band” to B.C.’s Lower-Mainland. SUMMER SERENADE 2022 – SCHEDULE OF PERFORMERS: We look forward to bringing live music to the Community of Pitt Meadows for our 12th season! This website (as well as the City of Pitt Meadows website) will be updated by 5:30PM day of notifying of any cancellation due to inclement weather. In the event of rain, performances will be cancelled. We, and the City of Pitt Meadows, gratefully acknowledge that we live, play, share community and perform on the traditional territories and ancestral lands of the Katzie First Nation, and thank them for sharing these lands with us.Īll performances are Wednesday evenings (7-9pm) – July 6 – August 24, 2022. Partnering with the City of Pitt Meadows, the Bruce James Orchestra is pleased to host the 2022 Summer Serenade Concert series in beautiful Spirit Square, Pitt Meadows. Former faculty at the Ithaca College School of Music, Merrill is currently a Senior Lecturer and the Gussman Director of the Cornell University Jazz program, a post he has enjoyed for close to two decades.Hello friends and fans of the Bruce James Orchestra! in performance from Ithaca College, and studied at the Eastman School of Music as a graduate student from 2005-2016. in jazz performance from William Paterson University, M.M. Merrill remains active as a clinician, Area All-State director, freelance trumpeter, and members of the Central New York Jazz Orchestra, Salt City Jazz Collective, and Micro Big Band. He has been awarded multiple commissions and his arrangements continue to be performed by college and high school ensembles, most recently at the Crane School of Music. He has recorded and arranged for Shanachie and I-Town Records and can be heard on such films as Suckerfish (Jury Award Winner at the Santa Barbara Film Festival) and The Substitute II (HBO). He toured with Hank Roberts, Half Pint, John Brown’s Body, and the Grammy-nominated Phil Woods Big Band and more recently performed with such notables as Freda Payne, Janis Siegel, Natalie Cole, Javon Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Chris Vidala.Īs a large ensemble director, Merrill has commissioned works from Jim McNeely, Paul Smoker, Steve Brown, and Rufus Reid and has hosted artists like Wynton Marsalis, Maria Schneider, Joshua Redman, Wallace Roney, and James Moody as collaborative performers with Cornell student ensembles. These early experiences helped shape his career as a trumpeter by instilling the importance of the jazz tradition and exploring the endless possibilities of improvised music. He performed at the Goombay Jazz Festival (Bahamas) and later won a DownBeat award under the tutelage of Rufus Reid in 1995. Paul Merrill was introduced to jazz by performing with upstate New York mentors Steve Brown, Joe Salzano, and Spiegle Wilcox.
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