Our mission is to bring musicians together in a supportive, team-centered environment where individual practice and group rehearsal lead to shared growth, confidence, and the joy of playing big band jazz at a high level. We work collectively to raise and maintain musicianship so the band can authentically share the sound, spirit, and energy of the Big Band Era—while ensuring rehearsals remain enjoyable, encouraging, and accessible for musicians at every stage of life.

We are committed to staying performance-ready, maintaining a deep and diverse library of big band charts, and sharing our music through performances that serve schools, churches, clubs, and community organizations. Our senior musicians serve as living proof that music can be part of your life forever, inspiring all members to champion music education, teamwork, pride, fun, and lifelong learning—on stage, in rehearsal, and throughout the community.

In the Beginning...

... there was Vern Brown, a beat-up old C-Melody sax, and an idea. You all known Vern and his dedication to the Big Band of Rossmoor; this is his story which is also the band's story.

Vern moved to Rossmoor in 1990 after a 33 year career with the U.S. Geological Service and four years in the navy during WWII as the captain of two mine sweepers in the Pacific. Rich Spry, a member of his crew in the navy, is a neighbor in Rossmoor. He described Vern as the calmest guy he ever knew, even under enemy fire. That's the Vern we all know.

While living and working and raising a family in Sacramento, Vern never lost touch with his saxophone. When he got to Rossmoor, he felt a need for some fun and organized the Original Fun Band in 1991 consisting of six members: three saxes, piano, drum and bass. And then there were eight: Jan and Herm Cordes heard about it and joined up. Herm was the entire trumpet section at the time and Jan was the lead (and only) clarinet.

The Original Rossmoor Fun Band (1991)

The word got around, as words have a way of doing, and by 1993 the band had grown to about a dozen happy players. The picture above is from the Rossmoor News of 6/23/93 and shows Phil Hardymon leading the expanded group. Vern Brown is on the left front row and Jan Cordes is on the right. Dorothy Johnson is playing the banjo and there is Bob Sutherland on the right in the back row.

Illness caused Phil to retire in 1996; enter Mo Levich; Dorothy Johnson also led a dance team in Rossmoor that marched in the 4th of July parade in Orinda every year where Mo led the volunteer marching band. She brought Mo over to Rossmoor as leader and like Topsy (or was it Eva?) the band grew and grew and grew. When he took over, it was about a dozen pieces and you know how big we are today. Mo was friendly with Oz Ramsey and Oz not only joined the band on clarinet but donated a huge library of arrangements his band no longer used.

Oz's friendship with Frank Como paid off big in bringing Frank on board with his great arrangements and musicianship. The Band now has a range of musicians from 8th graders to octogenarians and exemplifies the true meaning of Generations in Jazz. More than 100 musicians of all ages have passed through the ranks of the Big Band over it's existence and all have contributed their knowledge, wisdom and musicianship to the legacy of Big Band music.

If a Picture is worth 1,000 words, then this picture has to be worth about a million and a half, give or take a few.

It tells the story of big band music bridging the gap of 70 years or three generations, maybe even four. If anybody tells you that OUR music is dead, point out that George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and many others were born in the 1800s. They may be dead but their music is very much alive.

There is more to music than "yeah yeah bay-bee". The fact that Vern Brown is sitting next to 15 year old Billy Buss and playing the same tunes at the same time speaks worlds of what the Big Band is all about.

Our stated mission is to keep the music of the 30s and 40s alive for our children and our children's children. Today's teen idols come and go so fast, even the kids can't tell you who was heading the charts two years ago.

So we are doing our job in helping to keep the music of the big band era alive. You all know it isn't easy, but it is worth the effort. From Vern Brown's "Fun Band" with six members to today's aggregation of 28+ talented musicians, we've come a long way.