Hills Big Band 20th Anniversary Concert 5.00-7.00 pm,
Rotary Twilight Market 10th Dec 2022
(Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mundaring)
Sculpture Park , Mundaring.
The Hills Big Band returned to the site of their very first performance back on 7th Dec 2002.
For our 20th Anniversary we celebrated with a free concert at the Mundaring Rotary Twilight Market on Sat 10th Dec
There are a few old troopers still in the band but also many new faces and a few who weren’t even born in 2002.
We kicked off the concert on the stroke of 5.00 pm with MD Tom Salleo’s arrangement of ‘Jumping at the Woodside’. The second number ‘Country Boy’ featured some great trombone work by Steve Martin.
Vocalist Cathy Mueller was called to the stage for the next three numbers ‘Do Nothing Till you Hear From Me’, ‘La Vien Rose’ (featuring a trumpet solo by 2nd trumpet Lyndon Crabbe) and ‘The Lady is a Tramp’.|
A flugelhorn was featured on the next number ‘My Funny Valentine’ with a breathless solo by lead trumpet Adrian Raeber.
Our male vocalist Lee Laing was called up on stage for the next three numbers. Lee jumped straight into the spirit of things with Sinatra’s version of the 70s Jim Croce hit ‘Big Bad Leroy Brown’. Lee finished his first outing with two standards ‘Night and Day’ and Dean Martin’s ‘Aint that a Kick in the Head’.
The first set was rounded out with a couple of Xmas tunes ‘A Child is Born’ and ‘Big Band Christmas II’ (a pastiche of Christmas favourites in Big Band Style)
Before the start of the second set our recently retired keyboard player John Perry was presented with a plaque and badge confirming him as a Life Member of Hills Big Band (PHiJO). John has been a stalwart of the band and since 2010 has been the first to arrive at almost every gig to set up the PA (as well as storing and transporting the PA). The band is extremely fortunate that John still intends to be on the mixing desk and act as stand in bass player when required. The presentation and introduction were made by Ex President Peter Tate and Current President Steve Martin.
The second set begin with a rollicking version of Dizzy Gillespie’s ‘Manteca” followed by a Buddy Rich number ‘Basically Blues’. Lee returned to the stage for three more vocals ‘I’ve got the World on a String’ (accompanying vocals by the whole band), Michael Buble’s ‘Fever’ and the Ray Charles favourite ‘Georgia’.
The band got stuck into two more instrumentals, another Buddy Rich number ‘Big Swing Face’ and an arrangement of flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione’s tune ‘Bellavia’ .
Cathy returned to the stage to round out the night with three vocal numbers Julie London’s ‘Cry Me a River’, Natalie Cole’s ‘Orange Coloured Sky’, Cathy’s final number ‘Mr Zoot Suit’ was a hit for the The Flying Neutrinos in the 90’s
We would like to thank the sponsors of this event the Rotary Club Of Mundaring and the members of the music loving community who stopped by to listen to the Band.
Merry Xmas and see you in 2023