Mother's Day, 2002, at Borders, Nashua, NH: left to right: Sean Sweeney (for Don Hemwall), Tony Sumbury, Doug Leaffer, Paul Combs, Paul Marcantonio, Alan Chase (for Jim Cameron), Bob Coviello (hidden), Jim Pastore, Garo Saraydarian.
"This is a nine piece powerhouse with an outstanding jazz book. The group is tight, swings as an ensemble, and features fine solo performances by all."
- Ted Belastock, Quarter Notes Magazine"This year we were fortunate to have asked Paul Combs and The Pocket Big Band to entertain townspeople, and entertain they did! I can highly recommend Paul and his band. . . the music was first class from the robust opening chords, to the lilting songs, to the enthralling diversity of pieces played. There were many an unsolicited comment about how this was the best music ever at the Town Picnic . . .you should consider having them to your event - you will be glad you did!"
- Andrew Bowers, Chair, Littleton Cultural Council (click to read full text)July 19, 2007
"On November 25, 2001, we held the first rehearsal of the Pocket Big Band, a 9-piece enesmble that has many of the orchestrational possibilities of a big band but still has some of the intimacy of a small combo. The instrumentation is alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, two trumpets, trombone, piano, bass and drums. The stated objectives of this band were, in no particular order, to:
* to develop an ensemble that explores ensemble Jazz from the forties onward to the present."After more than five years the Pocket Big Band is going stronger than ever. Five of the original mambers are still with the core of the band, and the other four have remained in the pool of substitute players who are so important in keeping the band viable. Starting with jst a handful of charts, the band's repertoire has grown to over 100 arangements, with new pieces added every couple of months. So far the book includes arrangements by Tadd Dameron (yes, actual Dameron arrangements), as well as my arrangements of previously unknown Dameron compositions. The book also features work by Fred Forney, Dan Higgins, Tom Kubis, Ken Mamayek, Bob Meyer, Sammy Nestico, Lennie Niehaus, Bob Pilkington, Willie Smith (who wrote for Joe Lovano's Grammy Winning "52nd St. Dreams " CD), Nils Wacklen, Clifford Weeks,and Ernest Wiehe, as well as my own work, and selected classics from the books of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and others. As stated, the book keeps growing all the time and we welcome offers from any arrangers who would like to write for this size band."
* provide all of us, and our friends with a fairly large ensemble to write for, so we can have the satisfaction of hearing what we have written.
* provide me with a lab for making sure that I understand certain of Tadd Dameron's techniques well enough to write about them with some authority.
* provide the participants with a means for growth as musicians."
Jan. 19, 2003 at The Chit-Chat Lounge, Haverhill, MA: Paul makes a last minute explanation of changes in one of the charts. Left to right: Jason Samiagio (for Doug Leaffer), Bob Coviello, Paul Combs, Paul Marcantonio (hidden), Jim Pastore, Jim Cameron, Manuel Kauffman (for Tony Sumbury), Garo Saraydarian and Don Hemwall.
"In November, 2002 the Pocket Big Band started playing regularly at the Chit-Chat Lounge, 103 Washington St., Haverhill, MA 978-374-9710, on Sundays. at first we played there alomst every Sunday, but as we started to atract an audience for jazz, we started to share the stage with other jazz groups, and Jazz At Chit Chat was born. Now in its 5th year, Jazz At Chit Chat presents the Pocket Big Band on alternate Sundays, ad presents other bands based in the Lower Merrimack Valley, such as: the Special Edidion Big Band, Mike Cesati and Friends, the Ken Mamayek Dectet and the Swing X-Press, among others. The complete line up can be found at the Schedule. Jazz At Chit Chat runs from 6:00 to 10:00 PM, and there is no cover." "In the beginning of 2003, we recorded 'Live At Chit Chat,' Sea Breeze SB-3073, in three sessions at the Chit Chat Lounge, with Gary Schena enginering. The CD is avaiable directly form Sea Breeze Jazz, as well as from most of most Internet music stores. After its release, 'Live At Chit Chat' was heard nation-wide on some 50 different radio stations. We will be rebuilding this site soon, and sample MP3s from the CD should be available by fall of 2007."
Sunday March 2, 2003 at the Pressroom, Portsmouth, NH: left to right: Don Hemwall, Garo Saraydarian, Jim Pastore, Manuel Kaufmann, Bob Coviello, Paul Marcantonio, Doug Leaffer, Paul Combs, Jim Cameron. Photo by Dick Lord
"As the band progressed into its third year, we added vocal charts to the book. I have always felt that singing reaches some people that strictly instrumental music does not, and there are songs that I wanted to arrange that are greatly enhanced by the inclusion of the lyric. Because of the extra complications involved, we do not include a singer in all of our performances, but we do try to have a vocalist on hand for our hight profile concerts and club dates. Our first singer was Tyra Penn, and at first the vocal book was cobbled together out of some adapted stock charts. Gradually, new charts were added specifically for Tyra. Due to her increasingly busy schudule with other bands and her responsibilities at WICN-FM in Worcester, MA, Tyra turned the vocal chair over to Lydia Fortune, who is not only an excellent jazz singer, but a song writer as well, and we have started to develop new material for her, including arrnagemts of her own compositions."
Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at
Faye Park, Littleton, MA. Bob Coviello and Jim Pastore, trumpets, follow their parts as Wayne Mogel, trombone, takes a solo, with backgounds played by the sax section, Paul Combs, alto, John Franzosa, tenor, and Jim Cameron, hidden behind John. John Doherty is playing bass, and Lydia Fortune is barely visible behind Paul's alto. Also present, but not visible are Stanley Swann, drums, and Norm Daoust, guitar. Photo by Trude Witham
"As stated above, we hope to have samples recordings and even video clips of The Pocket Big Band up on this site in the near future."
"We want to thank our loyal supporters, who have been coming to hear the band regularly, some of them since our very first Chit Chat gigs. Extra special thanks to Cliff Weeks, Tony Hyde, Ken Mamayek, Bob Pilkington, Scott Tringali and Nils Wacklen, who have all generously contributed some of their arrangements to our book (in the case of Cliff, many), and to Jim Pastore and Bob Coviello who have made many charts available to the band. Building a library is one of the big challenges of putting something like this together, and these guys have made it a lot easier."