By Gary Christensen

      I was chatting with Kaye Berigan one night.  I had just finished performing with Claude Dorsey and Kaye was about to start his gig with Jackson Dordel.  Kaye reminded me that Milwaukee lacked a high-level rehearsal big band.  Siggy Millonzi had run this type of big band years ago, but other than Larry Lange’s group, no one provided a challenging format for the better jazz musicians in the Milwaukee area.  A few more conversations with Kaye and several months of weighing the commitment and I decided to do it.
     We started on the first Thursday of this Century.  Jimmy D provided his dining room for our use.  Warren Weigratz, alto sax, Kaye Berigan, trumpet, Herb Draeger, trombone and Mike Pauers, baritone sax, were there from the beginning.  There were 17 chairs in the band to fill every Thursday.  At first, I could only find enough substitutes with the help of Larry Lange and other group members.  Later, I was able to build a list of backup musicians for each instrument and find the subs myself.
     We have performed every Thursday this Century except Thanksgiving Days (5) and the Fourth of July 2004.  That means we are drawing close to 265 performances on Thursdays.  My favorite arrangers come from the Basie, Kenton, Herman, Rich bands among others.  The main ones are Toshiko Akiyoshi, Thad Jones, Oliver Nelson, Bill Holman, Don Ellis, Gordon Goodwin and Sammy Nestico.
     The main difference that distinguishes the All-Star SUPERband from Milwaukee’s other big bands is that we play music that features improvisation and music that is difficult, as a rule. This is in contrast to the primary elements that other bands are based on  1. familiarity (songs audiences have heard before, ala "In The Mood"), 2. vocal features, 3. danceable, and 4. easy (able to sound good with minimal rehearsal).  That is not to say that the other bands don’t play a difficult arrangement now and then.  Also, most big bands have somewhere between 1 to 4 soloists.  The SUPERband  usually has a minimum of  12 soloists each Thursday.  After all, that’s what jazz is.  Improvisation and creating new ideas.
     Our current format of 16 musicians is made up of 5 saxes, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, guitar, string bass, and drums. During intermission, on performance Thursdays, we often ask the audience to give a donation to the Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin. These donations have amounted to thousands of dollars every year.
     When the dining room closed at Jimmy D’s, we moved to Caroline’s Jazz Club for a year.  Although Caroline’s is a beautiful club, our present location has more room and also serves great food.
     Besides Thursdays at Long Wong's, we have performed at the Historic Third Ward Jazz Festival, the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, and Jazz in the Park.