ABOUT
US
TUESDAY NIGHT BAND
"Swing, Blues, Shuffle, Bop, Funk, latin, Jump and Jive, that's the music we love to play!"
The Tuesday Night Band, originally called "The Tuesday Night Showband," is a group of like-minded individuals who share a passion for big band music. Our group hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. We are a mix of professional and talented amateur musicians who rehearse every Tuesday night year round.
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The band has been in existence for 35 years, having been founded in 1986. We are co-operatively co-directed by several band members. Our vocalist is Pam Barr.
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We give concerts in the Halifax vicinity, often for charitable causes. Our goal is to make people aware that big band music is alive and doing very well. Summers are often our busiest time, with numerous open air concerts. In fact, throughout the pandemic we managed to rehearse at a horse ranch in Rawdon, home of two of the band members.
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We are regularly featured in the big band extravaganza at the TD Halifax Jazz Festival. Also, for several years now we have performed at the Chester Band Stand as part of their summer concert series.
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We have one of the largest collections of big band sheet music in Atlantic Canada, with currently well over 400 titles in our book. Over the years music has been purchased, donated, and even specially composed for the band. Several of our members have contributed charts and arrangements to the collection. Ted Blackbourne is our most prolific, as well as Guy LeBlanc, Wayne Baker, Peter Browne and Bob Bauer. In particular we specialize in charts by some of the best of the Big Band arrangers, Sammy Nestico being one of our favourites.
For more information contact US:
Phone Bob Bauer: 902-835-2186
"Tuesday Night Showband" history
"'A good blend' The Tuesday Night Showband swings friendship into sweet melodies"
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"The Tuesday Night Showband began ... as an impromtu jam session that has grown into a 20-piece band."
In this 2001 article in The Daily News, Sandy MacDonald wrote,
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"Back in 1986, when Bob Margeson flipped open his trumpet case to trade some tunes with a couple of buddies, he never guessed what that jam session would become. That humble first gathering has blossomed into a faithful once-a-week show band, dubbed the Tuesday Night Showband.
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Yesterday at noon, the 20-piece band played one of its most high-profile gigs, at the World Music Stage as part of this year's Atlantic Jazz Festival. With a large crowd mulling around in the baking sun to hear the polished band, it was clear the Tuesday Nighters had come a long way.
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The group is a mix of experienced union players and less-gifted but equally dedicated amateurs. Margeson came to the trumpet late, at age 35. But he played well enough to invite fellow trumpeters Bruce Froom and Roger Parratt to get a little band together.
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"Roger was from England, and came over here with The Import Beer Company," recalls Margeson. "We held our first rehearsal in their warehouse, sitting on beerkegs."
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Before the band was a month old, however, Parratt was transferred to Ontario. The band was soon able to entice Frank Ridgeway, a first-rate trumpet player with the Stadacona Band, to conduct the weekly sessions. At about the same time, they managed to find some rehearsal space at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, which has become their adopted home.
... Over the years, players have come and gone, but the driving spirit of the Tuesday night band keeps it glued together. ..."