Practice begins Aug. 19 for new community jazz band

PALMER — Before the Glenn Massay Theater opened its doors this year, the Mat-Su Borough lacked a central space to showcase the arts.

Not only is the venue giving school, dance studios and music promoters a new stage to spotlight their shows, it is now behind the start of a new jazz band.

For years, musician Bill Tull has dreamed of playing with a group of fellow Valley musicians in a 15-piece jazz band that “really swings.”

With the blessing of Mat-Su College Director Talis Colberg, Tull is organizing a jazz band that will be based at the college and rehearse weekly onstage at the Glenn Massay.

Tull said the first practice is at 7 p.m., Aug. 19.

He said he’s looking for musicians who can read music, are skilled enough to follow chord changes, and can improvise when needed.

“I’m looking for musicians who can do it all,” he said. “But you’ve got to be able to swing. It won’t be the only thing, but you have to be able to swing.”

Tull has spent decades collecting unique arrangements for standard tunes by performers such as Patsy Cline, Ray Charles and Peggy Lee, he said. His collection totals more than 400 arrangements, some of which the band will learn to perform, Tull said.

He said the idea is to build a top-quality band with a broad playlist that can perform for events at the Glenn Massay Theater or elsewhere in the community.

The idea is that musicians will get the new sheet music at rehearsal and then have the next week to go home and practice the music so they can rehearse it as a band at the next practice session.

Tull said he’s put together a jazz band in the past, but mostly with Anchorage musicians. This time he wants to assemble a Valley-based ensemble.

It’s free to participate and no class credit is offered through the college.

Tull has been playing music since his mom made him study clarinet as a boy. These days he plays sax and clarinet. And mostly jazz music; he likes the challenge, he said.

“People will be surprised at what we have here,” Tull said, of the level of musicianship in the Mat-Su Borough.

For more information, contact Bill Tull at 745-2854.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.