About The Commodores’ Orchestra

In May 1928, the Commodores’ Orchestra, under the direction of  Tommy Mason performed its first gig at the opening of the Bay of Quinte Golf and Country Club in Belleville, Ontario.  In the early years, the band was more of “sweet”  dance band in the manner of Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.

During the height of the big band era between 1936 and 1946, the band acquired more of a “swinging” musical  personality in response to the developing tastes of young music lovers.

In the postwar years, the band owned its own venue – the Club Commodore – and played dances as many as four nights a week.  A young saxophonist named Johnny Mitchell joined the band in 1946.  Six years later, a 14-year-old kid named Doug Aselstine joined Mitchell in the saxophone section.  Trumpeter Bruce Parsons  came along a decade later.  All three are still there!

Quinte-area musical legends including Jimmy Elliott,  Larry Brown,  Jim Cathcart, and Stan Wiggins  all led the band,  aided by the talents of musicians such as,  Phil Huddleston,  Reg Scriven,  and Frank Howard Sr.  The trumpet-playing  Wiggins, who learned his craft by copying the sounds on Harry James records,  held the band together  until his death in August of 2003, when Aselstine took charge.  The band is now led by trombonist Andy Sparling, and its members include the finest semi-pro musicians the Quinte area has to offer.