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'It makes you want to get up and move': New 13-piece big band brings swing back to Yellowknife

From right, Ben Webber, Al Jones, Sean Daly and Allan Yeoman practise for the Ragged Ass Swing Band's upcoming show at the Top Knight. (Meaghan Brackenbury/CBC - image credit)
From right, Ben Webber, Al Jones, Sean Daly and Allan Yeoman practise for the Ragged Ass Swing Band's upcoming show at the Top Knight. (Meaghan Brackenbury/CBC - image credit)

Get ready to dust off your dancing shoes, Yellowknifers: a new 13-piece big band is on a mission to bring swing back to the city.

Composed entirely of local talent, the Ragged Ass Swing Band is the brainchild of retired music teacher Al Jones. He began forming the group shortly after moving to the territory from Edmonton, about a year and a half ago.

"When my wife and I moved up North, I said, 'I can't be here [for] years without music. So if there's nothing happening, I'm gonna make it happen,'" Jones said.

With some help from resident musician Bill Gilday, Jones quickly tracked down a network of Yellowknife musicians willing to lend their talents to the cause, including composer Carmen Braden and choir director Margo Nightingale.

Now, the ensemble boasts an (almost) full roster of three trumpets, three saxophones and a trombone, alongside a full rhythm section and guest vocalist. They have a wide range of artists and styles in their repertoire, from jazz greats like Count Basie and Glenn Miller to the popular tunes of Elvis Presley and Peggy Lee.

"It's gotten better as we get used to each other," Jones told CBC during a rehearsal Monday evening at Mildred Hall School. "Everybody brings something to the table. It's a very good collaborative group."

Meaghan Brackenbury/CBC
Meaghan Brackenbury/CBC

While impressively large, the band could stand to add a few more players, he continued. That's why Jones is looking forward to their debut performance at the Top Knight on Feb. 18 — which sold out within a week.

"We're going to just do the one night and leave them wanting more," he said. "Then, hopefully, we'll have other people come out of the woodwork and say, 'I want to be part of that.'"

'It's always fun'

For many of its members, the Ragged Ass Swing Band is a long-awaited reprieve from the musical isolation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kristen Au Johnston has been playing tenor saxophone for 20 years and is well-versed in genres like jazz, soul and R&B.

She said playing with the group has allowed her to reconnect with like-minded individuals.

"I started playing some music with local musicians in March 2020, then everything needed to stop," she said. "So, I'm really glad that I met some talented people in town — and I'm glad that Al started this big band last year, because this is my absolute favourite genre."

Meaghan Brackenbury/CBC
Meaghan Brackenbury/CBC

Trumpeter Ben Webber seconded Au Johnston's enthusiasm for swing music. To his mind, it's the best kind for dancing.

"Being a really terrible dancer myself, I would at least be able to not make a complete fool of myself trying to dance," he said. "It … just makes you want to get up and move."

Having taken a break from playing for a few years, Webber admitted it's been a learning curve to build his strength and skills back up over the past year of band rehearsals.

"My lips are definitely having a bit of a workout these days," he laughed.

Still, Webber said, it's an incredible experience.

"It's always fun. Everybody is here because they want to be here, and they want to make music together, and they're here to enjoy it. That's a tremendous environment to be in, where you're working together with a group of people who want to … make the best music they can and entertain as best they possibly can."

At 17 years old, Alex Ketchum on guitar is the ensemble's youngest member

Meaghan Brackenbury/CBC
Meaghan Brackenbury/CBC

Though known in Yellowknife as the lead guitarist of Quantum Haze — a rock/metal band he started with his high school friends — he's started to turn more of his attention toward jazz recently.

"I like the harmonic language and the complexity of it, but also the nuance that can be brought out by really skilled jazz guitarists and jazz pianists, and I really like the aspect of improvisation that allows for creative freedom and expression," he said.

"I'm hoping to study jazz when I go off to university."

In the meantime, Ketchum said, he's excited to hit the Top Knight stage this month.

"I'll love to see how the public receives [it], and it will be fun to play another show," he said. "I think it'll be really good."