Continentals Big Band

History

The Continentals Dance Band was first organized in 1957 as a sixteen piece orchestra. Leon had just been discharged from the Navy, and he and other musicians in the Raleigh area were looking for an opportunity to play dance music. The band's first engagement was playing for the Miss Raleigh pageant in 1958. Soon afterward they were playing for college dances at N.C. State, Duke and UNC. Many of the early musicians were college students and members of the National Guard Band.