First Class Big Band releases debut album after 34 years
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The First Class Big Band started making music 34 years ago. The only way to hear its music was to see the band live -- until now.
The jazz orchestra celebrates the release of its debut album, "Long Shot," with a show Monday at JRz Pub in Austintown.
Band leader Douglas James, who plays trumpet and sings, and Jim Volenik, who plays baritone sax, started the band in the early '90s with area musicians, most of whom studied at Dana School of Music. James played in the Carmen Mico Orchestra for seven years before starting First Class, and he fell in love with big band music at a young age.
"(Dana) was very important," James said. "I studied trumpet under Esotto Pellegrini, and I studied with Tony Leonardi in a jazz ensemble at Youngstown State University. My experience in high school was important too. We had a jazz band at Boardman High School that met once every day, so I got a lot of experience playing in big bands in high school too, and in middle school."
The band started out playing clubs, weddings and parties. James quit pursuing gigs in the mid 2000s, and First Class took a hiatus for about 9 years before returning in 2014 and focusing primarily on playing on the first Monday of the month. The band is in its fifth year at JRz and previously had monthly residencies at Magic Tree and Los Gallos.
The Monday schedule is convenient for the musicians because it doesn't conflict with other jobs, and James said it also proves the band's drawing power.
"If you take a gig in a nightclub on a Monday night and there’s a lot of people there, you can take the credit for bringing the people in," he said. "You take a night where there’s maybe a few people there to watch football, and you turn it into a night that has as many people or more than you’d have on a weekend, (it proves) we bring a good crowd."
The band features Garret Kuchmaner, lead alto sax; Mason Ciesielski, alto sax two; Jim Metzendorf, tenor sax one; Lucas Ciesielski, tenor sax two; Jim Volenik, baritone sax; Louis Pisani, lead trumpet; Tim Coyne, trumpet two; Norman Pellegrini, trumpet three; Joe Badaczewski, trumpet four; James Weltman, trombone one; John Blinsky, trombone two; Jacob Norton, trombone three; Daniel Patrick, bass trombone; Jim Richley, drums; Bob Insco, string bass; D. Jack Ciarniello, piano; Paula Pellafone, vocals; and James.
Making a record is something the musicians have talked about over the years. James said it finally happened because Weltman, who also is a Dana School of Music graduate and lives in the Pittsburgh area, is a talented arranger who also has composed some original songs that are part of the band's repertoire.
"Generally what I try to do is make a melody that people who are not necessarily musicians can still grab onto, but then make it interesting for us musicians too, because we’re the ones that are playing," Weltman said.
As a trombone player, Weltman said he's influenced by the work of musicians such as J.J. Johnson, but he and the band draw on a broad range of influences.
With the big band standards, Weltman leans toward the traditional, but he also will put his own stamp on the arrangements.
On "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me," popularized by Frank Sinatra, Weltman said, "On the album I completely reharmonized that one. The melody's the same, but everything else is a little different."
The band recorded the CD with Mike Talanca at Tune Town in Newton Falls, and the project has been in the works for about two years.
"We liked the idea behind it (the album) because they’re either original arrangements or original compositions," James said. "We’re not just playing old stuff that’s been recorded before."
"Long Shot" will be available for purchase at Monday's show, and the cover charge also will give attendees a ticket to win one of the copies the band will raffle off at the event.
WHAT: First Class Big Band CD release show
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday
WHERE: JRz Pub, 1722 S. Raccoon Road, Austintown
HOW MUCH: $5 at the door.