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The Texas Instruments Jazz Band
- Avg user rating:
Out of 10 votes - Similar Artists: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, Gordon Goodwin
Out of 10 votes
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Genre: Jazz » Big Band
Biography
In the summer of 1986 someone ran an ad in the internal company newspaper at Texas Instruments. The ad simply said "jazz musicians wanted." Within a few weeks enough people had responded to form a full big band.
The band hooked up with the Collin County Community College. Eric Funk volunteered to be our director for a weekly Tuesday night rehearsal.
From simple beginnings the band has grown along with the college. In the 1990s the group began inviting great jazz artists to appear with the band. The band has had the privilege of performing with such jazz greats as Clark Terry, Kurt Elling, Peter Erskine, Randy Brecker, Lorraine Feather, Bobby Militello, Kevin Mahogany, Frank Mantooth, Carol Welsman, Kim Park, Sandra Booker, Marvin Stamm, Leon Breeden, and Willie Thomas.
In 2000, the band was invited to play at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and made their international debut.
The group plays about 12 gigs a year around the Dallas area. The band released a CD "Jazz Bytes - Version 1.0" in 2000.
