Cape Ann Big Band
Jurek Schreiner/Look of Joy Photography
The picture on Cape Ann Big Band’s (CABB) homepage tells the story well. This music is a trip to the past with a twist. The musicians’ smiles and knowing glances allude to the journey they’re taking you on. And they know you will be swept away. Perhaps you’re too young to fully understand the concept of a Big Band, and yet the same could be said of founder/director and manager, Carlos Menezes. He is an old soul with music for DNA and a passionate believer in the power of music to educate, entertain, and enlighten.
“We operate as a family. Out of the original eighteen members, fifteen are still on board.”
If you’ve ever marveled at the young musicians marching in parades and homecoming weekends—or the wide-eyed, garage band friends who gathered on Saturdays to jam and dream of making it big — and wondered, did they make it? Yes, some did. Menezes, now 39, is proud to share that CABB was “born and bred in his parents’ basement” in 2010. Menezes, Shawn Lowe, and Mike Lentini graduated high school together and soon joined forces with fellow, and more seasoned, musicians Paula Burns, Rick Geraghty, and Vinny Rodolosi. It was the early days of Facebook, yet the group was shocked when the casual feelers they posted were met with an overwhelming response. “We didn’t think we’d have anybody interested to join a Big Band that had no gigs booked or any outlets to play in.” Yet things moved fast, and within a week they had applications from musicians of all ages and Broadway vocalists. “We just jumped right in,” says Menezes. CABB’s first free performance was in a Rocky Neck driveway in 2011. That led to a city hall performance, which led to CABB catching the ear and the eye of the recently-retired Tony Beadle, president and CEO of Rockport Music based in the Shalin Liu Performance Center. The rest is, as they say, history. CABB’s twenty-three consecutive concerts have sold out at Shalin Liu over the past ten years.
“There’s excitement every time we play,” explains Menezes. “I still get butterflies every time I step onto that stage and get to share it. At the core of our mission is to swing. That’s why we started doing it. More importantly, it’s to connect. To connect musicians of different ages and experience levels and to connect our community.…And we’re there to have fun. We pride ourselves in the magic of the moment.
“We’re open to the excitement in the jazz,” he continues. “In its meaning, the improvised part of not knowing what’s coming next.…We operate as a family. Out of the original eighteen members, fifteen are still on board. And we’ll play ’til we retire.”
Every band member also has a full-time day job. For Menezes, this is his tenth year as Gloucester’s O’Maley Middle School’s band and choral director, working with students in grades six through eight. “How many of us can leave work at the end of the day so inspired and motivated by these young musicians?” The Band is also committed to sharing the stage. “We always have students either as a featured vocalist or soloist horn player. And we’ll do exchange shows where we perform at the middle school—a free concert every year—and feature the middle school jazz band. We collaborate.” The Band is as thrilled to perform with the high schoolers as the kids are with the Band. Imagine how transformative an experience this is for a young musician. Menezes has also recently brought back the Cape Ann Youth Big Band, which was on hold since COVID, comprised of eleven- to seventeen-year-olds. The Youth Band performs four or five times a year and is featured in CABB shows as well.
What’s also striking is the credit that Menezes gives to the Cape Ann community itself in supporting and nurturing the Band’s work. “As inspired and connected as I am to the classroom and young musicians, I am equally so with the community. The arts, music, and the community are connected. It’s what drove my confidence [to form] a Big Band. It’s not exactly something that our peers were waiting to buy a ticket to. Yet it spoke for itself, how dynamic and unique and supportive Cape Ann is. We’re here to exchange and connect with people.”
