It’s been more than a year since Riptide Big Band musical director Judy Lindquist first moved to the Central Coast and assembled the 16-piece jazz ensemble. The group has enjoyed an artistic residency of sorts at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center thanks to the continued support of the Mussell Senior Club, which regularly sponsors dance concerts featuring the band.
In preparation for a number of local concerts, including the Spring Fling, the Riptide Big Band’s repertoire now contains more than just the hits of big band jazz’s golden age—such as works by Glen Miller or Duke Ellington—but also hits enjoyed by the following generation, Lindquist explained.
“We’ve found out a lot of people like listening to the tunes from the ’60s and the ’70s,” she said. “We still play a lot of our standards and a lot on request, but we find most people like that stuff, a lot of people relate to it.”
Lindquist is a retired band teacher with years of experience teaching a variety of styles for a big band ensemble. The big band setup is a valuable teaching tool for concert band students, such as horn players who need to work a variety of styles, she explained, so she is well versed in a number of contemporary arrangements for the ensemble.
“Kids today, I was teaching as of a couple years ago, and kids know Beatles songs,” she said. “I think that each era kind of has its special songs that kind of go on, and that’s really what we are keying in on, we aren’t doing anything that nobody will remember.”
The seasoned players that make up the Riptide Big Band are more than comfortable performing solos, fast instrumentals, and accompanying vocalists. The Riptide includes singers Bob Nations and Holly Williams; both will sing with accompaniment from the band. The ensemble will also perform a number of instrumental songs, with the vocal lines realized by sections or soloists in the band.
While Lindquist hopes to appeal to many with the group’s updated repertoire, she also stays attuned to the ensemble’s original goal: to get people dancing. Dance schools, professionals, and students of all ages are all welcome to the concert, she said.
“When we do add new songs to our book, we try to make sure they are danceable songs,” she said. “For some dancers, it’s more about the tempos, but as long as the song is easy to listen to, they are going to enjoy it, even if you come just to listen.”
Though the Mussell Senior Club provides the event, it is not reserved strictly for senior citizens. Big band jazz fans of all generations are welcome to listen, dance, and even sing along, Lindquist said.
“I think that there really aren’t a whole lot of groups in this area that play this kind of music,” she said. “And relatively speaking, we play kind of cheap, I mean, we charge $10 for two-and-a-half hours of dance music—where else are you going to get that?”
Contact Arts Editor Joe Payne at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 9-16, 2015.
