On this page, we are going to feature a member of the band every month or so. You have seen and heard them play, but have you ever really wondered who they were and how they became musicians?
Ed Pearson has been a member of the Moonlight Swing Orchestra since 1977 back when we were first known as the “Generation Gap”. Local High School students played alongside the adult members as they practiced in Ed’s band room at Lake Stevens High School for 20 years!
As a Band Director, Ed can of course play all the instruments in the band. However, he started his musical journey with a non-band instrument...the Accordion in 1952. His mother would drive him from Stanwood to Mount Vernon for lessons at the Hugo Helmer music studio.
In 1955 he joined Hugo’s Marching Band that was comprised of 50 Accordions and a Drum Line. They marched in many parades throughout the northwest. The most memorable parade was the P.N.E. Parade in Vancouver B.C. that was 4 miles long. Just imagine a young boy in the 6th & 7th grade carrying, marching and playing a large Accordion for 4 miles ! He stopped playing the Accordion in the 8th grade because it was not cool anymore. Ed attended Twin City High School in Stanwood where he learned the Trombone. Next, he was headed to Washington State University with his Trombone to major in Music Education where he earned his degree to become a Band Director. For many more years, he would play with the WSU Alumni Band. Today Ed continues to play his Accordion, Trombone and sing at several assisted living residences in the area. His program motto is “Playing the Songs You Remember”. And, he plays Taps on his trombone at Veterans Services (to include Tahoma National Cemetery) and for Memorial Day Events in Lake Stevens and Stanwood.
Ed taught band for 34 years in Lake Stevens. He even found time to play in several Pit Orchestras for musicals like “Mame” with Joanne Worley (yes, the one from Laugh In) playing the lead, “Grease” and “Godspell” where he actually played the Bass Guitar.
In the 1990’s while traveling on vacation in Branson, Missouri, they attended the Lawrence Welk Show with family. At the end of the show, they asked if anyone wanted to direct the band. Yep, Ed was chosen from the audience to lead the band. What a great memory !
Ed was influenced by his many school Band Directors and sports coaches. In addition to music, he played football and basketball from 5th grade through High School earning 7 varsity sports letters. He aspired to be a Coach and a Band Director since his sophomore year in High School.
Outside his life of music, Ed and his wife are avid cruisers having voyaged all around the world. They hope to continue traveling for many more years to come. Continuing his passion for basketball, Ed has been the voice of the Lake Stevens High School Boys and Girls Basketball team live broadcasts on the NFHS Network for the past 28 years.
Ed earned a special nickname in High School. How this nickname came about starts with him inheriting a 1936 Plymouth from his grandfather in 1960 after his passing. He was a sophomore in High School at that time. When he drove it around Lake Stevens, all the kids wanted to take a ride in it. Ed told them that the radio only picked up songs from the 1930’s and 1940’s because the radio waves continually still go around the earth. They all believed him and gave him the nickname of Elliott Ness from the TV show called the Untouchables.
Throughout all of Ed’s schooling, he never played in a jazz band...not even at WSU. He discovered that his 5th grade teacher played in the Generation Gap so he offered his band room at Lake Stevens High School as their rehearsal space. He had always been interested in big band music and finally found a group he could join to play this music.
We have had the honor and privilege to be with Ed for the past 49 years in the Moonlight Swing Orchestra. His musicianship, humor and reliability will be missed as he turns the page in his life to retire from the band. Thank you, Ed, for all that you have contributed to music both during your working years as a public-school educator and as a member of the MSO. We hope to see you and Doris at future gigs around the area.
Have you ever wondered, who is that tall, distinguished trumpet player holding down the back row since…… 2008 ? He is Dan Hall and is one of our three “elder” band members still performing with the Moonlight Swing Orchestra.
In addition to playing the Trumpet and Flugelhorn, Dan also plays the cowbell, vibraslap or “slapper”, and a U-Bass (a lightweight Ukulele and Bass combined with the same range as a four string Bass Guitar).
Dan attended the University of Wisconsin in River Falls playing in a Big Band Combo and Brass Quintet. Coming west to Washington, he has played with the Lake Stevens Community Band and Around the Sound Community Band which is part of the Music Center of the Northwest. More recently, Dan has been a “pit orchestra” member for some high school musicals and performed in Bellingham, Benaroya Hall and McIntyre Hall with the Salish Sea Orchestra and choral for “The Drop”. He is also currently playing in a local Jazz Quintet.
Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Blue Mitchel are three great trumpet performers that have influenced him the most. Dan also credits two local trumpet musicians, Jared Hall and Dmitri Matheny (flugelhorn), with enriching his trumpet performance as well. Another local musician of note to Dan’s aspiring development is Al Smith (bass player) from Marysville who also connected him with the Groove Merchants, another local musical group.
In addition to his musical endeavors, Dan enjoys downhill skiing at Stevens Pass, day hikes in the Cascade Mountains, and most recently time spent with “Reni”. She is a rescue Blue Heeler he adopted in April of 2024 from the Everett Animal Shelter.
Dan also is very engaged with his two young granddaughters. Their favorite activity together is watching Bluey (of course she is a female Blue Heeler character) and playing with magnetic tiles. He is amazed that one of the girls loves to put all the tiles away in a specific way. One day he tried to trick her with some non-magnetic tiles but she caught on, sorting the magnetic tiles separately from the others into a certain box. Something not everyone knows about Dan is that a third granddaughter is on the way !
Making fun music with fun people is important to Dan. Playing with the Moonlight Swing Orchestra is something he has enjoyed for a very long time. Being in the group has also presented him with other opportunities to play his trumpet in other groups and to bring others into the Moonlight Swing Orchestra as well.
And with all that he does, Dan still has a full-time job in Residential Real Estate working for the Preview Group in Marysville selling homes in Snohomish, King and Skagit Counties.
We are glad Dan has chosen to stay with the Moonlight Swing Orchestra for so many years and bring his energy to our group for all to enjoy. Whether he is soloing, on a supportive part or playing lead trumpet……Dan can do it all !
Tina Toburen has been playing with the Moonlight Swing Orchestra for the past 18 years starting on 2nd Tenor then moving to the Baritone Saxophone chair 5 years later when Al Carter retired. Like most musicians, Tina’s mom forced her to take piano lessons as a child, for which she is now grateful. Knowing that piano was not her cup of tea, her mom made a deal that if she would play her old clarinet, she could quit the piano. Tina played clarinet in marching and concert bands at Hanford High School. She also played in musicals with the Richland Light Opera Company. She joined the jazz band in 9th grade when the school sent her home with a tenor sax.
Tina was accepted to the University of Washington and decided to try out for the Husky Marching Band. She made it! At the first home game in 1988, the Husky crowd cheered for THE BAND. Feeling the love from the crowd liking the band, she was sold on performing music from that moment on making life-long friends and falling in love with her husband. She had also tried out for the UW Jazz Band. Success again….she made it into Jazz 1 on 2nd Tenor. A couple of years later, the director Roy Cummings switched her to the Baritone Saxophone. He laid the foundation for all her Baritone Sax skills with his coaching. After attaining her Bachelor of Science degree from the UW in 1992, Tina put her horns away for 12 years. She joined the Bellevue Community Band to rekindle her love for music which eventually led her to join the Moonlight Swing Orchestra in 2007.
When asked who musically influenced her the most, she credited such greats as Greg Metcalf (her private teacher in high school) and Roy Cummings, along with saxophonists Tom Scott, and Michael Brecker. Tina also appreciates the swing sounds from Dorsey, Goodman and Ellington.
Outside of music, Tina is a “die hard” UW Husky football and basketball fan bleeding purple and gold as she travels around the country with her husband following the teams to games in their motorhome. She is grounded by her pets - currently one dog and one cat.
When asked if there was anything people didn’t know about her, she said she loves to put puzzles together. Another little unknown fact is that Travis Ranney (saxophone) played at her wedding along with Doug Wilson (piano) and Steve Messick (bass). Travis and Steve being very accomplished, local musicians still performing.
Aside from all her Husky connections, Tina loves being able to connect with other musicians who share her passion of making beautiful music. “That moment when the whole band hits a chord that just speaks…ah…that makes all the rehearsals worth every minute.”
Tina has been working in the power industry since 1993 after receiving her Masters in Mechanical Engineering. Being self-employed at the moment she is working on her exit plan as those long road trips for work are not as enjoyable as they once were.
The Moonlight Swing Orchestra is lucky to have such an accomplished, dedicated and great musician in the sax section.