Nearly 120 people attended the George Rose Big Band’s Memories Concert at the T.F. Warren Cainsville Community Centre on Sunday, April 19, 2026.
Specializing in the popular big band music of the early 1930s and mid 1940s, the 18-piece ensemble was established by George Rose in 1982.
Based in Brantford, the band has played at many prestigious venues across Ontario over the past 44 years and has recorded eight albums. With hits from the swing era to modern ballads, show tunes, jazz, pop and more, the group boasts a diverse repertoire.
During Sunday’s concert, band leader George Rose explained that the event was dedicated to honouring the memories they’ve made over four decades, as well as the many musicians they’ve played with along the way.
“We call today’s concert our ‘Memories Concert,’ because after playing with so many great musicians with this band for 44 years, we do have a lot of memories. We have played all over Ontario, from the Royal York Hotel in Toronto to the Town Hall up in New Liskeard, the Fallsview Casino in Niagara, and the Royal Canadian Legion in Tobermory. We’ve played in Mount Forest, Saint Marys, Elmwood, Port Elgin, London, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Guelph, Woodstock, Simcoe, Delhi, Kitchener-Waterloo – cities and towns all over,” he said. “When we first started, most of our engagements were within the greater Brantford area. We played Alexander’s Tavern on Saturday and Sunday afternoons for four-and-a-half years. Our fondest memories are of the many musicians we played with side by side, many who are now gone, but we cherished having known them. You probably recognize many of the names, as many of them were from the Brantford area.”
Throughout the performance, Rose took a moment to recognize band members who have since passed on, providing the audience with a bit of information about all 22 musicians. Those remembered included Albert Chowan, Ernie Barrie, Alex Watson, Lloyd Peach, George Armone, Bill Wright, Roy Bewley, Mark Sutch, Charlie Decker, Al Gallagher, Wayne Bessant, Dave McCulloch, Howard Johnson, Bud Hall, Vic Hill, Lowell Soucie, Pat Bohemier, Bill Cameron, Kevin Muir, Glen Silverthorn, Michelle LaPointe and Kenneth Harris.
Rose also included several stories about the band along the way, as well as the various songs they performed.
To kick off the first half of the show, the 18-piece ensemble played Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin’s “I Can’t Get Started.” Afterwards, they performed tunes such as “Friend Like Me” from Disney’s Aladdin, Bart Howard’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” Bobby Goldsboro’s “With Pen in Hand,” Louis Atler’s “You Turned the Tables on Me,” and Milton Kabac’s “Xylophobia.”
Before intermission, band member Rebecca Marshall announced that Rose would soon be celebrating his 80th birthday and asked the audience to sing “Happy Birthday” to the band leader.
After everyone filled up on cake and refreshments, the band returned for the second half of the show, opening with Bob Carleton’s “Ja-Da.”
As an ode to the departed, Marshall then sang Richard Mullan and Jack Richards’ “He.”
The band went on to play several other songs including, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Carol King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” Arthur Hamilton’s “Cry Me a River,” Otis Redding’s Hard to Handle” and finally, Rose’s own “Movin’ In.”
As the concert wrapped up, those in the audience, after spending their afternoon tapping their tones, showed their appreciation with a standing ovation.
After the performance Alex Johnson, as well as Nathan and Johnathan Walton, said they thought the concert was “excellent, as usual.”
Both Johnathan and Nathan are the sons of band member, Chris Walton, and are no strangers to the group, especially given that Nathan also once played alongside the ensemble.
“We’ve been to a bunch of their concerts, but there was some new stuff this time that we hadn’t hear before which was fun,” said Johnson.
All three agreed they particularly enjoyed Marshall’s performance of Kabac’s “Xylophobia,” but felt the absence of former vocalist Michelle LaPointe.
When asked what was so special about big band music, Jonathan said it’s a style of music that isn’t played often anymore and that it’s particularly special when done live by a group of professional musicians.
“They’re just all so passionate about it,” he said. “And they sort of give each musician a solo where they can jam out a bit, so it’s fun.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
