The band is back together

Some are new. Some played the same instrument two decades ago.

But every performer involved in the revival of the Sundance Community Jazz Band shares one thing in common: excitement to share their love of music with friends and neighbors.

If the name sounds familiar, that's because the performance coming up next weekend will mark the rebirth of a band that was once a fixture of community street dances.

Formed by Todd Kahler – both then and now – the Sundance Community Jazz Band actually got its start as a mish-mash of enthusiastic participants.

"I came here and wanted to start a community band. People were getting horns out of closets and my wife, when she was in junior high, actually played cello but she played bass drum – it was kind of an Andy of Mayberry band," he says.

"That's how it started, and then it got to be just a smaller group of people that kept coming back – a core group. With a few instrument changes, from clarinets to saxophone, we turned it into a jazz band and it fit and it stuck."

Over the years, the band played events ranging from Music in the Park in Spearfish and Festival in the Park in Spearfish to big band dances at home in Sundance.

"We would do performances here at the gazebo and a lot of times the only people that came were family members," he laughs. "We just enjoyed playing."

The most memorable performance for Kahler was at the Mormon church in Gillette at the request of Angie, the show choir choreographer at the time. The guests were dressed to the nines and had been taught ballroom dancing by Angie herself.

"There wasn't a song we played where the dancefloor wasn't filled and we're just loving it," he grins. "They loved us and we loved them."

The band played on from the mid-1980s to somewhere around the middle of the next decade. But as time went by, it got tougher to get everyone in the same room.

"The reason we disbanded is that it's just so hard to get that many people on one schedule," he says.

Kahler wasn't allowed to forget about his jazz band, though. Over the course of the years, he'd run into people who mentioned a hankering for those golden days.

"Former members and even former students who never played in it, but they knew about it. They would say it would sure be fun to do that again," he says.

"I just decided in this last year to reach out to former members and then former students I know were strong players and still play. The response was all positive – yes, let's do it."

With seven original band members and as many who are completely new, the reformed band comprises all ages and all walks of Sundance life, from musicians in their 70s to former students who were not even born yet when the band first formed.

"The cool thing is that almost everybody in it is either from Sundance or has Sundance ties," Kahler says. "It's really a good-sounding group."

It's not just the musicians who are back for an encore. With not much in the way of a budget, buying new music can be prohibitive; it can cost $100 for an arrangement for a single song, Kahler says.

As luck would have it, much of the sheet music that was used by the original band was still carefully stored in the band room at the high school, ready to be once again put to use.

"The fact that they were there amazed me," he says. "Most of the music was in there."

Getting so many people together for a block of time that suits all is still no easy feat, but so far the band has managed to set aside a couple of hours each Sunday afternoon for rehearsal.

"I don't know that we've ever had one meeting where everybody has been there at the same time, but we adapt," he says. Enough musicians have joined the melody that there's often redundancy to fill the gaps.

With scheduling no easier now than it was two decades ago, Kahler was concerned that finding a performance time would be tough – but then he had a brainwave. Rather than find a second timeslot that would work, the inaugural concert could be scheduled during the time slot that band members had already blocked off on their calendars.

"Instead of rehearsal, we're making it a performance," he says. "We probably have two and a half to three hours' worth of music that we could do, but we will probably keep it to an hour and a half."

Ranging from well-loved classics to newer pieces, the performance will have something for every jazz fan. It will be a free event, although Kahler plans to have a donation jar available for the school band.

The performance will begin at 3 p.m. in the Sundance High School auditorium on July 23.

If you aren't able to make the first performance, you'll have another chance soon after. The band will be performing in Sundance Square on June 28 at 6 p.m. as the farmer's market comes to a close, and in Spearfish Park on July 28 (time not yet confirmed).

If you are a musician who would like to get involved, contact Kahler at 290-0194.

"There's no audition process," he says. Rehearsals take place in the band room at the high school on Sundays.

If, on the other hand, you are organizing a fundraiser, a street dance or any other event that would benefit from a musical accompaniment, the band would love to hear from you.