PTA - Terry Myers Orchestra

The Terry Myers Orchestra was formed in 1990. Our Tribute to Benny Goodman debuted on October 1, 1990 at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida.

The birth of this band is the result of some rather unpredictable events and circumstances. It all started in 1990. I was on the road with Buddy Morrow's Tommy Dorsey Orchestra playing baritone sax. We were doing a cruise on the SS Norway as part of the Big Band Cruise series. Buddy's agent, Wayne Hutchison of Swing Band Booking, was aboard the cruise and one day asked to speak to me. I couldn't imagine what he wanted to talk to me about.

We met for lunch and he asked me, "What do you think about putting together a Tribute to Benny Goodman band?" I believe I laughed in his face at that point because I've never considered myself to be a clarinet player--just a sax player who happened to double clarinet. I asked him where he got the idea that I could do something like this and he said, "Buddy Morrow says you can do it." I thanked him and Buddy for their faith in me but said I would need to think about that one for a while.

Two years went by and I had NOT been thinking about starting a band and I was once again on the road with Buddy Morrow playing one of the tenor chairs at this time. Some time in the middle of August I got a call from Wayne asking me when I was planning to get off the Dorsey band. I replied that I was going home around the 1st of September. He said, "Good. I have you booked into Busch Gardens in Tampa on October 1st with your Tribute to Benny Goodman Band."

.... after the shock wore off I started to shake off the panic of going to work in putting a band together for the gig. I had to find charts, hire players and try to work in a rehearsal before the first performance. All this while riding the Dorsey bus doing one niters. And, No Cell Phone either.

The band I put together had a combination of some of the worst charts (with the funkiest manuscript ever) some wrong players, and only one rehearsal for which only about half of the players who were going to do the job could make it.

We were NOT up to par. However, this is where my Irish luck comes in. The day we played at Busch Gardens was a monsoon of major proportions. I think only about 50 people showed up for the concert--there would usually be about 1,000 for the first show alone. In addition, the fellow hiring the bands had the flu and didn't come in to hear us. He felt so bad about our bad luck with the weather that he re-scheduled us for a couple of days the following spring. By now, I found some good charts, changed some players and had a good rehearsal. So. I was really lucky that no one heard us on the first gig. It would have been the last one for the Terry Myers Orchestra.

Since then, we have played at almost all of the major theater venues in Florida, The Plaza Hotel in New York, The Green Brier in W. Virginia, The Homestead in Virginia, casinos in Mississippi, The American Queen Riverboat, The SS Norway Big Band Cruise (twice), Hilton Head, SC, Cypress Gardens, Busch Gardens in Virginia, Silver Springs, and various other concert halls around the country. In the summer of 2005 we will be on the Mississippi Queen Steamboat for a week (May 9-16). In February, we will perform at the Naval Aviation

Museum in Pensacola for the eighth straight year. In January, we will once again play at one of our favorite venues, the Lyric Theater in Stuart, FL.

I am extremely proud of this band. The players not only play very well (I'm blessed with a pool of talent from the Orlando, FL, area) but play with an enthusiastic relish that knocks me out every time we go out.

In addition to the instrumentalists, we have a group of singers called "The Swing Sisters" who do a terrific job of recreating the great hits of the Andrews Sisters. They, along with a couple of fine male vocalists, also pay tribute to the great Pied Pipers.

In any event, I hope you will check our itinerary and, whenever possible, come out to see us.

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Artist Roster Agents Booking Information Contact Information Home Page		Phoenix Talent Agency, Inc. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Terry Myers Orchestra "A Tribute to Benny Goodman"
		*The Terry Myers Orchestra was formed in 1990. Our Tribute to Benny Goodman debuted on October 1, 1990 at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida.* The birth of this band is the result of some rather unpredictable events and circumstances. It all started in 1990. I was on the road with Buddy Morrow's Tommy Dorsey Orchestra playing baritone sax. We were doing a cruise on the SS Norway as part of the Big Band Cruise series. Buddy's agent, Wayne Hutchison of Swing Band Booking, was aboard the cruise and one day asked to speak to me. I couldn't imagine what he wanted to talk to me about. We met for lunch and he asked me, "What do you think about putting together a Tribute to Benny Goodman band?" I believe I laughed in his face at that point because I've never considered myself to be a clarinet player--just a sax player who happened to double clarinet. I asked him where he got the idea that I could do something like this and he said, "Buddy Morrow says you can do it." I thanked him and Buddy for their faith in me but said I would need to think about that one for a while. Two years went by and I had NOT been thinking about starting a band and I was once again on the road with Buddy Morrow playing one of the tenor chairs at this time. Some time in the middle of August I got a call from Wayne asking me when I was planning to get off the Dorsey band. I replied that I was going home around the 1st of September. He said, "Good. I have you booked into Busch Gardens in Tampa on October 1st with your Tribute to Benny Goodman Band." .... after the shock wore off I started to shake off the panic of going to work in putting a band together for the gig. I had to find charts, hire players and try to work in a rehearsal before the first performance. All this while riding the Dorsey bus doing one niters. And, No Cell Phone either. The band I put together had a combination of some of the worst charts (with the funkiest manuscript ever) some wrong players, and only one rehearsal for which only about half of the players who were going to do the job could make it. We were NOT up to par. However, this is where my Irish luck comes in. The day we played at Busch Gardens was a monsoon of major proportions. I think only about 50 people showed up for the concert--there would usually be about 1,000 for the first show alone. In addition, the fellow hiring the bands had the flu and didn't come in to hear us. He felt so bad about our bad luck with the weather that he re-scheduled us for a couple of days the following spring. By now, I found some good charts, changed some players and had a good rehearsal. So. I was really lucky that no one heard us on the first gig. It would have been the last one for the Terry Myers Orchestra. Since then, we have played at almost all of the major theater venues in Florida, The Plaza Hotel in New York, The Green Brier in W. Virginia, The Homestead in Virginia, casinos in Mississippi, The American Queen Riverboat, The SS Norway Big Band Cruise (twice), Hilton Head, SC, Cypress Gardens, Busch Gardens in Virginia, Silver Springs, and various other concert halls around the country. In the summer of 2005 we will be on the Mississippi Queen Steamboat for a week (May 9-16). In February, we will perform at the Naval Aviation *Museum in Pensacola for the eighth straight year. In January, we will once again play at one of our favorite venues, the Lyric Theater in Stuart, FL.* I am extremely proud of this band. The players not only play very well (I'm blessed with a pool of talent from the Orlando, FL, area) but play with an enthusiastic relish that knocks me out every time we go out. In addition to the instrumentalists, we have a group of singers called "The Swing Sisters" who do a terrific job of recreating the great hits of the Andrews Sisters. They, along with a couple of fine male vocalists, also pay tribute to the great Pied Pipers. *In any event, I hope you will check our itinerary and, whenever possible, come out to see us.* Return to Artist Roster