Big-band music to enliven season's last concert

The orchestra and vocalists will perform about 29 songs.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Saturday's Youngstown Symphony Orchestra concert will be the last of the season, and also the final one conducted by Isaiah Jackson.
Called "Big Band Sounds," it will feature music of the '30s and '40s with two vocalists, Lynn Roberts and Rob Zappulla, who will replace Michael McGuire, originally scheduled to perform.
In addition, the Philadelphia Saxophone Quartet, directed by Bill Holcombe, will join the orchestra. Holcombe, who is noted for his orchestral arrangements of much of the music to be performed, will also play flute and clarinet.
"Rob is a singer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra," said Patricia Syak, executive director of the Symphony Society. "The audience will hear the familiar sounds of many other big bands, too, such as Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James.
"We will also perform a medley of Frank Sinatra favorites," Syak continued. "Many people may not realize Sinatra got his start singing with big bands. We think of him as a movie star with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. or as a well-known solo singer, but before that, he would tour the country in a bus. They would come to places like Idora Park."
In fact, it was Harry James who discovered Sinatra while he was working in a New Jersey restaurant and gave him a job singing in his band. Sinatra later moved on to sing with Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra, before launching his solo career in 1942.
On the program
Syak said the orchestra and soloist will be performing about 29 songs for this concert.
"It will be a very good overview of big-band sounds, and we think all age groups will enjoy it," she said. "Many will remember the music they grew up with, but swing has also become very popular with the younger crowd, too."
The orchestra will perform "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "Serenade in Blue," "Moonlight Serenade," "In the Mood," and "String of Pearls," all made popular by Glenn Miller. They will also do Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow," Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train,' and songs by Cole Porter, including "I've Got You Under My Skin," recorded by Sinatra. Other songs include "Unforgettable," "Stardust," and Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing,"
Roberts, though not with any particular band, performs big-band music throughout the country with major orchestras. She has appeared a number of times with Doc Severinsen.
Zappulla has toured the world with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. They performed for the President's Inaugural Ball in 2005. Zappulla is also known as a conductor and trumpeter of distinction, playing everything from classical to jazz to theater music.