The Toledo Jazz Orchestra is a musical ensemble based in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. The ensemble is a traditional

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

, generally featuring between ten and twenty performers, depending on the instrumentation called for in a given piece or seasonal roster. Performances have included work with a number of well-known jazz artists, including Stan Kenton Orchestra drummer

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

. The TJO started in the 1980s, according to th
obituary
of former director David Melle. In the first decade of the 21st century, the group split from the similarly named Toledo Jazz Society (renamed the Art Tatum Jazz Heritage Society), then went dormant for two years before a re-emergence in 2010 as an 18-piece ensemble. The group now exists as an independent nonprofit organization. Membership is largely made up of area performing professionals and music faculty of regional universities, including (as of 2013) a winner of the prestigious

International Trumpet Guild The International Trumpet Guild (ITG) is an international organization of trumpet players. Members include professional and amateur performers, teachers, students, manufacturers, publishers, and others interested in the trumpet. ITG is a nonprof ...

solo competition award.

References

External links

Official websiteArt Tatum Jazz Heritage Society
Musical groups from Ohio Big bands Culture of Toledo, Ohio American jazz ensembles {{US-jazz-band-stub