Author: lydian
Date: 2023-10-04 19:29
In the 90s there was a brief revival of swing dancing in the US. My big band(s) played a lot of shows for young people learning and appreciating that music. Then it kind of fizzled out after a few years. More recently, we've been playing for monthly swing dance classes which consist of a little instruction before the show, then 2-3 hours of solid playing for maybe a hundred dancers in all on a good night. I can't imagine a thousand.
Those are the most fun shows. Most of our other shows consist of a few dozen octogenarians in the audience trying to stay awake. Big bands pretty much died out for good in the 70s after a long decline and have been on life support ever since, with the few exceptions of Michael Bublé, Gordon Goodwin, etc. But we still have a blast playing this music even if there aren't many listeners left.
I am having pretty good success with my trad jazz combo (where I play bass sax, soprano sax, clarinet and trumpet), as there seems to be an appetite for 20s/30s music and nostalgia of late, thanks possibly to groups like Tuba Skinny and The Nighthawks. It's not swing era like you're interested in, but still really fun to play as most tunes are at blazing fast tempos and high energy.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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