In 1986 Mort Jonas and Bruce Freeman decided to form a musical group for the gay and lesbian community in South Florida. Jonas had recently returned from a vacation in San Francisco where he had connected with an organization called the Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA) that was performing at the Gay Games II. Freeman had just moved to Fort Lauderdale from Washington, D.C. where he had been a founding member of the DC’s Different Drummers, one of the more established gay bands in the country. Together Mort and Bruce created the band that over the years has gone through two name changes, several artistic directors and many concert venues.

The South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble has had the great honor of hosting the annual convention of the LGBA six times. The 2009 LGBA Conference, hosted in New Orleans debuted the first ever LGBA Honors Jazz Ensemble, which featured 6-time Grammy Award winner Gary Burton on vibraphone. The most recent conference, “Fiesta Caliente”, was held in 2014 and featured a concert band of about 250 musicians onstage at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts’ AuRene Theater.