New Century Dance Orchestra

press release: The Madison Jazz Society continues the year-long observance of its 35th anniversary with a concert on Sunday, February 24, that will feature the New Century Dance Orchestra.  It will be held from 1-4 p.m. at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, 2969 Cahill Main, Fitchburg.

MJS President Linda Marty Schmitz said, “The New Century Dance Orchestra first performed on the MJS stage in September 2011. It’s about time we brought them back!!”

The band recreates the jazzy dance band sounds from the roaring twenties into the swing style of the 1930s. The ten-piece band is reminiscent of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and the earliest music of Duke Ellington – the generation of “big band” music that preceded the swing era.

First organized in 1998 for a Wisconsin Sesquicentennial event, the NCDO came about through the acquisition of three historic dance band libraries: the Schmitz Sisters Orchestra of Mount Calvary, Arch Adrian & his Men of Note of Fond du Lac and a third group from Ripon. The combined libraries included nearly 1,500 arrangements from the early 1920s onward, with the Schmitz library alone numbering over 1,000 titles. Co-leaders of the group Ray Wifler and Pete Runde explored the collections, identifying selections by such jazz greats as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Joe Oliver.

    Tickets for the concert are $20 for MJS members; $25 for non-members and those age 18 and younger will be admitted free.  Doors open at noon. Details can be found at www.madisonjazz.com or by calling 608-850-5400.

Formed in 1984, the Madison Jazz Society is a non-profit, all volunteer organization formed to encourage the performance of and education about jazz.  It annually sponsors six concerts that attract jazz fans from all over the Midwest. It has also has a school grant program that awards grants to Wisconsin schools to enhance their jazz education programs and a jazz school residency program.