From the bride: "The music was wonderful! We could not have asked for a better band. Our guests were really impressed; the Uptown Society Orchestra really made our reception special."
Clinics and Presentations
The Rick Holland Evan Dobbins Little Big Band in conjunction with the Uptown Society Orchestra, presents clinic and concert presentations locally in WNY, as well as throughout the United States.
"Rick, amazing stuff. You have a great thing going...keep up the good work. The community is better for it." Joe Pompilli, Kendall High School
Rick Holland’s flugelhorn improvisations flow with a seasoned musician’s imagination and a hard working trumpeter’s ability to play whatever comes to mind. His piquant touches to the top of the staff (or above) from wherever he happens to be in the improvised melodic line are a great example of where daily practice can take you. His sound is attractive, in fact the sonority he gets from the flugelhorn is an essential component of the group’s impact, and his love of Chet Baker’s melodic invention is completely internalized. Holland’s ability to improvise melodically from his imagination, as opposed to fitting memorized patterns of notes into the chord, is worth careful listening. That’s the way it’s done, folks . Lazaro Vega Radio Host Blue Lake Public Radio
"Rick brought his quintet to our "An Evening of Jazz" and put on a great show! What incredible musicianship and professionalism. Thank you so much Rick to and your guys for providing great entertainment for the people of Kendall. I look forward to working with you again." Joe Pompilli, Kendall High School
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"I had the opportunity to bring in Rick Holland and Bill Dobbins to serve as guest clinicians for my middle school jazz ensemble. The experience was absolutely stellar! Rick and Bill offered practical tips and ideas to both my jazz ensemble kids and myself that will take our music to the next level. The kids enjoyed working with such high caliber musicians. Rick’s band then joined us for a concert that evening and dazzled the audience with a high energy performance featuring some of the best professional jazz musicians the area has to offer!” Mr. Brian Wilkins, Honeoye Middle School Bands/4-12 Brass and Percussion, Honeoye, NY
"I have received many compliments from school principals, teachers and students and the like on the balance of your program and how the students enjoyed the musical performance. As you could tell by the applause and the respectful attitude of your audience of 1400 members, the quality of your performance was professional and highly entertaining. It proves when you put superior performers in front of an audience, fine behavior and educational goals are met and rewarded! Thanks again on a fine concert performance."
-- Richard Hintz, Fine Arts Consultant, Kalamazoo Public Schools
"I was very impressed with Rick Hollands performance in the Kalamazoo Public Schools. The group played great selections from different aspects of Jazz History. There was the perfect balance between lecture and performance. I thought the concert was great and thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank-you for the wonderful educational opportunity for the students in Kalamazoo."
-- Sheri Phelps, Milwood El./Washington Writers Academy, Kalamazoo, Michigan
"I believe our students’ interaction with The Rick Hollands Band was a very positive one which will influence our students to take a more personal view in their music making. -Jim Barry, Okemos High School, Okemos, Mi
The Little Big Band Comes to Geneva, NY
GENEVA — This Friday, Geneva Concerts is offering musical entertainment that will not be out of anybody’s price range.Though economic downturn may have put a damper on many people’s social lives (to say the least), music lovers will have the chance to enjoy live swing music regardless of whether they have any fun money left.
The Rochester-based Little Big Band will perform authentic swing music in a free concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Geneva high school auditorium on Carter Road.
According to band leader Rick Holland, the band has transcribed music from the late ’20s through the ’50s and commissions national writers to compose their arrangements. “It’s a very authentic swing book,” said Holland of the band’s swing repertoire.
Big bands, which generally had from 10 to 25 jazz and swing musicians, were popular during the first half of the 21st century. Some of the more well-known musicians to play with big bands included Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Dorsey and Duke Ellington. Since that time their numbers have dwindled.
“We’re the only band of this kind in this region,” said Holland. “Bands like this ... they’re not plentiful like they once were.” The Little Big Band, a 10-piece ensemble co-founded by Holland and Evan Dobbins, is made up of musicians from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Holland’s 18-year-old daughter, Lindsey, is the band’s vocalist.
The fact that the Little Big Band commissions music specifically for its ensemble sets it apart from other big bands, says Holland. “What a lot of bands do is they get a bunch of guys together and they buy music and they play it — that’s what most ensembles do,” he said. “Our mission is to create new works for a 10-piece ensemble and record them.”
Though jazz is one of the band’s specialties, they will be playing swing music in Geneva. Though the concert does not start until evening, it will be a full day for the Little Big Band, as they will arrive early for a master class with student musicians at the middle and high school, followed by a performance for students in the middle school. During the master class, the band will prepare students from the school’s jazz ensemble to play with them during the concert.
Working with students is something with which Holland says he has a lot of experience. “I’ve done that in abundance,” he said, adding that earlier in his career he used to do an average of 15 to 20 public school workshops every year.
Student responses to his efforts vary, he said. “There’s a lot of factors,” he said. “For the most part, I think kids are always surprised how good this music sounds live, and part of that surprise factor has to do with, you know, they’ve never heard it before.”
Holland teaches jazz history to college students and says he is often amazed by how little students know. “It’s the way that music is being sold in America,” he said. “Here, we’re always on to the next thing.” Holland pointed to the Grammy Awards as an example of the problem, as new, up-and-coming artists are recognized. “The very next best thing isn’t as good as what we’ve already done,” he said.
Calling it one of America’s “only original art forms,” Holland noted he has traveled around the world through his music career and never encountered the lack of jazz history awareness that he has here. In other countries, he says, “one of the things that they think about with us (Americans) is jazz.” But here, he says, jazz and swing are being phased out.
“The way you save a treasured art is by exposing people to it,” he said.
Exposing people to music is precisely what Geneva Concerts promotes. The Little Big Band is being brought to Geneva as part of its Education and Outreach program.
According to Tom McClure, the Geneva Concerts board member acting as facilitator for the Little Big Band concert, says they generally try to arrange three musical events for local students every year — one for elementary, another for middle and a third for high school students. classical music or dance,” he said, adding they occasionally make exceptions such as this for jazz/swing music.
The idea, he said, is to expose young people in the hopes of creating future music lovers and, ideally, audiences.
When possible, they like to hold the events at one of the schools (as Friday’s will be) to encourage higher student attendance, said Geneva Concerts Vice President for Publicity Ford Weiskittel. Having the students play a piece in the concert is another part of engendering music appreciation, he says. The Little Big Band plays the same instruments and similar music as the school’s band students, he explained. “So we thought it’d be real interesting for the kids to see professional musicians,” said Weiskittel.
Nick Moses, director of the middle school band, believes it is a good opportunity for his students. finding appropriate music for the schools small jazz band can be difficult, so he is appreciative of the fact that the Little Big Band has a similar setup to their own.
“The arrangements that he (Holland) has suits my band well,” he said. “It was gracious of him to let us use them.”
With its strong reputation and musical talent, the Little Big Band promises to be a good opportunity for music connoisseurs, its organizers agree, and not least of all for the fact that it’s free.
Holland says the band owes its success in large part to the commitment of band members. “This is what they do for a living, this is what their passion is,” he said.
The Wyckoff Family Foundation and Geneva Rotary Club are funding the concert.
Heather Swanson, The Finger Lake Times
We speak and play to a variety of topics related to Jazz and Swing Music.
Some of our topics include:
What is Jazz? An hour presentation defining the roles of the big band, defining jazz terms using ‘live’ demonstrations and explaining the basics of Jazz improvisation.
II. The Swing Era. Playing a 45-minute set of Classic Swing tunes, and pointing out some of important innovators of the music. Swing Dancers can also be involved with this presentation.
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III. LBB’s participation with local HS and College Big Bands. Here Evan and Rick bring the band in to share a concert with local schools. We also participate in rehearsals and share our expertise with younger musicians.
IV. The LBB with Nancy Kelly or Nancy Donnelly. This concert-clinic presentation concentrates more on the band’s role performing with a vocalist. We also encourage younger vocalists to participate and work with members of our band. We like to end the night with a concert with one of the Nancy’s and the repertoire they have had arranged with the band.
V. Black History Presentation. This clinic concentrates on the music of Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others and their special contributions to the Jazz idiom!
VI. The LBB and the Music of Bill Dobbins. This clinic and/or concert features the arrangements and compositions of one of The Eastman School of Musics legendary faculty and performers, Bill Dobbins with the Little Big Band.
Call Holland Music or contact us through this site for more information on any of our concert and clinical presentations!