Whatever you do: don鈥檛 call them The Disney Big Band.
They are a big band and they play Disney songs, but on the advice of an entertainment lawyer wary of offending the world鈥檚 most recognizable mouse, they opted to find another name.
They could鈥檝e been the Bippidi-Boppidi-Band or the When You Wish Upon a Starlighters, but bandleader and pianist Matt Grinke decided his band should be The Happiest Big Band On Earth.
As the group of primarily Capilano University musicians prepare for their June 1 and 2 concerts at Presentation House Theatre, Grinke explains the lure of the mouse and the music.
There was a time, after he saw The Lion King as a child but before he knew which Sherman brother was which, when he pledged fealty to the magic kingdom.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 remember why Disney music came to be such a thing,鈥� he says.
It鈥檚 an odd sentence from someone sporting a stressed Mickey Mouse t-shirt and possessed of an encyclopedic knowledge of Disney鈥檚 composers and arrangers (You can always tell when you鈥檙e listening to a Danny Troob arrangement, Grinke says excitedly.).
There鈥檚 a universal appeal to those folk and fairy tales, he explains.
鈥淓verybody has an attachment to Disney in some way,鈥� Grinke says. 鈥淵ou can ask anybody in the world what their favourite Disney song is and everybody will have an answer.鈥�
Grinke recently left Capilano University. He didn鈥檛 exactly finish, he says, but he鈥檚 finished with it.
Asked if it was an intense program, Grinke replies that it was. 鈥淚ntense, angry people, too,鈥� he adds.
One of his last CapU assignments involved picking a song and giving it a new arrangement.
Grinke immediately began to procrastinate.
鈥淚 was so passive at that point,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 want to do anything.鈥�
He could do a jazz standard but that didn鈥檛 feel right.
But then he considered a song with some 鈥減unch, pizazz, yahoo and how.鈥� That was it. He would arrange 鈥淔riend Like Me鈥� from Aladdin.
The performance was two-and-a-half minutes long, but that was enough. Like Mickey Mouse trailing after the sweet smell of a fresh-baked pie, Grinke knew the path he would follow. He would form a band devoted to Disney music.
He needed good musicians but he also needed players who could differentiate between a magic feather and an enchanted broom. And so, each prospective musician was asked to list their two favourite Disney songs.
鈥淚f people just picked generic Disney songs . . . I knew they weren鈥檛 true Disney fans,鈥� Grinke says.
Songs like 鈥淧art of Your World鈥� from The Little Mermaid or 鈥淪omeday My Prince Will Come鈥� from Snow White were indicators of insufficient appreciation, Grinke explains. On the other hand, the musician who chose 鈥淪treets of Gold鈥� from Oliver & Company zoomed to the top of the list.
鈥淚 said, 鈥榊es, absolutely!鈥欌�� Grinke recalls.
Grinke has a deep affection for the deep cuts in Disney鈥檚 catalogue. 鈥淩un, Llama, Run鈥� is from the chase scene in The Emperor鈥檚 New Groove, he informs me. 鈥淗ow could you not know that? It鈥檚 common knowledge,鈥� he says, kidding on the square.
The show should be about 60 per cent obscure Disney songs and 40 per cent fan favourites including 鈥淶ero To Hero鈥� from Hercules, a medley from The Incredibles, and Walt Disney鈥檚 personal favourite, 鈥淔eed The Birds.鈥�
The shows are also set to feature some improvisations on audience requests as well as a few tunes done in smaller, more intimate arrangements.
The difficulty has been getting all 17 pieces of the 17-piece band into a room.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had a single rehearsal with the same band twice,鈥� he admits. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of the fear of the show.鈥�
To ameliorate that fear, Grinke has been arranging and re-arranging out of his unofficial office at the Starbucks at Park and Tilford.
鈥淭hey know me there now. I get nice cheap drinks.鈥�
Asked if the arranging takes time away from composing, Grinke shakes his head.
鈥淭his is my composition writing. This has become my life and it鈥檚 all that I do,鈥� he says, explaining his ultimate goal of bringing the band to a Disney cruise line or a theme park. 鈥淚鈥檓 very lucky that I live in a house where I don鈥檛 have to pay rent. . . . It鈥檚 basically like a permanent government grant.鈥�
His mother calls him The Lone Arranger, he says, explaining that he sifts through movie scores over and over for what he calls 鈥渋conic sounds,鈥� those moments that embed themselves in the consciousness of everyone who hears them. He keeps those, he says.
But while there鈥檚 a chord structure that doesn鈥檛 change, that same structure offers thousands of possibilities. To illuminate his point he plays three different D-minor chords. The choice is between what鈥檚 almost right and what鈥檚 right.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really plan out an arrangement in great depth,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou just kind of have to start it and then let it form on its own.鈥�
The lead-up to the show has required 鈥渆ndless problem solving,鈥� Grinke says. But he enjoys puzzles and can solve a Rubik鈥檚 Cube in a minute, he adds.
He pauses and considers what he just said.
鈥淲hich is kind of what arranging is, I guess, it鈥檚 just a big puzzle of fitting notes together.鈥�
