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Welcome to a brief history of the Waco Jazz Orchestra!!!
The Waco Jazz Orchestra began life in an office building on Waco's Lake Air Drive in 1985. Al Newman, a cement company executive with offices in the building, learned that Tom Riggs, whose CPA office was in the same building, played jazz. Al, who had played trumpet with Woody Herman at one point, visited Tommy and a friendship developed. The two talked about starting a rehearsal big band and eventually decided to survey other area jazz players to gauge interest. With help from drummer Nick Klaras and bassist Ed Burleson, a list was compiled; Tom's son Randy, a trumpet player, was deputized to write the letters.
Tom's clients included two couples who owned a motel at the corner of Lake Air and Waco Drive; they volunteered space in the inn for the band to rehearse. The band's first rehearsal, on a Sunday in May 1985, was a success and led to more rehearsals, but it soon became obvious that a more organized approach with a more extensive seet of charts was needed. An ad hoc committe of Newman, Riggs, Burleson , Klaras and trumpeter Joe Johnson reached out to McLennan Community College and Baylor University for assistance.
Joe Johnson
Eventually Mike Jacobson (professor of saxophone at Baylor University) and Dave Hibbard (trumpeter and head of MCC's commercial music department) came on board to direct the band. Mike assumed directorial duties after a few rehearsals and by the fall had won the band support as a Continuing Education course through Baylor's Office of Continuing Education.
In addition to concerts at Baylor, WJO began performing summer concerts at Indian Springs with cooperation from the City of Waco. Those first concerts in 1986 eventually led to the city's Summer Sounds concert series. Mike relinquished the director's chair in 1992 to pursue a doctorate, and Joe Johnson took over the band. The relationship with Baylor ended a few years later, and the band became an autonomous entity, rehearsing at Waco High School and briefly at Highland Baptist Church before establishing a relationship with McLennan Community College.
Nick Klaras
Trumpeter Verne Sielert briefly followed Johnson as director of the ensemble; he was in turn succeeded by trumpeter Tim Cates. Cates relocated to Houston in the summer of 2015, after over a decade as director. WJO's new director (not surprisingly a trumpeter) is Byron Swann, a longtime band member and semi-retired area teacher and band director.
WJO has also featured guest artists over the years, starting with saxophonist Pete Christlieb, and including drummer Louis Bellson, saxophonist Chris Vadala, percussionist Jerry Steinholz and trumpeter Bobby Shew. Local guest artist performances have included concerts with vocalists Bruce Carbonara, Heather Scott and Beth Ullman, a set of originals by MCC guitar professor Jon Fox, and a 2016 Christmas performance with Dallas-based saxophonist Rob Holbert.
The band rehearses on Monday nights at MCC, with a season that includes two fall and one spring concert in MCC's Ball Performing Arts Center. In the spring of 2016 WJO began offering an annual concert performance at Waco's Hippodrome. The sold out first concert (featuring vocalist Bruce Carbonara in a program of Sinatra arrangements) led to an equally successful concert in March 2017 with vocalists Sherry Boggess, Heather Scott and Beth Ullman. WJO's 2018 Hippodrome concert featured vocalist Tyrha Lindsey in a program of movie related charts; it too was a sell-out. WJO will be back at the Hippodrome in March 2019.
WJO would like to thank MCC for its support over the past decade or so. MCC's Visual & Performing Arts Division Director, Lise Uhl, and her predecessor, Rob Page, have ensured that WJO can continue to represent jazz and the big band tradition in the Waco and Central Texas area. WJO also benefits from continuing support by the Central Texas Jazz Society, which has helped make our Hippodrome series and occasional special events like the spring 2018 concert with saxophonist Mace Hibbard a reality.
