Results for "Swing"

Charlie Spivak

Born: February 17, 1907

Charlie Spivak was a popular American bandleader and trumpeter, most prominent during the swing era (roughly 1933 - 1947). Born on February 17, 1907, Spivak's early career was spent performing with some of the period's top bands, including the orchestras of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller as well as Bob Crosby's small Dixieland combo the Bob Cats. As a bandleader himself, Spivak became known as "The Man Who Plays the Sweetest Trumpet in the World" and drew favourable comparisons to Harry James, America's number one trumpet idol of the 1940s. Though he never achieved the same level of fame or critical aclaim as some of his contemporaries, such as Miller, James, the Dorseys or Benny Goodman, his records were consistently popular, especially during World War II

Russ Morgan

Born: April 29, 1904

Russell Morgan (born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on April 29, 1904) was an American swing-era big band leader, arranger, composer and trombonist best known for his radio show Music in the Morgan Manner and his composition "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", which he co-wrote with Larry Stock and James Cavanaugh in 1944. Morgan's musical career began in the 1920s, when his skills as an arranger brought him work with some of the era's top bands, including those of Fletcher Henderson and Paul Whiteman, then known as the "King of Jazz". He went on to lead a succesful "sweet" band himself and become a popular figure on radio in the 1930s and 1940s

SwingStreet Big Band

Swingstreet Band operates as a 17-piece swing ensemble, an 8-piece dance and event band and a 5-piece jazz combo.

We are located in Durham Region, east of Toronto and perform to a wide variety of venues and audiences.

Private parties, corporate events, holiday events, weddings, festivals, public indoor/outdoor events.

Members of SwingStreet are accomplished, pro-level musicians, each with decades of performance experience in the GTA and Durham Region.

Ken Teel

Big Band Alumni

Active since: 2000

The Big Band Alumni is a 17-piece big band that features some musicians that are graduates of the greatest big bands of all time like Benny Goodman, Harry James, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Jimmy & Tommy Dorsey, and many others from the Big Band Era.

The Big Band Alumni is in its 25th year of existence. The band was created by musicians who were members of the big bands (largely) of the 1940’s who were responsible for the swing era. Over the 21 years there have been replacements. Like many big bands of the 40’s we also have vocalists who have always been younger than the original band members.

Desi Arnaz

Born: March 2, 1917

Lew Stone

Born: May 28, 1898

Lew Stone was a prominent British bandleader, pianist, arranger and composer during the 1930s and 1940s, known for writing sophisticated arrangements for various dance bands (including his own) and popularising American jazz rhythms in Britain's own swing era. Although his name isn't as widely known today as that of, say, Jack Hylton's, some of his songs are still popular today, partly thanks to the television series Pennies from Heaven.

Lawrence Welk

Born: March 11, 1903

Before he became a household name as the host of his own self-titled television show, Lawrence Welk was a hardworking bandleader shaped by the rural Midwest, European folk traditions, and the rhythms of early American dance music. Born in 1903 in North Dakota to German-Russian immigrants, Welk’s first musical instrument was the button accordion, and his early gigs were steeped in polka, waltz, and regional styles that prioritized rhythm and melody for the dance floor.

By the 1920s and '30s, Welk was leading bands across the Midwest, developing a style that would eventually be dubbed "champagne music" - smooth, tightly arranged, and bouyant. Beneath its polished surface, however, his orchestras absorbed the styles of the jazz music that was evolving around them. While his band didn't swing in the way that Goodman or Basie's did, they found great success in foxtrots, rumbas and even jazz standards, bended to match their smoothness.

Grigorii Palamarchuk

Born: November 23, 1988

Grigorii Palamarchuk is a professional pianist currently based in New York, with over 20 years of international performing experience. Originally from Ukraine, Grigorii began studying piano at the age of 3.5 and later trained under the legendary Soviet jazz educator Igor Bril, who played a crucial role in shaping his jazz approach and improvisational style.

Throughout his career, Grigorii has performed across multiple countries, blending classical technique with the language of jazz. His extensive repertoire includes jazz standards, bebop, swing, New Orleans traditions, and contemporary arrangements, creating a sophisticated and versatile sound that adapts to both intimate venues and large stages.

Will Bradley

Born: July 12, 1912

Wilbur Schwichtenberg, born on July 12, 1912, was a popular American trombonist and bandleader who rose to fame in World War II, at the height of the swing era. After playing trombone in New York for various dance orchestras during the 1930s, in 1939 he changed his name to Will Bradley and co-founded his own big band with drummer and singer Ray McKinley. Their orchestra became renowned for popularising African-American boogie woogie rhythms and incorporating them into hits like "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" and  "Scrub Me Mama, with a Boogie Beat." Despite his personal preference for ballads, Bradley's collaborations with McKinley and pianist Freddie Slack helped his band briefly become known as one of the most distinctive hard-swinging outifts in the country