Sammy Kaye Orchestra in Manteo
Published June 4, 2008 by Roanoke Island Festival ParkPRESS RELEASE
Roanoke Island Festival Park
A Division of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
MORE INFORMATION Press: Tanya Young, (252) 475-1500 ext. 244
Public: 24 hour events line (252) 475-1506 or (252) 475-1500
www.roanokeisland.com
Sammy Kaye Orchestra at
Roanoke Island Festival Park
ROANOKE ISLAND- The Sammy Kaye Orchestra will be in the Film Theatre at Roanoke Island Festival Park for two performances. Thursday, November 8, the famous group will present “Swing and Sway” and Friday, November 9, “Swing and Sway Christmas”. Both performances are at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $10.00 and may be purchased in the Visitors Center at the Park during the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or one hour prior to the performance at the Film Theatre (check or cash only). All guests must have a ticket for admission.
The Sammy Kaye Orchestra lives up to the traditions of the big band era with sixteen musicians, including two vocalists, rendering selections from 50 years of Sammy Kaye Orchestra hits, as well as paying tribute to Sammy Kaye friends Glen Miller and Benny Goodman. Now under the direction of Roger Thorpe, the Sammy Kaye Orchestra will take big band lovers on a trip down memory lane with classics such as “Daddy”, “It Isn’t Fair” and “Harbor Lights.” Another highlight is the fun filled feature “So You Want To Lead A Band”, (originated by Sammy during the big band era), when four members of the audience are invited to compete for the title of “The Best Band Leader.”
Director Roger Thorpe, recently inducted into the Big Band Hall of Fame, was a three-time winner on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour at age 14, and played trumpet with many of the big bands before becoming a college professor. Thorpe met Sammy Kaye in 1972, and they developed a close relationship, with Kaye the “Maestro” confidently passing on the leadership of his Swing and Sway Orchestra to Roger Thorpe in 1986.
The Sammy Kaye story is as truly American as apple pie. It’s a success story of a boy who worked his way through college to earn a civil engineering degree, only to find his true expression in music. He had a vital decision to make. A musical career and uncertainty, or the warm feeling of security as a civil engineer. He made his choice, and never took a backward step. The rest is musical history.
It was in the last half of his college days that Sammy decided to turn to music in an effort to finance the engineering studies that were his first love. But he soon found himself far more interested in sharps and flats than in T-squares and slide rules. He put together an impromptu band to play school dances and proms and soon his undergraduate rhythm makers became so popular with the student body that Kaye opened the “Varsity Inn,” a campus nickel-a-dance spot, featuring his own music. Upon graduation he plunged into the entertainment world, and with the crew intact from his college days, went from whistle stop one-nighters to comparatively choice locations where radio networks did broadcast remotes, and the Kaye musical signature began to catch on with dancing America.
In 1938 New York demanded the Sammy Kaye Band and they followed Tommy Dorsey into the Commodore Hotel’s Century Room for two consecutive years. It was here that Kaye hit upon his highly entertaining audience-participation novelty, “So You Want to Lead a Band,” when a young man, encouraged by his girl friend, challenged Kaye to let him “play” orchestra leader.
After that the band played one popular hotel after another. He was a “name” bandleader and his singing song titles plus the magical “Swing and Sway” and the “So You Want to Lead a Band” became national favorites. The band played in New York, the Starlight Roof of the Waldorf-Astoria, the famous Roosevelt Hotel Grill and Hotel Astor Roof as well as the Hollywood Palladium and Las Vegas. He pyramided with each record-breaking nightclub, theater, and hotel performance until he reached the highest plateau a dance band could ascend, joining such musical greats as Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller. This was the “Day of the Big Band” and Sammy Kaye and his orchestra were one of its mainstays.
The mission of Roanoke Island Festival Park is to involve residents and visitors, of all ages, in a creative and stimulating exploration of Roanoke Island’s historical, cultural and natural resources. For more information about this event call (252) 475-1500 or visit us on-line at www.roanokeisland.com.
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