Big Band Performances to Celebrate an Era
Depot Town Big Band is available for public and private events. Email us for more information.
About Us
Our Story
In 2011, Matt Balmer had a vision to start a new community big band in the Depot Town area of Ypsilanti, Michigan. The group is a typical 18-piece big band playing charts from the Great American Songbook of the 1930s through more modern compositions. DTBB’s members have a very diverse working backgrounds, such as teachers, engineers, scientists, IT consultants, and programmers. In 2017, the group became an official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to promote and preserve big band history through community performances.
What We Do
We strive to enrich our community through our entertainment. We are available to for personal and corporate events. Such as:
- Weddings
- Business Celebrations
- Community Festivals
- Fundraising
The Depot Town Big Band is ideally suited to elevate the class of your event. With our extensive song list and flexible sizing, we can put together a concert that meets your needs and style choice.
Our Influences
As a straight-ahead big band jazz group, we take our musical queues from the greats like: Count Basie and his Orchestra, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Thad Jones, Maynard Feguson; as well as more modern composers such as Tom Kubis and Gordon Goodwin. No set is complete without a few vocals. You can hear a wide variety from Rogers and Hammerstein, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and others from the Great American Songbook.
We enjoy performing anything that moves an audience, like ballads such as “Bein’ Green“, “Skylark“, and “At Last“; classics like “In the Mood“, “Corner Pocket”, and “Groovin’ Hard“; Latin charts like “Samba Dees Gotta Do It“, “Green Eyes“, and “Girl for Impanema“; and of course rippin’ tunes like “Bob-Omb Battlefield“, “Count Bubba“, and “Hunting Wabbits“.