Those who want to join the Lakewood Ranch Big Band need to sound off

Polo Run's John Selvaggio wasn't sure he would pick up the trumpet again.

After half a century of being an "ace" player, he put his instrument down in 2008, seemingly for good.

But then his neighbor, Chuck Huffine, told him he was starting the Lakewood Ranch Big Band and was looking for musicians.

"Living in Lakewood Ranch, how much sunshine can you enjoy?" Selvaggio said.

Selvaggio, 79, decided to attend Huffine's first rehearsals at Lakewood Ranch Prep, to see how the band would come together.

He found that picking up his trumpet and playing again wasn't like riding a bicycle, but more like falling off it.

"I am the son of a musician and I grew up playing trumpet, so it's hard to be the worst guy in the section, but I am enjoying it," Selvaggio said, "Surprisingly, I am not as good as I thought I would be. I am doing exercises to improve my wind control. I can't fight the clock, but I can go down swinging in a jazz sense."

Selvaggio is glad he already can see some improvement in his play, as he said he is performing with a talented group.

Photo by Jay Heater

Huffine has started big bands in Rochester, New York and Denver, Colorado, and he saw a void in big band music in the Manatee and Sarasota counties area. He said musicians have to go south to Venice or north to Clearwater to find big bands to join.

"Musicians like to play this stuff," he said of big band music. "So I reached out to musicians I know."

His goal is to put a 20- to 22-person band together and eventually play about 15 concerts a year.

"Big band music started in the 1920s," he said. "Before rock bands, these were the pop bands. It was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and there definitely is an audience for it now. People like to dance."

Huffine needed a place to rehearse and he went to Jay Belmont, who is the band director at Lakewood Ranch Prep. Belmont, who plays the trombone, not only is letting the band use the high school's rehearsal room, but he is playing with the group as well.

"It does make my day kind of long because I am up at 6 a.m. and then I have our jazz band, but this is a lot of fun," Belmont said about the Lakewood Ranch Big Band's evening rehearsals. "I've played in big bands. Playing in bands helped me pay my way through college."

Belmont, who is 26, could eventually see some of his high school students playing in the Lakewood Ranch Big Band in the future. He said solid high school musicians would be a fit for the new band.

Huffine, who plays trombone, trumpet and piano, signed the band up as a Lakewood Ranch Community Activities club to also help attract members.

He said it will be a challenge to get a set lineup.

Photo by Jay Heater

"You have to see if (the musicians) like the music and the people they are playing with," he said. "We have 18 now, and that includes two vocalists. But we need drums."

The band members aren't likely to get paid.

"It's tough to pay 20 people," Huffine said. "But we will take donations. We mostly want to serve the community. I could see us playing on Main Street."

He said he foresees the band playing one or two "auditorium" concerts a year, and then booking various other concerts, especially during the holidays. He said he has a library of more than 500 tunes, so he isn't worried about needing to buy music to perform.

"I don't want to overtax people," he said.

 He expects the band to be ready to play together "hopefully" in December.

"It depends on the drums and the piano," Huffine said. "There is a lot of stuff to coordinate."

Those interested in joining the big band can contact Huffine at 720-670-7712 or by sending an email to [email protected].