What musicians play on their day off

The Ensemble rehearses on Monday nights at CSM to draw steady working musicians - for many it is their night off. For two-and-a-half hours each week they socialize and play what they want, rather than what their day jobs dictate.

"Nobody's making any money off it, it's just for the love of the music," said Mike Galisatus, the band's director and a music teacher at Aragon High School.

Newer big band tunes are on Sunday night's set list, with songs by Pat Metheny and Count Basie, among others.

"The band members are an all-star cast," Galisatus said. One of the trumpeters recently played with Lynyrd Skynyrd, another trumpeter played alongside Count Basie, and a saxophonist plays with Huey Lewis, Galisatus said.

There are five saxophones, five trombones, four trumpets, a bass, percussion and a drummer, and the Ensemble has shuffled its professional players for 20 years. Galisatus played in the group for few years before director Fred Berry handed him the reins.

Galisatus met some of the group's members while earning a music degree at San Jose State University more than 20 years ago, and the Ensemble is a culmination of some of his old friends. Drummer Curt Moore was Galisatus' college roommate.

Moore, 50, said the band's weekly rehearsals keep him sharp by forcing him to read music, which many non-classical musicians often forget.

"The thing I like most about it is playing with that many musicians," Moore said of the big band. "As the drummer I'm sort of like the captain of the ship, leading the charge."

Moore teaches at The Jazz School in Berkeley, and said his students sometimes attend the shows.

Galisatus' high school students play with college students in the Ensemble's opener, the 5:30 Band and also try to absorb tips from the pros.

Latin jazz star Pete Escovedo has played with the Ensemble, and the nationally recognized steel drummers Chabout Panhandlers will play with them on Sunday.

The school bands Galisatus directs have also done their share of traveling, having been one of 15 school bands from across the nation invited to the Monterey Jazz Festival. They have also played in Las Vegas and at Boston Symphony Hall in April. Spaghetti dinners and candy sales helped pay for the trip, Galisatus said.

Brian Switzer, a former music teacher at Borel Middle School in San Mateo, also plays in the band and said he was excited to work with so many talented musicians.

Two other players in the group, alto saxophonist Tim Devine and trumpeter Tom Bertetta will perform in The Mambo Kings in San Francisco, opening this month.

"There's just a lot of talent, they've made it all come together," Galisatus said.

Stephen Baxter can be reached by e-mail at stephen@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.