Lamorinda, Walnut Creek support their Big Band jazz

One goal of the Generations in Jazz Foundation is no less than to help preserve big-band jazz.

"The music will survive, but it is endangered," said Maurice "Mo" Levich, co-director of the Rossmoor Big Band. "There are so many other styles of music to listen to. As the generations move on, the sound of big-band jazz moves on, too."

Generations in Jazz, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting community music activities — largely involving jazz music — will help keep that tradition alive with its Oct. 2 Big Band Dance at the Rheem Theatre in Moraga.

This is the eighth such performance for the The Big Band of Rossmoor, which includes several Lamorinda student musicians.

The Lamorinda-Walnut Creek area offers a fertile local mix of older players, young up-and-comers and true believers who match them together to help preserve jazz in general, and big-band jazz specifically.

"We have a mix of interested parents and students and volunteers, and in this community, we're blessed to have people give of their money and their time," said Bob Athayde, director of music education at Stanley Middle School in Lafayette and coordinator of the Lafayette Summer Music Workshop. "Really, we have people that make things happen."

Many of them live in Rossmoor, some of whom have decades of experience as big-band musicians.

"Some of these folks played in the World War II Army bands; working with musicians here, I've worked with the

Rossmoor's Frank Como, longtime arranger for jazz great Lionel Hampton, who also has worked with artists, including Cab Calloway, Pete Escovedo, the Temptations and Frankie Valli, has written many of the Rossmoor band's arrangements. Como will team with Levich to lead the band at the Oct. 2 show.

The big band counts many players age 20 and younger as regulars. Levich said that is largely a testament to Athayde, whom he described as a "critical component" to the Lamorinda area's musical culture, jazz and otherwise.

At the Oct. 2 dance, a number of music students from Acalanes High in Lafayette, Campolindo High in Orinda and Stanley Middle School will be featured performers.

The Rossmoor Big Band, which revels in the music of the swing era (late 1930s to early 1940s) has played the Rheem before. Despite being built in 1955, the Rheem and its art deco look is a good venue for a big band.

The Big Band Dance is presented by Generations in Jazz, which also has presented the Lafayette Summer Music Workshop since 1998, the Lafayette Jazz Festival since 2000 and the Rossmoor Big Band since 1996.

Doors at the Rheem will open at 7 p.m., with the dance running from 7:30 to 10 p.m.

Tickets are $10. They can be purchased at the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce office, 100 Lafayette Circle #103, Lafayette; or at the Rheem, 350 Park St., Moraga. Get your tickets early, as the event has sold out in the past. Call 925-284-7404 or visit www.lafayettechamber.org for information.

The Big Band Dance is also supported by Chambers of Commerce in Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda; the Rheem Theatre, the city of Lafayette and the Lafayette & Moraga recreation departments. The Rossmoor Big Band is sponsored by Kaiser Permanente Senior Advantage.

For more information about the Rossmoor Big Band, visit www.thebigbandofrossmoor.org.