TCA Big Band and VocalAires to perform 'Cole Porter and Friends' Sunday

TECUMSEH — For anyone who loves big band music, there’s something special coming to the Tecumseh Center for the Arts at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15.

The TCA Big Band and VocalAires, a full, 17-piece band complete with trumpets, trombones, saxophones, keyboardist, bass and drummer along with five vocalists, will be performing more than 20 Cole Porter tunes for just $10 a ticket. That’s the price for all seats in the house.

Lynne Smith and Karen Bunch are co-managers of the band. They started it with some TCA seed money in 2004, and the band has been going strong ever since.

“We sent out postcards to everybody under the sun we knew that played and we knew liked jazz and old-style swing music," Smith said.

"Karen plays (baritone) sax in the group, and I alternate between alto and tenor depending on who’s absent,” Smith said. “For this concert I'm playing second tenor. I usually sit second alto.”

Smith lives in Roscommon now, but she makes the three-hour drive for rehearsals and concerts.

Everyone else is local to Lenawee County. The band is comprised of people of all occupations from pharmacist to corporate pilot to retired. The band also has a long list of subs to pull from for rehearsals and concerts.

“We try to never have an empty seat at rehearsal and the reason being with one person on a part in rehearsal if you can’t see that part, it’s hard to tell where you fit in,” Smith said. “We’ve got a really good group of subs that will fill in for people when they have to and they don’t get all bent out of shape because they don’t always get to do the performance, but they’ll also do performances for us. So it’s nice to have that continuity between subs and the regular players.”

The band did not play during the pandemic, but normally does a spring concert in May and a Christmas concert in December. Every three to four years band members also put on a traditional radio show at Christmastime, which they plan on doing this year.

TCA Band members have a new director in Mark Felder, and they have warmed up to him very quickly. Felder is the retired band director of Jefferson High School near Monroe. Felder loves big band music.

“We tease him because he says every song is his favorite song and he says, ‘Well, they are. They’re all my favorite songs,’” Smith said. “All songs are Mark’s favorite songs, so it’s become a big joke with the band now.”

Some of the tunes the band will be performing Sunday will be “Anything Goes,” “Let’s Do It,” “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

“The music of Cole Porter is perfect for a big band concert. So much of his music was for stage and film. That translates very well to the big band setting. One of the things Cole Porter music was known for was his wonderful lyrics. The TCA VocalAires bring that to life in the songs they will be singing with the band,” Felder said in an email.

Felder said the band has been very welcoming to him.

“I would like to say how accepting the band has been to this ‘new kid.’ The members have really welcomed me as one of their own. I feel they have allowed me to put my stamp on the band. Hopefully we are all progressing together,” Felder said.

Tickets can be purchased online at thetca.org, at the TCA box office or by calling 517-423-6617. They are also available at the door.

If you go

WHAT: TCA Big Band and VocalAires performing 'Cole Porter and Friends'

WHEN: 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15

WHERE: Tecumseh Center for the Arts, 400 N. Maumee St.

TICKETS: $10

BUY: Online at thetca.org, at the TCA box office, by calling 517-423-6617 or at the door.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: TCA Big Band performing 'Cole Porter and Friends' Sunday