The Swingsations: News

A big thank you once again to our friends at the Art A Fair in Laguna Beach...we had a great time performing there for the 17th straight year. The weather was great and the art displays were wonderful. It's always a pleasure and we hope to be back again and again. Next up - The Art Deco Festival on the Queen Mary on Labor Day Weekend! Stay tuned...

I will be once again making quite a few appearances in New Orleans Square at Disneyland during the first two weeks of August, working with my good friends in both the Jambalaya Jazz Band and the Royal Street Bachelors. If you're in the area come on by and say hello! I'll give the specific dates as we get closer.

I'm happy to announce a definite date for our debut at the fabulous Cicada Club in downtown Los Angeles...it will be Sunday, November 6. Mr. Demille assures me that this should be a firm date, and we're definitely looking forward to it. Stay tuned for more details as the date approaches. In the meantime, don't forget our upcoming appearances at the Art A Fair in Laguna Beach in August...thank you!

Unfortunately fate has been unkind once again, and our Sept. 11 date at the Cicada club has been preempted for a private event. We hope to have another date scheduled soon, where you'll be able to hear the "A" Band with Wendy. I'll keep you posted. Thanks as always for your support!

Yes, I'm slowly but surely adding some more photographs of recent gigs - our May 27 performance at the 75th Anniversary of the Queen Mary's maiden voyage and our June 10 gig at the Frank Lloyd Wright Birthday Party at the Hollyhock House. All the photographs are courtesy of Chris Launi of the Art Deco Society...thanks very much, Chris! You'll be able to enjoy Wendy Rea's photographic debut with the band in the Hollyhock photos - enjoy, everyone!

What a fun time we had last Friday night at the Hollyhock House! It was a birthday party for Frank Lloyd Wright held on the grounds of the incredible home which he designed. Once again I must thank John Thomas and the Art Deco Society for inviting us - I had the regular band including Wendy Rea, and despite the cool weather we managed to generate a little musical heat. We even had dancers on the grass! With this gig and the Queen Mary 75th Maiden Voyage reception, it's been a busy time for us. Look for pictures soon, and we'll see you on the Queen for the Art Deco Festival in September.

We are very pleased to be a part of the 75th Anniversary of the Queen Mary's maiden voyage ( it happened on May 27, 1936 ). We will be performing at a private reception this Friday to mark the event, and we also plan to make it a focal point of our performances at the Art Deco Festival over Labor Day Weekend ( September 2 - 4 ). Why not take a visit to the grand old ship this year? It's a beautiful place to visit and relive an era of travel with style.

This just in - our debut at the Cicada Club has been rescheduled to Sunday night, September 11. As it sometimes happens during the spring and summer, the club has been booked for a wedding...it is a popular place, after all. Please mark your calendars and I guarantee that it will be worth the wait. In the meantime, I hope to see you at one of our other upcoming gigs.

I'll be out performing with the Royal Street Bachelors in New Orleans Square at Disneyland - the dates are both Mondays, April 4 and 11, and it's a later start time - 12:00 to 7:00 p.m. Hopefully more to come this spring and summer. If you're in the area, stop by and say hello!

Hi everyone - here's some news...The Swingsations will be appearing as part of The Balboa Rendezvous, Joel Ply's wonderful swing dance event. We'll be performing on Saturday night, April 2, from 9 to midnight at the Portugese Hall in San Diego. Joining us in her first public appearance will be the fabulous Wendy Rea. complete details can be found on the event website: www.2plyswing.com. We hope to see you there!

I hope that you all enjoy our new homepage - a slightly different look. There's also a more recent band photo there ( from Feb. 2010 ). Unfortunately someone's missing in the photo - our drummer, Bryan Taylor, who was stranded out of town by bad weather. I hope to have a nice shot of the complete group very soon...until then, enjoy, and thanks for your support.

Just a little advance warning of our appearances this year...first, we'll be featured at the Balboa Rendezvous in San Diego - the date is Saturday, April 2, from 9:00 pm to 12:30 am. More details soon, and please check www.2plyswing.com for additional information. The other date is our debut appearance at the Cicada Club in downtown LA on Sunday, June 12. Looking forward to both of these, and many more to come.

I'm looking forward to some great centennial tributes this year, including one of my trumpet heroes Buck Clayton (Nov. 12, 1911). In addition, some other great trumpeters will be honored - Roy Eldridge (Jan. 30) and Cootie Williams (July 10), plus two legends of the Count Basie Orchestra and of swing - Freddie Green (March 31) and Jo Jones (Oct. 7). Last but not least, it's Louis Armstrong's 110th Birthday on August 4! What a great year - a big thank you to all these great musicians...you are not forgotten.

Happy New Year everyone! I'm pleased to announce that vocalist Wendy Rea will be joining us for selected gigs this year. A longtime favorite in the Southern California area and leader of her own groups ( The Famous Players, The Lost Boys ), Wendy's vocal stylings will be the perfect addition to The Swingsations Vocal Department of Westy and yours truly. She will be joining us at the Balboa Rendezvous in San Diego on April 2 and at the Cicada Club in downtown LA on June 12...hopefully more to come. Welcome, Wendy - we're looking forward to swinging with you!

As 2010 winds down, I wanted to make mention of some other fine jazz musicians celebrating a centennial this year. I focused on Django and rightly so, but wanted to also pay tribute to Big Sid Catlett, Charlie Shavers, Milt Hinton, Artie Shaw, Louis Prima, and Mary Lou Williams who were also born in 1910. Thank you all for your incredible music and for the inspiration and joy that it continues to bring to all of us.

Just letting you know that yours truly will be appearing with the Jambalaya Jazz Band at Disneyland this Thursday and Friday, with sets at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30 and 3:00, 4:00, and 5:00 p.m. If you're in the area come on by, and a very Happy New Year to one and all!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Just wanted to give you an update as to where I'll be apppearing in the near future. On December 26, I'll be at the fabulous Cicada Club with Richard Halpern's Hollywood Cavalcade ( 8 to 10:30 pm ), and I'll be working at Disneyland with the Royal Street Bachelors on December 27 and 28 and with the Jambalaya Jazz Band on December 30 and 31, followed by a New Year's Eve gig with the Campus Five at the Atomic Ballroom in Irvine. Hope to see you along the way, and here's hoping for lots of swinging music in 2011!

Hello everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I wanted to let you know that I've lowered the prices on both of our CDs at the cdbaby website
( www.cdbaby.com )just in time for Christmas - they are now both $10.00 apiece, with a 10% discount for multiple purchases. It's a great time to get some great music for both old and new fans alike. Thanks for your support!

You can help us get an appearance at the famous Cicada Club in downtown L.A.! All you have to do is send a short email to Maxwell Demille ( the man in charge ) and let him know that you'd like to see The Swingsations in 2011. His email address is maxwell@maxwelldemille.com. Thanks in advance for your help - it's a great place to play and we deserve a chance!

My apologies, friends - September is my busy time in my other life as an elementary band director. I hope that you are all having a nice late summer/early fall. Unfortunately nothing to report as far as live gigs for the band( although I will be doing the occasional Campus Five gig as well as subbing at Disney )- I can tell you that I'm working on getting back into the SkyRoom in Long Beach, and Mr. Demille has mentioned that we may be making a Sunday night appearance at the fabulous Cicada Club in the new year...so stay tuned!

Once again I want to say thanks to John Thomas and all the great people at the Art Deco Society for having us perform again on the Queen Mary. What a great weekend - it's so great to see everyone dressed up so nicely and to be able to play some wonderful period music. We hope to see you again next year!

It's coming up soon - our sixth appearance at the Art Deco Society Festival on the Queen Mary, held over Labor Day Weekend. Once again we'll be making public appearances at the Observation Bar on Friday night, Sept. 3 ( 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. ) and Sunday night, Sept. 5 ( 8 p.m. to 12 midnight ). In between, you can see me w/the Dean Mora Orchestra at the Art Deco Ball on Saturday night. A busy weekend of great music - looking forward to it, and hope to see you there.

You'll be able to see me quite often this coming week at Disneyland - I'll be appearing on Wednesday, Aug. 25 with the Royal Street Bachelors ( from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm ) and on Friday, Sunday, and Monday with the Jambalaya Jazz Band ( Aug. 27, 29, 30 - 10:30 am to 5:30 pm ). It's always a pleasure to work with the fine musicians in New Orleans Square. Please drop on by if you're in the area.

Hello after a long absence - I've just returned from an incredible trip to Europe, including a 12 day cruise on the Baltic Sea. We saw so many wonderful places, St. Petersburg , Russia and Berlin Germany among them. What a privilege to be able to see such wonderful places as the Hermitage and the Berlin Cathedral, to gaze on the beauty of the Norwegian fjords, and to enjoy the hospitality of many people in place I may never see again. I met some fine musicians along the way ( in St. Petersburg and in Tallin, Estonia ) and was impressed by their fine playing.
I hope that all of you get the opportunity someday to travel to these wonderful places.

We'll be returning to the SkyRoom in Long Beach this coming Saturday night, July 10, from 8 p.m. to midnight. We had a great time on our last visit and are looking forward to being there again. This time we'll have some special guests on the bandstand - Ken Treseder (sax/clarinet), Dave Eastly (bass/vocals), and Paul Johnson (drums) - three great musicians whom I've had the honor of working with at Disneyland. It will be a swinging time, and we hope to see you there! For more details, please visit www.theskyroom.com.