Prime Time Big Band

Captain Dave Jones formed Prime Time Big Band in 1994 after serving in the Canadian Forces Music Branch as a trumpeter and conductor for more than 27 years. The band is comprised of Calgary’s top professional musicians and rehearses weekly. Since the beginning, Prime Time has performed hundreds of engagements featuring jazz artists such as P.J. Perry, Guido Basso, Alastair Kay, Bobby Shew, Phil Nimmons, Hugh Fraser, Mike Tomaro, Peter Appleyard, Phil Woods, Bob Mintzer, George Robert, Ian McDougall, Paul Wertico, Mike Herriott, Andrea Tofanelli, Adam Rapa, Ingrid Jensen, Chris Jaudes, Walter White, Sean Jones, Wycliffe Gordon, Allen Vizzutti, Tommy Banks, Pete Christlieb, and Doc Severinsen.

The band has a current library of more than 600 compositions including Big Band Swing, BeBop, Latin, Contemporary Jazz Standards, Popular Tunes and Rock. It also has a dance library of over 400 arrangements of all styles from the 1940s to the present day. The current members include: Richard Harding, Eric Friedenberg, Pat Belliveau, Keith O’Rourke and Gareth Bane on saxophones and woodwinds; Jim Murray, Leanne Paisley, Al Muirhead and Dave Jones on trumpets and flugelhorns; Brian Walley, Dave Reid, Paul Toutant and Tristan Campbell on trombones, Derek Stoll on piano, Kai Poscente on bass, Bob Fenske on percussion, John deWaal on drums, and Deanne Matley on vocals.

Over the past 15 years, Prime Time Big Band has enjoyed a steady Saturday afternoon two-hour jazz gig at the Ironwood Stage and Grill in Calgary, Alberta

. Big band jazz from the 1940s to present day, including hits from the Buddy Rich Band, the Bob Florence Big Band, the Stan Kenton Band, the Count Basie Big Band, the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Big Band and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band and other big bands are featured.