Home from college in the fervid summer of 1968, Dave Eshelman was determined to put theory into practice.

The world was aflame with revolution, unrest and political violence, but the 20-year-old trombonist and budding arranger had his heart set on a far gentler agenda. Recruiting a bevy of veteran musicians, he wanted to present an evening of big band jazz to a hometown audience in Palo Alto. It was his first foray into a musical realm in which he’s thrived for nearly six decades.

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A local paper saw the gig as part of a larger musical wave, writing that, “Big band jazz, making a strong comeback throughout the country, is staging its own revival on the local scene thanks to Dave Eshelman and his talented musical colleagues.”

The writer may have been mistaken about a big

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