The Swingsations: News

I was honored to be part of a group of musicians selected to re-record the background music for Main Street at Disneyland. The actual recordings took place last September at Capitol Studios in the famous Studio A ( what a thrill it was to be in that room ), and they have been playing the new tunes since January 9. So if you're around Main Street , take a listen...I'm very proud of how they turned out. Most of the cornet solo work is by Chris Tedesco, but I have a few short ones here and there. Thank You Dean Mora and Chris for inviting me to do these recordings - it should be playing for many years to come.

As is my custom, I like to pay tribute to the great practitioners of Classic Jazz and Swing on the centennial of their birth, and for this year we have the trombonists Trummy Young and Tyree Glenn, saxophonist Don Byas, bandleader Stan Kenton, and - probably the most notable performer - pianist Teddy Wilson, born on November 24, 1912. Also for good measure we have the 110th anniversary of the great guitarist Eddie Lang. We will be celebrating their contributions and perhaps playing some of their music throughout the coming year. A big thanks to all of these fine musicians for their contributions to American Music.

We already have two dates on the books for 2012...the first is Saturday, March 24, from 10:00 am to noon as part of SwingFlingLA. We'll be providing music for the Hair Of The Dog Pancake Parlour event in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The second date is Saturday, May 19, from 9:30 pm to 12:30 am, where we'll be performing once again for Alicia Milo and our friends at the Third Saturday Parlour Parties in San Diego. Stay tuned for more details soon!

A quick note to all of you, both near and far...wishing you all the best for the New Year of 2012. Thanks for your support in the past year, and looking forward to entertaining you in the next. See you soon!

For those of you in the mood for swing and jazz at Disneyland, I'll be subbing with The Royal St. Bachelors the rest of this week, starting tomorrow. The place is the French Market Stage in New Orleans Square, and the shift goes from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm ( roughly on the half hour ). I'll be there through Sunday, New Year's Day. If you're in the area please stop by and say hello...Happy New Year, everyone!

As I write this, it's a little late in the day - still I want to wish all of you out there a Merry Christmas and Holiday Greetings. Thank you for your support in the past year, and I hope to see many of you in the coming year.

I want to say thank you to Alicia Milo and the folks at Third Saturday Parlour Parties in San Diego for having us perform this past Saturday, and to everyone who came by to listen and dance. Unfortunately Wendy Rea was unable to join us due to illness, but we had a fun time all the same. We hope to be invited back soon - in the meantime, here's hoping for a successful and swinging 2012!

I'll be very busy performing next week, and very grateful for the work. First I'll be with Richard Halpern at the Cicada Club on Sunday, December 4, followed by The Swingsations dance gig at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica on Tuesday, December 5. Then it's two nights with Dean Mora's Orchestra on December 6 and 7. I'll finish the week with two days at Disneyland with the Jambalaya Jazz Band - Saturday and Sunday, December 10 and 11. I hope to see you somewhere along the way!

Our December 5 gig at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica is fast approaching! The 6:30 p.m. reservations are at capacity, but there is now an 8:00 p.m. reservation link ( for the more experienced dancers and anyone else still interested in attending )- it is http://beachculture90-1.eventbrite.com/ Again, we'll be performing from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. See you soon!

I've just added some new photos from our recent gig at the Cicada Club - live action as well as formal poses. Yes, Bryan Taylor, my drummer, is finally "in the picture", as well as the lovely Wendy Rea. There's a nice new formal shot of the band on the home page as well. A big thanks to Brian Boskind for the photography.
I'll be adding more soon - until then, enjoy.

Just added - we will be performing for the Third Saturday Parlour Parties event in San Diego, run by Alicia Milo. The date is Saturday, December 17, from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The theme for the party is the movie "A Christmas Story", so it should be loads of fun. Complete details are up at the Facebook event posting:
www.facebook.com/events/193067517445454 Hope to see you there - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!

On this special day I want to say thanks to all of you loyal fans and listeners who have supported us this year, and also to give thanks for this wonderful country in which we live. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to play wonderful music for all of you. Have a great day, and Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

I'll be returning to New Orleans Square at Disneyland to work with some of my favorite musicians in the Jambalaya Jazz Band...I'll be there tomorrow ( Saturday )and Sunday, November 12 and 13, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. If you're in the area come on by! I hope to be out there a lot over the Christmas season and will let you know.

I'd like to take a moment to thank all the veterans of our armed forces out there, past and present. This is your special day, and I honor your service and sacrifice. God Bless all of you.

One more reminder that we'll be at the 24 Hour Dance A Thon in Irvine tomorrow night - our performance slot is 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. Come out and support this very worthwhile cause, or make a donation if you can't make it. Complete details are at www.danceathon.org

One more thing - we had a photo shoot at the Cicada Club gig, and you'll soon see some fabulous new shots of the complete band with Wendy Rea and with our drummer Bryan Taylor. A big thank you to Brian Boskind for doing the photography.

A quick reminder that we'll be appearing this Saturday, November 12, from 8 to 9 p.m. as part of the 24 Hour Cancer Dance A Thon at 24 Hour Fitness Ultra Sport in Irvine - it's located near the 405 Freeeway. come be a part of this very worthwhile cause. For complete details please visit www.danceathon.org, and thanks very much!

What a great time we had last night at the fabulous Cicada Club! There was a good crowd in attendance, plus quite a few people tuned in to the internet broadcast ( up to 4,000 at one point ). A big thanks to my terrific band and to Wendy Rea and to all of you for your support. If you missed it, you can log on to the club website and check the broadcast archives.

If you're not in the Los Angeles area or can't make our show at the Cicada Club this coming Sunday ( Nov. 6 ), you can still watch our performance live on the internet! Just log onto www.cicadaclub.com/broadcast. Our show starts at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time...we hope that you'll enjoy the show!

We will once again be performing as part of the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-A-Thon - our slot will be from 8:00 to 9:00 pm on Saturday, November 12. Come out and support this very worthwhile cause - raising funds for the City of Hope. Thanks again Shesha and everybody at OC Swing for your sponsorship and hard work!

Just added - we'll be performing at the historic Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica (on the Marion Davies Estate) on Monday night, December 5, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. Admission is free, but you'll need to make a reservation as seating is limited. Come join us for a fun dance in a historic setting...I'll have my "A" band plus the fabulous Wendy Rea. For complete details, please visit http://annenbergbeachhouse.com/beachculture. See you there!

Regarding my band photo on the Cicada Club website which shows only four people - we are actually a five piece band as you know. Bryan Taylor, our drummer, was stranded out of town by the weather when this photo was taken. I hope that this clears up any confusion.

Just a quick reminder that our debut at the fabulous Cicada Club is coming up soon - Sunday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m. I'll have my regular "A" band ( Phil Krawzak, Tom Hynes, Lee "Westy" Westenhofer, and Bryan Taylor ) plus the great Wendy Rae as our featured vocalist. Wendy will also be joining Westy and myself for some group vocals. We hope that you can join us! For more details, please check the club website: www.cicadaclub.com. Thank You!

Once again a big thank you to John Thomas and everyone at the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles for having us perform once again at your festival on the Queen Mary. It was a great weekend, and I was happy to see so many people in attendance. Here's hoping for many, many more. Stay tuned - our next big appearance is the Cicada Club on November 6!

Yes, it's almost time once again - The Swingsations will be performing for the seventh straight year as part of the Art Deco Festival aboard the fabulous Queen Mary in Long Beach. As in past years, we will be doing two gigs open to the public - this Friday night, September 2, from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am, and Sunday night, September 4, from 8:00 pm to 12:00 am. Both gigs will be in the Observation Bar.
For more details please check the website www.queenmary.com. We hope to see you this weekend!