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The Open Band
The Open Band has been an institution since the original founding of the Tucson Friends of Traditional Music over thirty years ago. The Open Band is a collection of musicians that often play together during the fast jam at Rincon Market and come together to play for one dance a month.
The Open Band has had many iterations over the years and is currently set up on an internet listserver where tunes are discussed, music and youtube videos passed around. Suzanne Langstroth has taken a lead in keeping the listserver running and adding people who are interested. When the monthly play date comes around, Suzanne gets the word out and tries to line up musicians to commit their presence and make the evening fly.
The Open Band plays out of a common repertoire of tunes that includes "The Portland Collections" and the old "Tucson Tune Book". Anyone that plays music (maybe not Tubas) is welcome to get involved with the Open Band and learn to play for dances. Some folks just come to sit in the back row and treat it like another jam session.