Jazz Articles

The Wards Music Big Band: Unhooked

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2001

Yes, big–band Jazz lives, even Down Under in faraway Whangarei, New Zealand, where the Northern Jazz Society’s Wards Music Big Band reprises classic songs from the Swing Era and beyond. The band members, all of whom are presumably part–time musicians, range in age from 14 to 70 (some members of the Whangarei Youth Concert Band who show promise are given an opportunity to play with the senior ensemble, which was formed in 1991). Although no one would confuse Wards with ...