March 13, 2020 – Swing Gang is suspending our weekly dances (Swing Sunday and Tuesday) and Special Annual Events until deemed admissible to announce our Grand Re-Opening.   So stay safe and awesome friends.  We miss you all, and look forward to many cheers and dances soon!

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Thanks Brendan for uncovering this video of Nils and Bianca.
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From the movie: TILL THE END OF TIME 1946
Dancers Guy Madison and Jean Porter

It’s the first video from forthcoming album, “Diggin’ The Roots Vol 1: Rockin’ Rhythm & Blues” and features regular collaborator, the fabulous Cassidy Janson, who is also featured on the album. Cassidy is a true West End star with shows such as “Wicked” and “Avenue Q” on her CV and she’s currently playing the lead role of Carole King in “Beautiful”.

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Swing music began as a form of jazz developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. Big Band Swing uses a strong rhythm section of double bass and drums as the anchor for a lead section of brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones, woodwinds including saxophones and clarinets, and sometimes stringed instruments such as violin and guitar, medium to fast tempos, and a “lilting” swing time rhythm. Large ensemble Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of bandleaders such as Benny Goodman and Count Basie became the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1945.

The term “to swing” is praise for music with a strong rhythmic “groove” or drive.

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Lindy Hoppers at the Savoy Ball Room in Harlem. Music by Varetta Dillard, “Them there eyes.”