Lil’ Big Band
November 24, 2023
The Colony
Turkey and holiday starches are known to tank folks, but Thanksgiving is traditionally a huge day for Tulsa’s service industry. Expats travel from out of state to—and soon crave a respite from—their families. So: hit the bar.
Tulsa is a town of multitudinal tales, and The Colony is a many-storied room within our city limits. Stickers and framed posters adorn the wooden walls, with the likenesses of legends Steve Pryor, Leon Russell (who supposedly owned it in the ‘70s), and others looking on. The lit fireplace added to the holiday coziness when I headed that way recently for an ad hoc gathering of some of the city’s most adventurous musical minds.
Joining the familiar faces on the wall and in the crowd were the pedigreed members of the evening's ensemble: jazz vocalist Annie Ellicott; Luke Combs’ bassist Mat Maxwell; drummer Josh Raymer and guitarist Chris Combs, from Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and other projects; King Cabbage sax-smith, auxiliary percussionist, and trumpeter Andy “Arbie” McCormick; Kristin “Piston” Ruyle; trumpeter Bishop Marsh; and violinist Olivia McGraw.