Local big band with deep CWU roots invited to perform at New Zealand festival

Since the Ellensburg Big Band was founded in 2011, about half of the 102 musicians who have played with the group have been Central Washington University alumni.

CWU’s world-famous jazz program has served as a source of new talent for the group, and the alumni involved are glad to have the opportunity to continue playing, no matter where their lives may have taken them.

This fall, the Ellensburg Big Band, along with former CWU Director of Jazz Studies Chris Bruya, was invited to perform at the annual Christchurch Big Band Festival in Christchurch, New Zealand. They held the distinction of being the only foreign act on the program, playing five shows from October 23-28.

Ellensburg Big Band founding member and manager Bruce Herman said the constant influx of fresh talent from CWU has been a major contributor to the band’s success over the years.

“Ellensburg is extremely fortunate in a number of ways to have CWU in our community, and the fact that they have an excellent music department has helped foster so much incredible talent here,” he said. “As a band, we’re lucky to have them. Over the years, we’ve really benefited from having players in town who’ve all gone through the same program and hold themselves to the same standard of excellence.”

International travel and performance have been a part of the group’s dynamic for a while, having visited Japan in 2014 and New Zealand for the first time in 2019. That first excursion to the Christchurch Big Band Festival came about after the band did extensive research about opportunities to play abroad.

Ellensburg Big Band Musical Director Chris Hull, a 1996 graduate of the CWU Jazz Studies program, said the band’s initial decision to travel to New Zealand followed a fascination with the festival’s format.

“I’ve only seen a few dedicated big band festivals around the world, so it definitely piqued our interest,” he said. “We had such a great time on that first trip, and the friends we made in New Zealand seemed to as well. We were very happy when the opportunity came up to return.”

For the Ellensburg Big Band’s return to Christchurch this year, they brought in Bruya to help rehearse the group and select appropriately complex music for the occasion.

“They asked me to come in and rehearse them for this big gig they had coming up in New Zealand and I was happy to oblige,” he said. “That was a very rewarding and fulfilling to do.”

Bruya, who retired in 2021, enjoyed working with an ensemble that features representatives from several of his CWU cohorts.

“One of the most gratifying things about all of this is seeing alumni from several different years coming together and carrying on the traditions and legacy of CWU Jazz like this,” he said. “Their success has been amazing to watch, and getting to work with them again felt like coming home.”

As a deeply community-oriented band, the Ellensburg Big Band plays for dances and events across the state, and features several other community members in its lineup, including CWU Engineering Technologies, Safety, and Construction Department Chair Greg Lyman, another CWU Music alum, on bass.

The rhythm section Lyman is a part of has enjoyed a long history together, lending critical cohesion to the band’s sound.

“Our rhythm section has been playing together for nearly 20 years at this point,” Herman said. “Having a rhythm section that’s that tight — especially in jazz where the connections between musicians really get to shine — has been huge for us.”