Big Band Alumni
Members of the Big Band Alumni have made history performing with many of the celebrated orchestras of the big-band era. The alumni are from the bands of Billy May, Woody Herman, Harry James, Freddy Martin, Bob Crosby, Stan Kenton, Glenn Miller, the Dorsey and Elgart brothers, Benny Goodman, Les Brown, Buddy Rich, Ray Anthony, Louie Bellson, Alvino Rey and many other notable bands.
The Big Band Alumni led by Johnny Vana continues to please concert audiences and swing dancers after 15 years of regular performances. The authentic swinging sounds of the 40's and 50's are still alive with the Alumni who continue to perform with the same passion of the era as intended by the songwriters and arrangers.
Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Johnny Vana won an amateur show playing drums when he was 2½. He later sat in the Glenn Miller Band when he was 3½. Vana studied with Gene Krupa, Bobby Christian, Roy Knapp and Frankie Rullo. During his high school years he was first percussionist for the Omaha Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 12, he toured with Horace Heidt’s Musical Knights and became a full-time, paid member of the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra by time he was 14.
Now in its 15th year of regular performances, Hollywood’s Johnny Vana Big Band Alumni Orchestra continues to please concert audiences and swing dancers wherever they perform their music of the big band era extending into the 21st Century. The band appears at special events such as corporate parties and public music festivals and other events. It is frequently seen on television and heard on jazz and swing radio programs.
The Johnny Vana Big Band Alumni Orchestra has appeared on the Jerry Lewis Telethon originating in Hollywood, the Daytime Emmy Awards, Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters and the annual Sweet and Hot Music Festival in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
The band is composed of veterans of the swing and dance band era from 1935 through the 1950s who are plentiful in Hollywood. Many musicians settled here because of regular employment by the motion picture industry, recording companies and at live venues.
The Annual Senior's Prom
Hosted by Cox Communications, the Seniors’ Prom is widely known asthe senior event of the year. The evening welcomed over 850 seniors from all over Orange County and features the big band music of Johnny Vana’s “Big Band Alumni.”
Paul is ready to go and Sue had the camera. The "prom" is hosted at the Irvine Marriott hotel which had plenty of room!
As a special feature, Art Linkletter is going to be the honored guest so we can be in for quite a funny and enlightening talk!
It was a great evening as we danced from 5PM to 9PM (after all it was a senior's prom) so we were home nice and early! Dinner was included and we even managed a small "drinky" or two!
The Pictures... Please!
Paul was enticed to the "Wine and Martini Bar" and you can see him in the mirror if you look carefully.
Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly on July 17, 1912 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada), was the host of two of the longest-running shows in United States broadcast history: House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years. Linkletter was famous for interviewing children on House Party and Kids Say the Darndest Things, which led to a successful series of books quoting children. He has had one of the longest marriages of any celebrity in America. He married Lois Foerster on November 25, 1935 and they had five children: Arthur Jack (also a TV host), Dawn, Robert, Sharon, and Diane. He was a good friend of Walt Disney .He recently opened the Happiest Homecoming on Earth celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of Disneyland, when aged 93. Half a century earlier, he commentated on the opening day celebrations in 1955. For this, he was named a Disney Legend in 2005.
The music these folks produced was EXCELENT. Every piece they played was danceable and we certainly danced to 90%! Even during dinner, we jumped up and headed for the floor.
We donated to the Senior's Program through raffle tickets but as usual we weren't within 300,000 of any winning ticket!
Prettiest girl in the place was on Paul's arm all evening!
Check the reflection in the star!
Vince & Nancy have been dancing friends for years so we see each other very often... In fact once a week at the Phoenix Club.
The Singers
Bill Jones
The powerful voice of Bill A. Jones is heard with the Alumni, sometimes belting out a fast swing tune or sometimes cooing a song of love and romance. When not singing he has been seen in eight feature films, and 12 television shows including Las Vegas, The King of Queens, Just Shoot Me, and Drew Carey.
Bonnie Bowden
Ms. Bowden began her professional singing career at Six Flags Over Texas. Moving to California, she landed a position at Disneyland and from there she joined Sergio Mendes. During her years with Sergio, she performed in concert halls, theatres, universities, hotels and music festivals throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and South America. Ms. Bowden’s vocal solos have been featured on 17 albums.