Updated: January 22, 2025
Active since: 2010
Swingbooty got its start in 2010 playing for swing dancers, flow performers, and break dancers in clubs and festivals. Starting out as an instrumental Manouche (gypsy jazz) band they added a vocalist in 2014 and have remained a seven-piece band ever since. Swingbooty has the driving rhythm and danceable beat that is emblematic of Swing music. Their shows frequently include various types of visual and performance art including fire and flow. They have released two LPs and several concept videos. The band is based in Knoxville, Tennessee.
PLAYERS
Christian Lange, Violin
Adam Friedman, Guitar
Les Cunningham, Guitar
Mike Benjamin, Keyboards
Tom Smith, Bass
Sean Mantione, Drums
Vocalists featured since 2010: Yasameen Hoffman-Shahin, Kady Robbins, Marilyn Chadwick, Brian Varner, Nick Horner, Ayca Yayman, Alex Pulsipher, Brent Thompson, Meredith Cabe, and Jeanine Fuller.
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Swingbooty: Reviving Gypsy Jazz with a Modern Twist
by Kris Smith
In the '70s Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) brought classical music to the foreground of the Woodstock generation releasing songs like “Roll Over Beethoven" and blending orchestral elements with rock. Today, Swingbooty, a seven-piece gypsy swing band, is taking a page from the ELO playbook. In their home base of East Tennessee, Swingbooty brings jazz manouche to a scene more familiar with rock and pop--and their shows are a visual feast of dance, live art, and poi or fire spinning. As ...
Continue Reading"When Swingbooty performs, it's not just a night of hot gypsy jazz, it's an experience." –Wayne Bledsoe, Knoxville News Sentinel
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