St. Peter’s Episcopal Church will present the Big Band Express, South Jersey’s premiere big band jazz ensemble in a free concert on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. at the church. A free will offering is requested.
The Big Band Express, a 16-piece group of retired professional musicians and music educators, was founded in January 2001 by Medford saxophonist Tony Femiano and drummer Leo Roselli. Their specialty is contemporary big band music with an emphasis on jazz. The band features the music of many of the country’s finest composers and arrangers such as Sammy Nestico, Dave Wolpe, Tom Kubis and Count Basie, as well as arrangements by Femiano and others. For this concert the band will perform a variety of music, including ballads, up-tempo swing tunes and Latin jazz. A new addition to the group will be Lin Dandrea, the featured vocalist, who will be making her first appearance with the band.
The members of the band, now “off the road,” are still working musicians who have performed with many of the major entertainers and bands of the last 40 years in Atlantic City, New York, Philadelphia, Las Vegas and elsewhere. Their interest in jazz goes beyond that of a “sideline” or “leisure pursuit” and shows a genuine love and passion for this musical idiom.
For more information please call Tony Femiano at (609) 654–1855 or email Jazzdoc733@aol.com.
