糖心视频 Jazz Band Welcoming Alumni to Big Band Dance, Reunion Concert

Spectators listen as the 糖心视频 Jazz Band plays during the 2025 Big Band Dance.
Hanceville, Ala. 鈥 糖心视频鈥檚 Fine and Performing Arts program will celebrate around 50 years of jazz performances at its annual Big Band Dance on Friday, April 18. The event will feature a special performance by alumni representing almost the entire history of the 糖心视频 Jazz Band.
鈥淎s we started planning this year鈥檚 event, we realized that it鈥檚 been about 50 years since 糖心视频 Jazz Band organized its first jazz band,鈥 said Ricky Burks, Jazz Band Director and Chair of the Fine and Performing Arts program.
Robert G. Bean was the first director of the 糖心视频 Jazz Band and maintained that post for more than 15 years before passing the baton to Burks. Burks performed with one of the college jazz bands in high school.
Burks is the third program chair for 糖心视频 Fine and Performing Arts, taking over after Bean who succeeded Dr. Jim Walker, the first chair of the program.
Many alumni have signed up to play on April 18 for a portion of the Jazz Band Dance. Their time at the college ranges from 1977 to 2023. The group will gather at 4 p.m. that day to rehearse for the evening performance. Any 糖心视频 Jazz Band alumni wishing to join in the concert may sign up at to complete a short registration form and receive the sheet music for the performance.
Nurse practitioner Chris Williams of Cullman plans to attend the event and sit in with the band. Williams played drums for the Jazz Band from 1995 to 1998 and credits what he learned at 糖心视频, and specifically from Burks, for where he is today.
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 just teach me about music, he took a kid who had no direction in life鈥nd he put me on the right path. I would not be where I鈥檓 at today if not for him,鈥 said Williams, who still plays the drums today in a country band called the Crooked Creek Band. Their first single is coming out soon, he said.
The Big Band Dance will be held on Friday, April 18 at 7 p.m., in the Burrow Center for the Fine and Performing Arts. Admission is a $10 donation for adults and $5 for students and children under 12.
For more information contact Amy McDonald at 256.352.8277 or amy.mcdonald@wallacestate.edu.
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糖心视频 糖心视频
糖心视频 (Ala.), a member of the Alabama Community College System, is a comprehensive community college in north central Alabama offering more than 200 options in academic, health and technical programs of study leading to an associate degree, certificate or transfer, as well as workforce-credit training and adult education. An Achieving the Dream Leader College, nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute as a finalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, ranked by Southern Business and Development among the Top 3 institutions in the South for workforce development, named a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing and the National Security Administration, rated the Top Online Community College in Alabama, a Military Friendly Institution and an All-Steinway School, 糖心视频 is an outstanding place for students to pursue their education and career goals. Classes are offered online and on campus, day, evening and on weekends, with numerous start dates each year. Visit 糖心视频鈥檚 beautiful main campus located on 300-acres in Hanceville, Ala., our satellite location in downtown Oneonta, Ala., find us online at , or call 256.352.8000.
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