Band back together after music saved
SLIPPERY ROCK — The Balcony Big Band, or at least its heart — its assemblage of music charts — was literally on its way to the landfill when it was saved in one of those “you can't make this stuff up” stories.
“It's one of the more bizarre stories I've ever heard about a jazz band,” said David Glover, Slippery Rock University associate professor, who teaches jazz history at the university and is the BBB's drummer.
Musicians typically keep the same charts for years because of the cost and inconvenience of making copies, but the band's printed notes took a beating for a vagabond big band that rotated venues nearly as often as its cadre of members.
The crates of the band's original sheet music were exposed to musty storage closets at night clubs, one was damaged by fire. It was later salvaged from curbside trash collection more than a decade ago when the now ex-wife of the group's founder attempted to dispose of it.
“The collection is priceless because there are so many tunes in those books. There are hundreds of compositions and if you were to buy them on their own — if they are still in print, which many are not — it would cost $40 or $50 each. Some books look like they are from the 1800s on parchment paper with burnt edges,” said Glover.
This is an excerpt from a story in Friday's Butler Eagle.
