'Panache and attitude.' John Trapani Big Band joins Canton Ballet for farewell performance

CANTON − Longtime band leader John Trapani wants to go out with a big performance that combines two quintessential art forms.

After decades of playing big band classics from a bygone era, the 77-year-old Trapani is retiring this year.

Two of his final performances will be with the Canton Ballet, which presents "Come Dance with Me!" on Friday and Sunday at the Canton Palace Theatre. Features of the show include both the 21-piece John Trapani Big Band and the premiere of a ballet choreographed by Zachary Catazaro, a  Canton Ballet alumnus and former dancer with the New York City Ballet.

"I didn't want the band to go out with a whimper," said Trapani, who plays trumpet in the group. "And when Jennifer Catazaro Heyward (the ballet's artistic director) called me, I just jumped at it because the band hasn't (performed since COVID), and I thought this will be a perfect opportunity to go out with a bang."

"Right now, I feel quite certain this is the last one in the Palace Theatre, so that is a big deal," the Stark County native said.

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The John Trapani Big Band also will perform a free show at Louisville's 2nd Friday celebration at 7 p.m. July 12 in downtown Louisville.

Ballet performances are 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, $24 to $33, are available at https://cantonballet.com/performances/tickets/. The ballet also can be reached at 330-455-7220.

"It's been a very unique collaborative experience blending their respective arts worlds to bring this to life," said Joy Raub, executive director of the Canton Ballet.

She described Catazaro's world premiere as a complex 20-minute piece set to Bach’s Partita No. 2 in C minor accompanied by pianist Sharon Walsh. Luca Sportelli will be a guest dancer.

Playing the classics: Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and Harry James

In the late '70s, Trapani founded a jazz ensemble, which led to the 17-piece John Trapani Big Band, which plays songs by Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Harry James and other legends of the genre.

Trapani's band gained popularity in Stark County with Glenn Miller tribute concerts from 1981 to 2000. Another tradition was the big band Christmas show from 1989 to 2014.

During its peak, Trapani's band performed 35 to 40 weekends per year. Its repertoire expanded to feature a mix of styles and eras, including Nat “King” Cole, Linda Ronstadt, Natalie Cole and Michael Bublé.

Career highlights include the band's 1987 concert with Connie Haines, original vocalist with Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey. In 1990, The John Trapani Big Band was featured on a television special, "In The Mood," recorded by WEAO/WNEO for viewing throughout Northeast Ohio.

"What I hit upon was recognizing and recreating the original arrangements of the great name big bands and singers," said Trapani, a philosophy professor at Walsh University for 44 years who chaired the Philosophy Department and Humanities Division. "That was the ticket."

"Where my crowd was coming from was all those people for whom this music was in their teens and 20s," said Trapani, who received Walsh's 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award

Trapani said the band's fan base has dwindled over the years simply due to their age.

"While I hit on a market, that market has pretty much gone away," he admitted. "It was a wonderful thing whose time had come and gone."

Big band songs include 'Mack the Knife' and 'Chattanooga Choo Choo'

Raub said it's an honor to host Trapani's band, which will perform during the second half of this weekend's shows.

Trapani's Big Band also performed with the ballet in 2005 and 2006.

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Songs will include Frank Sinatra's "Come Dance with Me" and "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin. Other songs are Glenn Miller's instrumental, "In the Mood," as well as "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo."

"All this music wasn't just concert music, it was dance music originally," Trapani said. "Originally, they called these bands dance bands."

"This is swing music with swing dancers who have panache and attitude," he added. "It's going to be great."

'I don't want to just fade away.'

Trapani will be performing with longtime band members Don Dasco and Wendy Lloyd, both vocalists.

Sharing the stage with the ballet again is the perfect send off before retirement, he said.

"I don't want to just fade away," Trapani said. "I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to do this show because it really brings a kind of closure."

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com. On X (formerly Twitter) @ebalintREP and Instagram at ed_balint.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton Ballet concert features Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller songs