Cal Poly Collegians Big Band Alumni Dance Concert is Aug. 29 at Madonna Inn

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly Collegians Alumni Big Band promises a night of lively music and dancing at its annual concert from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, in the Madonna Inn Ballroom.

The 20 Cal Poly Collegians – all Cal Poly alumni – bring the best of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Les Brown and more to San Luis Obispo every August.

The Collegians Alumni Big Band has gathered every year since the mid-60s to renew old friendships and play their favorite tunes, according to band member Bob Alberti. The alumni band has performed for enthusiastic audiences at a variety of local venues including Edna Valley Vineyards, Mission Plaza, Atascadero Lake Park and the 1996 pre-opening sound check at Harman Hall in the Christopher Cohan Center’s Performing Arts Center.

Today’s alumni band members represent classes from 1948 to 1963. They hail from Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo as well as other locales in California, Arizona, Oregon and as far away as Massachusetts.

The all-male Collegians are the predecessor to today's University Jazz Bands at Cal Poly.

Admission to the concert is free; voluntary contributions for the Collegians’ jazz scholarship at Cal Poly are welcome. For more information about this and other Saturday night dances at the Madonna Inn, call 805-543-3000. For more information about the Cal Poly Collegians Alumni Big Band, including historic photos, go to the Collegians’ Web site at www.cpcollegiansalumni.com.

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