From left are trumpeters Ray Oset of St Clair Shores, George Millsap of Eastpointe and Jim Smith of Algonac. Millsap arranges the band's music, transcribing songs by ear from recordings. Charity shows provide exposure to One Beat Back, which was struggling to get work a few years ago.
The 20-piece big band One Beat Back plays March 5 in Rochester Hills. Above, Steven Fleck of Chesterfield Township and Susana Woloson of Rochester Hills play trombones during practice. The band will perform for free and a Warren restaurant will donate its showroom and food for a March 30 charity fund-raiser.
About 500 guests are expected to attend.
Steven Fleck practices for the Swing for Charity. The show's dinner set will have laid-back music, followed by three dance sets.
March 11, 2007
In a few weeks, the trombonists, saxophonists, trumpeters and other musicians who make up the big band One Beat Back will depart from homes in Eastpointe and other Detroit-area locales.
They will leave behind jobs as teachers, engineers, graphic artists and accountants to come together for one of the band's biggest shows of the year.
The band's Swing for Charity on March 30 will bring 17 instrumentalists and two vocalists to Andiamo Celebrity Showroom in Warren, where they'll play standards such as "Jeepers Creepers," and more modern tunes such as the Ray Charles favorite "You Don't Know Me" and swinger Frank Sinatra's "The Best Is Yet to Come.
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It's the second year the band has put on the benefit concert, which attracted about 250 guests last year. This was despite the last-minute planning that grew out of an off-the-cuff idea to get the band exposure while drumming up dollars for a good cause.
The $50 ticket price goes to Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester Hills and the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit, which is music to the ears those organizations' supporters.
"We're hoping for 500 to 600 people this year," said band director Gary Greenfelder of Chesterfield Township.
If that number materializes, the charities stand to make double last year's take of $2,000 each.
"This thing is snowballing beyond our imagination," said Jack Kotter, a baritone sax player from Troy.
"Our main goal is to help these two fine charities."
Andiamo owner Joe Vicari, a longtime supporter of the Capuchins, provides his showroom and food for the event. He helped choose the charities, along with Greenfelder and Kotter.
Kotter, 75, the band's eldest member, lives close to and volunteers for Leader Dogs for the Blind. The band's youngest member is 28.
Band benefits, too
The dinner and dance provides much needed word-of-mouth exposure to One Beat Back, which started in 1991 and was struggling to get work a couple of years ago.
Greenfelder, 49, a trumpeter who's headed up the band for four years, said the band's bookings took off after last year's benefit performance.
Last year, before its first Swing for Charity show, the band was coming off a dry spell of just two shows in 2005.
"We have 14 gigs lined up for 2007," said Greenfelder, who is an accountant and consultant to companies implementing new Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements.
He started playing trumpet in fourth grade after his nonmusician parents encouraged him to take it up. He was raised in St. Clair Shores.
Like Greenfelder, many of the musicians in One Beat Back wear more than one hat.
Some, like Gary Sacco of Clinton Township, double as booking agents. Kotter is the publicity man.
Bruce Agababian designs the band's CD jackets and logo.
George Millsap, a trumpeter from Eastpointe, is well loved by the band for arranging the music, a time-consuming gift.
He has transcribed songs by ear from recordings, turning them into the musical notes read by his bandmates.
"I'm just really lucky to have him," Greenfelder said. "I'm lucky to have all these talented musicians. As such a large band, we don't make a lot of money, but it's about making music and having fun.
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Millsap, known as Fish Hat for the bucket hat he wears, learned to play the trumpet starting in fifth grade. Over the years he has played with some well-known local and national bands.
He learned the art of music arrangement while stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, with the 82nd Army Band and in Monterey, Calif.
, with the 28th Army Band.
Millsap was able to devote more time to music after an injury on his job as a millwright. He still uses a cane.
The band has practiced for the show at Andiamo for about three months in the cafetorium of Holy Family Regional School in Rochester.
There's much to learn and perfect; the show is divided into four 50-minute sets of 12 to 13 songs each.
The first set, a dinner set, begins at 7 p.
m. with laid-back music. That's followed by three dance sets that last until about 11:30 p.
m.
Between sets, representatives from the two charity beneficiaries will talk about what their organizations do and how the donations will help.
The practices have been held weekly on Mondays since December in preparation for the show.
The band will take on a far different look come showtime, from the ungroomed look of practice sessions to the formal attire of tuxedos and every hair in place behind their shiny, logo-emblazoned music stands.
The band includes drums, keyboard, bass, five saxes, four trombones, five trumpets and two vocalists -- one male, Sacco, and a first-time performer with One Beat Back, Karen Petrocella of Washington Township.
The dozens of songs they'll perform are contained inside 3-inch-thick music books that have been their companions all these weeks.
It's Greenfelder's job to keep the music -- thousands of songs tailored to his band and its shows -- cataloged, copied and organized.
"It's extremely time-consuming, but this is my passion," said the father of two sons, ages 13 and 15.
Greenfelder and his bandmates expect this year's show to be better than last year's.
"You learn something from every show," Greenfelder said. "I can't remember anything that went wrong musically from last year, but there were a few mistakes; I wanted to know the names on song requests, but I was nervous and there was too much going on. .
.. I forgot.
"This year I've got a big notepad to remind myself of the things I forgot last year.
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