Acme Jazz Company

What is Christmas without great holiday music? To quote the song, “..no white Christmas…” What is your favorite christmas tune?  Chances are pretty good that there is a popular version of it recorded by a big band!  Bing Crosby, Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Dean Martin all recorded christmas tunes with big band backup.  There is even an Christmas album by the Rat Pack!  A recent search on Amazon even turned up a Big Band Christmas album! The big bands of the 1930s and 1940s are responsible for a wonder repertoire of holiday music. Along with movies such as “A White Christmas” and “Holiday Inn”, the holiday music of that era is a huge part of the holiday season.

Tonight, the Acme Jazz Company will be performing at the Shorewood Bar and Grill in Fridley for another great evening of Jazz, this time featuring some of your holiday favorites.  Hope to see you there.

As many of you know, several members of the Acme Jazz Company are graduates from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. If you have never heard this band, you have a unique chance to catch them next Tuesday at the Shorewood Grill in Fridley, Minnesota.  The band will be playing a number of charts from the upcoming CD Funk in the Deep Freeze.  The Shorewood is a great venue to see this band, which comes from a long tradition of Grammy nominated ensembles from UWEC.

http://www.shorewoodgrill.com

Acme Jazz Company was featured on KBEM Jazz88 Big Band Scene with host Jerry Swanberg on October 17th and October 23rd, 2011. The show featured a number of tunes from the Acme Book and included conversations with band leader and Alto Sax Player Doug Rasmussen, and arranger and Tenor Sax Player Bob Parsons. In case you missed it, check out a recording of the program.

Acme Jazz Company on KBEM 88.5 FM in the Twin Cities

Thanks to everyone that came out to listen to us on Oct. 18th. It was a great night. Once highlight of the evening was playing Bob’s arrangement of “Wouldn’t it Be Nice”, by the Beach Boys. We have not played that tune for several months, and it was a pleasure to rediscover it. The rhythm section was particularly together on this rendition, and we were happy to have with us our guest guitarist, Nick Kiekenapp, who did a particularly nice job on this and several other tunes. You can hear a recording of the tune HERE.

Also, as a reminder, we are playing a special concert on November 12th, at the KC Hall in Bloomington, MN. Music starts at 8:00pm.

Welcome to the new virtual home of the Acme Jazz Company.  Over the next few weeks you’ll see us adding more content, audio, videos and interviews with musicians in the band.  In the mean time, don’t forget about or upcomming gigs:

October 18th at the Shorewood Grill in Fridley

November 3rd at the Shorewood Grill in Fridley, MN

November 12th at the KC Hall in Bloomington, MN

November 15th at the Shorewood Grill in Fridley, MN