Dale Corn's Big Band Theory live at Baker Park

Aug. 11—Dale Corn will bring his big band sound to Frederick by way of Frederick's Baker Park Band Shell on Aug. 14 with a free concert.

Dale Corn's Big Band presents a fresh take on popular music, with classic and new renditions of vocal and instrumental songs from the likes of Sinatra, Glenn Miller and Count Basie, while incorporating songs from Elvis, Billy Joel, Queen and others into performances.

The late Frank Sinatra Jr., a friend and mentor to the flourishing entertainer, praised Dale Corn as a singer who "stays true to the tradition of great popular voices of the past."

Corn's third album, "Tell Her," released in 2016, was partly recorded in Hollywood at famed East West Studios and conducted by Terry Woodson. A "who's who" of Hollywood's most elite sidemen and jazz soloists are featured, including saxophonists Gene Cipriano and Gary Foster, trumpet virtuoso Wayne Bergeron, bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Peter Erskine, to name a few. It features arrangements written by the late legendary arranger and composer Sammy Nestico.

At 41 years old, Corn seems an unlikely champion of the Great American Songbook. Most people in his age group are not likely seduced by the sounds of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and Bobby Darin. For Corn, who daylights as a locomotive engineer for Amtrak, his passion for classic American pop materialized while he was attending Linganore High School in the late '90s.

"It was around that period when I got introduced to The Rat Pack while watching some of their movies from the '60s," Corn said. "That got me hooked on the songs of Gershwin, Porter and a host of other writers. As a result, I was inspired to find my voice as a singer."

Dale will be joined by three vocalists and longtime friends and colleagues for the Aug. 14 show: Stan Gilmer, Steve Flynn and Jennifer Parde. Gilmer, of Howard County, Maryland, has worked regularly with groups like The Whit Williams "Now's The Time" big band and the Jimmy Wells quartet, and has headlined recently with the Howard Burns Orchestra at Frederick Community College. Flynn is a professional Sinatra tribute artist based in Mount Airy. Parde, a Baltimore singer-songwriter, has been a longtime vocalist in Corn's big band and has been a featured vocalist in the Mood Swings Big Band and Timeless Duo.

"Before the pandemic this probably would be considered just another show," Corn said, "but ... it's going to be a wonderful feeling to bring big band back to the people. It's going to be just that much more special."