Cathedral gets back in swing
St. John’s Cathedral will be swinging again tonight.
The elegant Episcopal cathedral on Spokane’s South Hill will play host to a benefit concert for Catholic Charities, featuring the Tuxedo Junction Big Band, starting tonight at 7.
It’s the latest in an occasional series of concerts at St. John’s in support of local charitable agencies, one which organizer Rich Relyea calls an “ecumenical swing moment.” The Interfaith Hospitality Network, made up of 30 local churches, is helping spread the word about the event, he says.
“Churches throughout the Spokane area are coming together to help people,” says Relyea, a Spokane attorney and co-chairman of the cathedral’s outreach committee.
Catholic Charities, with a motto of “Need, Not Creed,” itself takes a nondenominational approach, he points out. The agency served some 50,000 hungry, homeless and hurting people throughout Eastern Washington last year – only 15 percent of whom were Catholic.
Its programs include St. Anne’s Children and Family Center, St. Margaret’s Shelter, the House of Charity and nearly 600 affordable apartment units for single-parent families and seniors.
Along with Catholic Charities, previous cathedral concerts have benefited such agencies as Habitat for Humanity, the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center and most recently, in May 2004, the Family Assistance Center for area Army National Guard families.
Tuxedo Junction, an 18-piece group of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene musicians, is no stranger to the series. It played the previous benefits for Habitat and the Guard.
The group, which covers everything from 1930s and ‘40s Swing Era classics to Latin numbers to show tunes, is led by former Los Angeles musicians Ernie and Judi Carlson.
Judi, a singer, has performed with Harry James, Ray Anthony, Les Brown, and Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. Trombonist Ernie recorded with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett and Barry Manilow.
For more information about the band, see www.tux-junction.com. For more information about Catholic Charities, see www.catholiccharitiesspokane.org.