Welcome to Friends of Big Band Jazz (A 501c3 Nonprofit Corporation)
Home of the Mike Vax Big Band and the Stan Kenton Alumni Band directed by Mike Vax.
Please join us in the work we do to preserve the big band music of the past, present new big band music, and educate young people about big band and jazz music.
Help us to give scholarships to promising young musicians and also donate funds to school music programs.
We strive to keep this medium alive through our concerts, tours, educational outreach, scholarships and donations.
We welcome anyone interested in our goals and hopes for the future of big band and jazz music, to join Friends of Big Band Jazz.
Stan Kenton Alumni Band
Directed by Mike Vax
Alumni from the 1956 – 1978 Stan Kenton Orchestras come together to perform for festivals, clinics, concerts, cruises and dances The band makes tours around the United States every year, and does jazz cruises and festivals. We perform some of the well-known music of the Stan Kenton Orchestra; plus in keeping with Stan's insistence on not just performing nostalgia type music, we also perform fresh new material written in the Kenton style, as well as original material written by members of the Band. We are NOT trying to be the "Stan Kenton Orchestra," but we are carrying on his tradition of dedication to creative music and to jazz education.
Directed by Mike Vax
Alumni from the 1956 – 1978 Stan Kenton Orchestras come together to perform for festivals, clinics, concerts, cruises and dances The band makes tours around the United States every year, and does jazz cruises and festivals. We perform some of the well-known music of the Stan Kenton Orchestra; plus in keeping with Stan's insistence on not just performing nostalgia type music, we also perform fresh new material written in the Kenton style, as well as original material written by members of the Band. We are NOT trying to be the "Stan Kenton Orchestra," but we are carrying on his tradition of dedication to creative music and to jazz education.
Mike Vax Big Band
The current MVBB is made up of musicians from many of the most famous big bands, such as: Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Clark Terry, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, Ray McKinley, and Tex Beneke. These musicians are some of the finest to reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The current MVBB is made up of musicians from many of the most famous big bands, such as: Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Clark Terry, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, Ray McKinley, and Tex Beneke. These musicians are some of the finest to reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Prescott Jazz Summit