WILLIAMSBURG — Grooveburg, an 18-piece jazz big band, will hold its debut concert at the Williamsburg Library Theater on Nov. 23.
Started by Christopher Ward, who has been performing in big bands since 2005, got his start at Busch Gardens as part of the Starlight Orchestra.
Later, he joined the Williamsburg Classic Swing Orchestra and has continued to play with them for the past 20 years. In addition, he is also a trumpet player with Good Shot Judy.
Ward wanted to start his own band, and do something more modern. The group’s first performance will feature tributes to video game music, featuring music from titles such as Super Mario Bros., Portal, Final Fantasy, Cuphead, Fallout and more. Arrangements were purchased from Grammy Award-winning The 8-Bit Band, a Jazz Orchestra popular on YouTube.
“My idea to start with was to play video game music because there’s a movement of jazz musicians that are adopting video game music as part of the standard repertoire,” explained Ward. “I pitched it to my friends who were professional musicians and asked them to be a part of this new project, and they all agreed and they were all excited about it.”
“It’s kind of a dream fulfilled to be able to hand-select the talent that’s in the band. A lot of these guys have performed in military bands, they performed on Broadway, they perform on cruise ships, and theme parks like Busch Gardens and Disney World. They’re just incredible, and it’s really an honor to be able to perform with them,” he added.
The performance on Nov. 23 will begin at 3 p.m. at the Williamsburg Regional Library Theater and feature special guest vocals by Brett Cahoon of Good Shot Judy. Tickets are $20 a person and can be purchased online in advance.
To keep up with Grooveburg and upcoming performances, please visit its official Facebook page.
