Wallace State Jazz Band Welcoming Alumni to Big Band Dance, Reunion Concert

Hanceville, Ala. — Wallace State Community College’s 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 Wallace State Jazz Band.

“As we started planning this year’s event, we realized that it’s been about 50 years since Wallace State Jazz Band organized its first jazz band,” said Ricky Burks, Jazz Band Director and Chair of the Fine and Performing Arts program.

Robert G. Bean was the first director of the Wallace State 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 WSCC 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 WSCC Jazz Band alumni wishing to join in the concert may sign up at https://tinyurl.com/bdhawvxb 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 Wallace State, and specifically from Burks, for where he is today.

“He didn’t just teach me about music, he took a kid who had no direction in life…and he put me on the right path. I would not be where I’m at today if not for him,” 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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About Wallace State

Wallace State Community College (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, Wallace State 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 Wallace State’s beautiful main campus located on 300-acres in Hanceville, Ala., our satellite location in downtown Oneonta, Ala., find us online at www.wallacestate.edu, or call 256.352.8000.