Mersey Band hosting Pork and Swing night

The Brass and woodwind players of the Mersey Band will be focusing their musical talents on the music of Glenn Miller and Les Brown during the organization’s second annual autumn fund-raising dinner and musical evening on November 7 at the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 38.

Putting on their chefs’ hats, members of the band will take to the kitchen to prepare a hearty roast pork dinner which they’ll serve with oven roast potatoes, glazed baby carrots, and cold slaw prepared with a balsamic dressing, followed by delicious squares.

After the dessert course, small ensembles made up of members of the big 35-member community band -- will play a wide-ranging selection of music which was at its height of popularity before, during and just after The Second World War. Performing will be: the Privateers Brass, Privateers Winds and members of the Junior band. The musical repertoire will include numbers such as: Miller’s Big Band era hits In The Mood and Tuxedo Junction, Brown’s Sentimental Journey, George Gershwin’s Summertime and Frank Sinatra’s driving ballad New York-New York.

The Privateers Brass, formed in 2006, is made up of key members of the brass section of the Mersey Band. This ensemble plays an eclectic repertoire that can cover the musical spectrum from The Beatles to Beethoven. In its four-year history, it has frequently played for weddings, concerts, garden parties and church services.

Privateer Winds, an ensemble made up of the band’s woodwind players has in past played some jazz, ragtime, polkas and spiritual music.

Also part of the musical show is a small group of the Mersey Band’s new generation of players-school students who have trained and qualified to join the band in the past short while.

A brief reception starts at 5:30 with dinner served at 6:00 p.m. Tickets ($12 and $6 for children 12 years) are available at the Woodpile or from members of the band. For further information call Anne Dunlop at 354-3335. There will be door prizes and a fifty-fifty draw.