SCCB Jazz Ensemble hosts Big Band Dance

Spring seems to be here at last, and what better way to celebrate than with a happy dance? The Sumter Community Concert Band Jazz Ensemble offers the perfect opportunity Saturday night with its eighth-annual Big Band Dance.

From 7 to 11 p.m., the band will play three sets of very danceable tunes, most from the Big Band Era, in a nightclub-like setting at Lakewood High School’s Performing Arts Center.

SCCB Jazz Ensemble director and trumpet player Rick Mitchum said the center has proved to be “a great space for a dance.”

A dance floor directly in front of the bandstand and tables around the perimeter echo the atmosphere that pervaded the country as it was coming out of the Great Depression. The Big Band Era is generally placed from the mid-1930s through the 1950s, but the music has never died, Mitchum said.

The band’s theme song, which opens each of its performances, is Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade.” The band will play several of the tunes Miller made famous, as well as some Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Paul Whiteman and others.

Soloists Betsy Ridgeway and Mitchum will add vocals to each set, as well. Mitchum plans to sing “Can’t Help Falling in Love (with You)” in the style of Elvis Presley and “What a Wonderful World.”

He said, “Betsy does a wonderful ‘Over the Rainbow,’ and she’ll sing several other songs.”

Mitchum said the band “is excited about having (former band regular) Ray Graham coming down from Nashville to play with us. He’ll have two solos, ‘God Bless the Child’ and ‘Stranger on the Shore.’”

Those who attended the ensemble’s April 17 jazz concert at Patriot Hall will recognize much of the music, and there will be much more at the dance at Lakewood, not all of it from the original Big Band Era. Mitchum said the number of tunes will be tripled with the three sets, and the audience can expect to hear the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” “Last Night” by the Mar-Keys and Sade’s “Smooth Operator.” Pharell Williams’ “Happy” is also among the selections, and the band mixes in some Latin music, as well.

And this time, the audience won’t have to confine their movement to foot tapping — they can get up and dance.

The band always plays some music dancers can shag to, also, Mitchum said.

There is comfortable tableside seating for those who wish simply to listen or rest between dances, and hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served.

Tickets to the Saturday, April 28, Big Band Dance at the Lakewood High School Performing Arts Center, 350 Old Manning Road, are $25 for a couple, $12.50 for an individual. Ticket includes hors d'oeuvres and beverages and can be purchased from any member of the SCCB Jazz Ensemble or at the door.

Call Rick Mitchum at (803) 775-9265 for more information. To get to Lakewood High School, take U.S. 15 South from Sumter, turn left onto Old Manning Road (at the Shrine Club), proceed 1 mile to the school on your right. Take the second entrance and drive back to the center.