By NANCY WILSTACH / Community Columnist

You’ve probably heard JQ’s One Man Big Band if you spend any time around Montevallo’s various gatherings.

But did you know that the guy who plays trumpet and sings those delightful big band swing music melodies is also the official bugler for the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo?

That’s right, Jim Quakenbush puts aside his 1940’s “gig” clothes for his snappy, sharp Marine Corps dress blues whenever the cemetery needs a live bugler.

“Most funerals use recorded music (for “Taps”) unless it is a retiree or someone killed in action,” he said. However, any veteran can request a live bugler, and the call goes out for Quakenbush.

And, technically, it is not a bugle that he plays but his trusty trumpet. And his rendition of “Taps” sends chills up and down your spine and brings tears to your eyes.

That horn and Quakenbush have seen a lot of action together, most of it on a stage or in a garden or courtyard for special events. Those are the occasions when JQ dons attire that evokes the Swing era when big bands ruled and the jitterbug was the dance of choice.

During the Oct. 27 Art Stalk in downtown Montevallo, Quakenbush set up shop in Owl’s Cove Park on Main Street. Yes, he was the guy singing and playing “Jeepers, Creepers (where’d you get those peepers?)” and many others from his 120-song repertoire.

Since it would require two heads for him actually to sing and to play the trumpet at the same time, Quakenbush uses an app on his tablet to supply basic accompaniment for his performances.

However, the mellow voice and the soaring trumpet melodies are entirely Quakenbush.

In his military musical persona, Quakenbush is active with Buglers Across America. He is the very embodiment of the saying that “once a Marine, always a Marine.” Although he left the Corps in 1991 as a sergeant and a member of the Marine Corps Band, he keeps that relationship alive as a member of the Band of America’s Few, ex-Marine musicians who assemble twice a year to perform in concert.

The band’s name is a play on the Marine Corps’ recruiting slogan “The Few and the Proud.”

Quakenbush’s civilian gigs range widely—a regular Sunday brunch in Mountain Brook, a wedding, a “Date Night in NOLA” at a local winery, a company picnic—but his favorite type of show, he said, is visiting assisted living centers.

“It’s magical to me how someone who is almost catatonic will react to music,” he said.  The swing music in which he specializes harks back to their youth for many in those audiences, “and it brings back memories and sometimes sadness.” Such performances always leave him upbeat.

“I get more out of it than they do,” he said.

Quakenbush and his wife, Beky, moved to Montevallo 11 years ago. She also is a musician, he said, “but she won’t perform with me except in the (Montevallo) Community Band.” Beky plays clarinet, saxophone and keyboards, he said.

Anyone interested in taking trumpet lessons or hiring him to perform for an event can reach Quakenbush by email at jvq12@hotmail.com.