The Swingsations: News

We'll be appearing once again at the 24 Hour Cancer Dance A Thon this weekend, joining a roster of great swing groups ( including Stompy Jones and Dean Mora )to help raise money for the City of Hope Cancer Center. This is a wonderful event, expertly run by Shesha Marvin of ocswing, and we're always happy to do it. We'll be there from 4 to 5 p.m this coming Saturday, March 13. Please come out and donate your time and dancing and enjoy some great music!

The complete details are at www.danceathon.org

The photos from last weekend's Bayside Ball 2 are now up - my special thanks to Brian Boskind for coming out and taking them. What a great night of music...it was a privilege as always to play trumpet alongside of the great Bryan Shaw, and to hear all of the great musicians we had assembled. Thank you dancers as well! I hope to see you all again soon - until then, enjoy the photos!

It was a swinging time in Santa Monica last night - thanks to all who came out to Bayside Ball 2! We had a great time battling the Campus Five, and everyone was blessed to hear some great music. One of many highlight was getting to hear Phil Krawzak and Albert Alva duel each other on "Lester Leaps In". For my part, it's always a pleasure to play alongside the great trumpeter Bryan Shaw. Brian Boskind came by to take some photos, so look for some updates to the Photo Gallery soon.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

I'm happy to announce that we'll be donating our services again this year for the 24 Hour Cancer Dance A Thon on Saturday, March 13, located at the 24 Hour Fitness Ultra Sport in Irvine, CA. We'll be performing from 4 to 5 p.m. with a contingent from the regular group, and yours truly will return later in the evening ( probably midnight ) for a jam group. It's run by ocswing and is truly a wonderful event - all proceeds go to The City of Hope to fund cancer research and treatment. Thank you Shesha Marvin for running this event year after year. We hope to see you there!
You can find all the important information at www.danceathon.org

Yes, it's almost here - the Bayside Ball 2, where we'll be going up against the Campus Five in a battle of music. The date is Saturday night, February 13 from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club in Santa Monica, CA. I hope that you can make it out to cheer us on. Jonathan has a great band, and should be a worthy challenge. But in the end, everyone wins because we'll all hear some great swing music. Hope to see you there!

I've added a few more photos to the gallery. Most are from the past two Art Deco Society Festivals ( Sept. 2008 and 2009 ). Again, thank you Brian Boskind for the photos, and thank you dancers! More to come soon.

Yes, I'm finally adding some pictures into the Photo Gallery ( slowly but surely). The majority are from the Art Deco Festival on the Queen Mary ( Sept. 2009 and a few from Sept. 2008 ). Of course, I'll post more as they come in. Please check it out and enjoy. By the way, my thanks to Brian Boskind for taking the Queen Mary photos.

A quick update - John Reynolds will not be joining us at the Bayside Ball II - rather it will be my wonderful regular guitarist, Tom Hynes. We're looking forward to a spirited but friendly bout with the Campus Five, with lots of fine music being played. There will be a combined band set, so you'll get to hear the contrasting styles of the players ( Tom and Jonathan, Phil Krawzak and Albert Alva, etc.).
Looking forward to it - details to follow soon.

I'll be out again at Disneyland soon, working with my friends in the Royal Street Bachelors and the Jambalaya Jazz Band. The dates are Friday, Jan. 15, 2:00 to 6:00 p.m with the Bachelors and Saturday and Sunday, January 16 and 17, 10:30 a.m to 5:50 p.m. with Jambalaya. If you're in the area come on out to New Orleans Square!

I just wanted to thank everyone who came out to our performance at The Strutter's Ball this past Wednesday night - we were well received and had a lot of fun. Shesha Marvin and Jonathan Stout are to be commended for keeping live swing music alive and well in Orange County. Stay tuned, we hope to be back soon.

I've been busy lately out at Disneyland, rehearsing a new show, "Tiana's Showboat Jubilee", based on the upcoming animated movie. It's quite a production, involving a parade with a large cast and using the Mark Twain riverboat. The show started last week, and I'll actually be performing in it tomorrow and on Wednesday, Nov. 11. In addition, I'll be appearing with the Royal St. Bachelors on Nov. 18 and on Nov. 21 ( in the afternoon ). If you're in the area come on by and say hi!

As I related in my last entry, there's live music on Wednesday nights in Orange, and now we'll be a part of it...on Nov. 18 we'll be appearing from 8:30 p.m. to midnight at the Strutter's Ball, located at the Women's Club at 121 S. Center St. It's run by Shesha Marvin and ocswing, and complete details can be found at www.struttersball.com, or the ocswing website.
Come on out and support live swing music in Orange County! We'll have Ralf Reynolds guesting on drums that night.
We hope to see you there!

Good news! Jonathan Stout ( of Campus Five fame ) will soon be producing live music every Wednesday night at the Women's Club of Orange (121 S. Center St., home of the Strutter's Ball). It will feature some of the best swing groups in the area, as well as special "all star" combinations. The Swingsations hope to be there soon, and I plan on being there on a regular basis. Stay tuned to www.ocswing.com for the start date and more details.

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been a while since I've written, but I tend to get busy with other matters this time of year. Between family and starting up my elementary band programs, time just seems to slip away.
The band has been doing a few private events, and we hope to be doing something for the public again soon. In the meantime, have a wonderful fall!

Many thanks to the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles and the Queen Mary for another great weekend of music. We performed for a reception and did a four hour gig in the Observation Bar on Friday, and then returned for a four hour bar gig on Sunday. In between, I performed at the Art Deco Ball with Dean Mora's fine band. The crowds were large and very appreciative. Thanks again, everyone - we hope to be back again for our sixth consecutive year in 2010.

We had a great time last night performing on the Redondo Beach Pier - special guest guitarist Riner Scivally played especially well, and we were able to pay tribute in song to many famous jazz musicians on their centennial year (Lester Young, Ben Webster, Chick Webb among them). It looks like we'll be back next year, so stayed tuned!

In addition to my band and working with Dean and Jonathan, I've also had the privilege (and pleasure) of working with the fine musicians in New Orleans Square at Disneyland...I've been subbing there for three years on a fairly regular basis. You can see me performing with The Royal Street Bachelors (trio) and The Jambalaya Jazz Band ( six piece street group ). Look for me subbing with both groups this summer and throughout the year.

We want to extend a big thank you to the City of Rancho Cucamonga for allowing us to be part of their Fourth of July celebration at the Epicenter. What a well run event - the staff was so friendly and helpful. We hope to be invited back next year.