The Big Dipper Jazz Band is a new musical group with the mission of bringing American jazz music to northern Minnesota. Lead by jazz guitarist Sam Miltich, the band also includes Matthew Miltich on bass, Pat Downing on trombone, Don Vidal on saxophone, Sander Grotjohn on trumpet and Mike Miller on drums. All six members hail from Itasca County, MN, and have played professionally throughout the region.

The band has brought together some of the best jazz musicians in northern Minnesota, but the group does more than just swing. Most of the members are also music educators, and the group is dedicated to spreading awareness of and appreciation for jazz music throughout the communities they visit.

The band’s repertoire includes traditional jazz and swing music from the 1920s through the 1970s, and features compositions by Lester Young, Count Basie, Gerry Mulligan, and Duke Ellington.