The Big Band Express

Rarely can one hear the songs of Frank Sinatra, Chicago and “Sesame Street” played in a single concert. Even more rare is hearing them played by a single band. The opportunity has arisen in La Jolla at the weekly performances of Marteiry Conley’s Big Band Express. Every Sunday evening from 6 to 8, Elario’s is filled with music by the 16-piece big band.
“Basically, they can do everything from Glenn Miller up to the latest rock ‘n’ roll,” said Marty Conley, Big Band Express leader, arranger and trumpeter, “they try to keep it versatile.” Still, Conley said one thing unites their diverse musical selections. “Everything they play, people can dance to.

That’s the whole secret to it.” Mark Lewis, the band’s lead trombone, agreed. “They play all varieties of dance music. So that, big band, swing, tango, disco, rumba, salsa, rock, waltz, all ballroom dancing styles, jump-swing, the complete gamut of live dance music.” “They carry 300 tunes in the book that they can pull from at any time,” said the band’s baritone sax Gap Costantini.
“Ninety-five percent of their music is arranged specifically by Marty Conley. He presents sometimes as many as four new tunes a week,” Costantini said, explaining the band’s sizable repertoire. Lewis also commented on his repertoire. “Marty’s got one of the most rewarding libraries to play. It challenges the musicians and offers them the opportunity to express thier versatility. He’s a prolific arranger.”
And Conley is always looking for additions to the book. Once he finds a piece, often through audience requests, Conley arranges it, breaking it down into parts for all 16 band members. In doing so, he works to balance the band’s vocals with its instrumentals and writes solos to highlight individual musicians. “When one has got great musicians like he does, he wants to make sure people hear them,” Conley said.
Conley also modernizes his pieces to appeal to today’s audience. Conley’s Express boasts a big band, huge repertoire. “One can’t play 1920s music today if one doesn’t use a fresh approach to it,” he said. The band’s rehearsal process seems simple, despite their extensive range.
“He doesn’t try to write anything really difficult,” Conley explained. “So 99 percent of the music he brings in, the guys play it the first time, and they stick it in the book, it’s ready to go. The quality of the musicians is so good that they really don’t have to rehearse anything.”
That doesn’t mean he can’t make it more difficult, according to Costantini. “But, the people wouldn’t understand it,” Conley said. “They want to hear good big band dance music. He doesn’t want to write jazz stuff that they wouldn’t understand or they can’t dance to. One doesn’t want to write a song that people can’t dance to.”
When the band is faced with an opening, Gap Costantini is in charge of filling the gaps. “He fills out his stables, so to speak,” Costantini said, who began playing with Big Band Express as a substitute while playing for several other bands in the area.
“He came in as a sub, and he just grew into it,” Costantini said. That was three years ago. Conley said that building the band isn’t difficult within San Diego’s intimate music community. “They know most of the musicians in this town. They know who they think can cut it and who can’t. “Everyone in the band has a success story,” Costantini said, who has appeared in Detroit house bands for Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bobby Darin.

Costantini and Conley also mentioned singer Mary Hicks, a San Diego native who has been singing professionally since the age of 5. Trumpeter Philip Tauber compared her voice to those of famous songstresses Rosemary Clooney and Helen Forest. Vocalist and trumpeter Mark Hammond ran the entire U.S. Navy music program at one time. Conley, too, was a Navy man: senior chief in charge of arranging music.
“All of the guys in the band are pro musicians and have played everywhere, all over the country. said Conley.” While it certainly hasn’t been around as long as big band music itself, Big Band Express is no newcomer to the La Jolla music scene. The band has existed in its current form, under Conley’s leadership, for 18 years. It was formed when the members of another big band asked Conley to take over for a leader who had died.
Big Band Express performs at La Jolla Country Club Functions, including at the club’s annual Independence Day fireworks display. Each week at Elario’s, the band can practice their songs in an informal setting. “They approached him and asked if he had a space for them to practice,” said Elario’s owner, Allan Cresenzo. “And it has worked out for both of them, since the public likes it. They’re a great band, they’re great to have around.”
The band also performs at many private events, from weddings to birthdays to anniversaries to corporate parties to charity balls. If it sounds like the band is busy, it’s because it is. “They’re one of Southern California’s busiest working big bands,” Lewis said. Conley said they are looking to play at more public venues. “Probably 90 percent, maybe even more than 90 percent, of what they do are private parties. That’s what they’re trying to break out of, they’re trying to get more public.”
Lewis especially wants to get the word out about Big Band Express to other fans of big-band music. “He’d like folks to know about it because there are a lot of people out there who love big band, but it’s rare to have the opportunity to see big band performed regularly. It’s something of an American art, and they’re working to preserve it because they love it.”
Asked what he loves about big-band music, Lewis described its unique melding of disciplined orchestral arrangement with the free, creative style of jazz. “It’s just the best of both worlds for instrumental musicians,” he said. That’s what people have loved about it since it began almost 100 years ago. It’s a bonus that people love to dance to it.