Roseville Big Band Traditions

Dr. Glen E. Newton, Roseville Big Band Director and Historian
June 30, 2007; updated January 3, 2016

The Roseville Big Band builds upon a wealth of traditions, some stretching back to its inception in 1965. The band has evolved under the leadership of five directors over the course of its history, developing new traditions and sometimes discarding old ones. The traditions described here have lasted through the years and help define the Roseville Big Band.

Twentieth Century Traditions

Formation

Sponsorship by Roseville Parks and Recreation Department.

Concerts in Roseville’s Central Park.

Stabilization

Commemorative Air Force Hangar Dances.

Vocal Soloists.

Bob Lancette recognized that although instrumental music is an important part of the big band tradition, songs that have well-known lyrics connect with the audience better if there is a vocalist. On Independence Day 1984, Kathy Olsen, the sister of the Roseville Community Band’s principal clarinetist Bob Olsen, became the band’s first vocalist, singing “South of the Border” (“ai-yi-yi-yi”) with the Roseville Big Band. The band’s first male vocalist was Glen Newton, who stepped forward from the trumpet section to sing “Minnie the Moocher” at several Commemorative Air Force dances. The vocal soloist tradition gained momentum in 1990, when Mary Lou (Christianson) Peterman became the band’s first long-term vocalist. It started when the band was playing for the spring hangar dance and one of the colonels in the Confederate Air Force approached director Glen Newton to inquire, “My niece has sung professionally in Hawaii; could she sing something with the band?” Mary Lou sang “When the Saints Go Marching In” with us and became a regular performer on our concerts.

We also met tenor Kirk Lindberg (who built his own airplane and keeps it in a hangar at Fleming Field) through the Confederate Air Force dances. More than three dozen other vocalists-from new high school grads to seasoned performers-have performed as guest artists with the band.

Community Television Broadcasts of Performances.

Concerts and dances entertain thousands of people in the live audience, as we always do on July 4th in Central Park and as we have often done at the hangar dances. These musical events can entertain even more people when they are televised.

Since 1984, community television volunteers in Roseville have videotaped Roseville Big Band concerts for replay on the public access channels of cable television. Today, these concerts are carried on channel 15 in ten cities in the northern suburbs of St. Paul:

Furthermore, because of the “Universal Cable” agreement between the North Suburban Cable Commission and the cable provider, even households that do not subscribe to commercial cable stations can receive these broadcasts free. All Roseville Big Band concerts in Central Park are videotaped for multiple later replays on cable television. In addition, with the installation of a live television feed from Central Park in 1992, live broadcasts from Central Park have let shut-in audiences see the Roseville Big Band concerts as they are happening. Starting in 2015, some Roseville Big Band concerts have been streamed live on the Internet from the CTV15 broadcast facilities.

Volunteer community access producer John Rusterholz has been producing videos of Roseville Big Band performances since 1992 and works closely with band director Glen Newton to coordinate the song identification, camera shots, and soloist identification with the music. Other live television broadcasts of Roseville Big Band performances have included dances at Roseville Area High School and concerts at Concordia Academy. Community television crew have also videorecorded and broadcast the band’s performances at various other locations for broadcast in the Twin Cities:

Nursing Home Concerts.

Through concerts at nursing homes, we bring music to those who would have a difficult time getting out to concerts and who are of the age that they would especially appreciate this musical style. Nursing homes we have played for include the following:

The last two in this list have become traditions in themselves. The parents of Bob Nielsen, the band’s 4th trumpet player, live in Beacon Hill Retirement Community, and since 2004 we have played a concert there for an afternoon ice cream social each June. We also have played an annual concert at Sholom Home East since 2005. Part of the enjoyment in playing nursing home concerts comes from talking with audience members before and after the performances. We even found several former big band era musicians among the residents, including a resident of Sholom Home East who was the organ accompanist for the famous Andrews Sisters on tour.

Charitable Fundraisers.

The Roseville Big Band has furnished the music for numerous charitable fundraising dinners and dances. These fundraisers include benefits for the following organizations:

Support for Civic Events.

In addition to playing three concerts in Central Park each summer, the band continues to provide entertainment for special occasions in Roseville, including these events:

Transition

Sit-in Nights.

Variety of Music.

Expansion

Guest Soloists.

In 1991, Glen Newton began the tradition of incorporating guest soloists into the band’s summer concerts in the park. Focusing on recent graduates from Roseville Area High School (RAHS), the intent was to reinforce the message, “There are musically fulfilling opportunities after high school, even if you aren’t a full-time professional musician.” The first guest soloists were 1991 RAHS graduates—Mike Lushine on trombone playing “Tall Cotton” and vocalist Rob Kleinendorst singing “It Had to Be You” and leading the RAHS Doo-Wop group, who performed several a capella selections on the program. Between 1991 and 2006, 37 recent RAHS graduates have been featured with the Roseville Big Band, some on more than one performance.

The tradition continued in the summer of 2006, with three 2006 high school graduates featured-trombonist Greg Albing (RAHS), alto saxophonist Andy Galkiewicz (RAHS), and vocalist Dani Maresh (Champlin Park High School). Other guest soloists have included RAHS music faculty members, Roseville Community Band director Dan Kuch, and other talented adult vocalists and instrumentalists from the Twin Cities. With a similar goal of demonstrating the joy of adult amateur big band playing to students, we also played for three middle school jazz festivals in the Anoka school district. “Musically fulfilling opportunities after Roseville high school” are exemplified by two of the full-time members of the Roseville Big Band. Nick Johnson, guitarist, is a 1999 RAHS graduate, and Rich Eyman, trombonist, graduated from Ramsey High School before Ramsey and Kellogg combined to form RAHS.

Vocal Ensembles.

Vocal soloists often perform with big bands, but vocal duets and larger ensembles are much less common. The Roseville Big Band’s vocal ensembles are one of its distinguishing characteristics. Shortly after Mary Lou Peterman joined the Roseville Big Band as a solo vocalist, director Glen Newton began harmonizing with her. After Kirk Lindberg joined the band as a tenor soloist, he learned Glen’s harmony to “Moon River.” Glen then created a third part for himself and the band had a vocal trio. An early vocal quartet consisted of Mary Lou, Glen, alto Julie Linders, and guest baritone sax soloist and tenor vocalist Tom Reitan, singing “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” in a 1992 concert at Centennial Lakes park. On another occasion, lead trombonist Carol Jensen joined Mary Lou, Glen, and Kirk to harmonize on “Sentimental Journey” at a Confederate Air Force dance. In 1994, Diane Dolinar joined Mary Lou, Glen, and Kirk Lindberg for four-part vocals as The Rosetones, and the band’s repertoire of vocal quartets began to grow. When Mary Lou left in 1996, Karen Dunn joined the band, both as a solo vocalist and lead singer of the Rosetones vocal quartet. The Rosetones performed regularly with the band until 2004 and still sing with the band several times each year. Karen continues as our featured vocal soloist, and she and Glen sing duets at nearly every performance.

Encouraging New Compositions.

Encouraging New Arrangements.

Joint Rehearsals and Concerts.

The Roseville Big Band and the River City Jazz Orchestra (formerly the Inver Hills Jazz Band) have held annual joint rehearsals since 1993. Originally, a few band members were apprehensive because they thought of it as a competition, but they learned it was fun to get to know some other adult big band musicians and hear their repertoire, and nobody cared who played better. The two bands have also performed joint concerts:

The River City Jazz Orchestra is a convenient group to pair up with, because our rehearsals are on the same night of the week, Tuesday. In 2007, we tried a joint rehearsal with South Side Big Band on a Monday, and most band members were able to attend. That, too, was an enjoyable collaboration. Our joint performances with other jazz bands include the January 28, 2003, concert with the Nova Big Band at O’Gara’s in St. Paul, as well as the middle school jazz festivals in Anoka.

Carleton College Mid-Winter Dance.

Swing Dance Exhibition Dancers.

Uncommon Instruments.

For dances, we use only the standard big band instrumentation. There, the rarest instruments you'll see are the flugelhorns, played by all of our trumpet players, and soprano sax, played by several of our saxophonists.

During concerts, we try to expand our audiences' concepts of big band instrumentation by incorporating instruments not often featured on solos in modern big bands. Of course, "unusual" is in the mind of the beholder, but here are some solo instruments featured with the band:

Variety of Audiences.

Paradoxically, one of our traditions is to include new performance venues in each year’s schedule, in addition to the traditional ones, to acquaint new audiences with our music. For example, we recently performed for the first time for these events:

This fall we will perform for two more new audiences:

Twenty-first Century Traditions

Web Site.

Glen Newton launched at Roseville Big Band web site at www.rosevillebigband.org in January 2000. Over 65,000 Internet users have visited the site since then. It now gets about 260 visitors per day from throughout the world.

Children’s Hospital Association Annual Balls.

The Roseville Big Band has played for the St. Paul Children’s Hospital Association annual balls since 2002. This is one of the newest parts of our long-standing tradition of playing for charitable fundraisers, described above.

Como Park Concerts.

The Roseville Big Band performed at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion, on the west shore of Como Lake in St. Paul, occasionally in the 20th Century. Since 2004, we have played an annual concert there in May, one of the first on the park’s summer concert schedule.

Conclusion

Each of these traditions helps define the Roseville Big Band in a way that transcends a statement of purpose or a single rehearsal or performance. Taken together, these traditions show that today’s Roseville Big Band puts an emphasis on entertainment and public service.
The band’s traditions of including vocalists, exhibition dancers, uncommon instruments, and guest soloists in the band’s performances demonstrate our emphasis on entertainment. Our traditions of featuring a wide variety of music, including new compositions and arrangements enhance this entertainment focus.

Our charitable fundraisers, nursing home concerts, performances for civic events, provision for sit-in nights, and performances at a variety of public venues demonstrate the band’s emphasis on public service. Another public service contribution is the close collaboration with CTV15, whose volunteers bring the Roseville Big Band concerts, both live and in replay, to thousands of viewers who would not otherwise be able to see and hear the band.

This page was last updated
Friday, June 18, 2021.