JULY 1 EVENT AT THE REDLANDS BOWL

Les Brown and the Band of Renown comes to the Redlands Bowl for July 1 concert

The timeless music of the Big Band era will fill the Redlands Bowl on Tuesday, July 1, as Les Brown and the Band of Renown takes the stage for the second concert of the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival. The Band, which originally formed sometime around 1935, invites listeners to take a “Sentimental Journey” through the past 60 years of jazz music.

Directed by Les Brown, Jr., the Band of Renown consists of 18 instrumentalists with two singers. Many of the members, like Clyde “Stumpy” Brown, Les Jr.’s youngest brother, have been with the Band for several decades. Stumpy joined the band’s trombone section when he was just out of high school.

“I love the Band,” he laughs, “’cause I’ve been with it since 1942.”

Band member Butch Stone also joined the Band in 1942. Now limiting his performance duties to singing only, he will entertain the crowd with four songs.

The Band performed for 50 years with Bob Hope, and recorded 18 Christmas TV specials for Hope, entertaining the troops throughout the world.

“Those were the best trips,” Stumpy recalls. “We were glad to go overseas because the troops loved it so much.”

The concert will feature the Band’s trademark piece, “Sentimental Journey”, and several other classic jazz tunes such as “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time”, and “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”.

Known for its classy swinging sound, the Band regularly receives rave reviews. “Most musicians were 60+, and showed their age—in experience!” wrote one reviewer of their concert at the Torrance Cultural Center. “What a beautiful tight sound.”

Les Jr. started singing with the Band as the “boy singer” in 1960, and re-joined the Band in 1987 after several years in other entertainment fields. He has directed the Band since January of 2001 when Les Sr. passed away after 66 years as the Band’s leader and musical inspiration.

This concert, co-sponsored by Barich and Associates and Kennedy Cadillac, will begin at 8:15 p.m., with the season’s first Community Sing, led by Curtiss Allen, Sr. starting at 7:20 p.m.

All events of the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival are presented without an admission charge, with a free-will offering collected at intermission.

The Redlands Bowl is located at 25 Grant Street in Redlands between Grant and Eureka Streets, just south of Brookside Avenue. For directions and more information, contact the office at 909/793-7316 or view the website at www.redlandsbowl.org