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The Beantown Swing Orchestra represents swing music as it really was during its heyday: exciting and performed by hip young musicians. |
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In any musical era, it's usually the younger generation of performers that popularizes the music of the period.
That's because they are in tune to what is hip, and they are not afraid to take chances, which leads to innovation and refreshing change.
The Swing Era (late-1930s to early-1940s) was no different - the music was popularized by musicians in their early twenties.
It was also last time in American history that music was created specifically for dancing, and the last time that any form of jazz would dominate the airwaves with Top 40 hits.
After World War II, when the youngsters moved on to other forms of music (e.g. rock and roll), swing became stagnant and older, less energetic musicians brought it down a path of mediocrity.
Seventy years later, the Beantown Swing Orchestra picks up where the young Swing Era bands left off. There is one surprising difference, however: our music is enjoyed by all generations, as opposed to the Swing Era when older folks did not appreciate the "new" sounds they were hearing. Older generations love us because we perform the music as they remember it when they were growing up. In addition, younger generations love us because our musicians know how to stylize the music to make it sound hip to modern ears. The result is a phenomenon not seen anywhere else - toddlers, seniors, and everyone in between dancing to our music together. |
 21-year-old Jennifer Hirsh fronts the band at a local swing dance. Photo by Mike Howard |
| Only in Boston will you find a swing band of such caliber and with an average age of less than 25. This is due to the many top-notch jazz musicians that come out of such world-renowned music schools as Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory of Music. The Beantown Swing Orchestra draws upon the cream of the crop from these schools, resulting in a band that not only can swing as hard as any other, but also knows what is hip and what is not. |
| MISSION To become the hippest party band in New England while playing classic Swing Era music. |
| GOALS To master the performance of classic Big Band swing arrangements. To expose the music to younger generations. To arrange and record a new Red Sox theme song to replace "Tessie". To become the swingingest big band in Red Sox Nation (i.e. the world). |
| BAND INSTRUMENTATION AND LAYOUT With instrumentation similar to many of the great big bands of the Swing Era, the Beantown Swing Orchestra consists of the following: 5 saxes/clarinets 4 trumpets 4 trombones 1 piano 1 guitar 1 acoustic bass 1 drums 1 vocalist Furthermore, unlike most modern big bands, the Beantown Swing Orchestra's horn section appears on stage in classic fashion - with the saxes separated from the brass. In fact, the saxes are on one side and the trumpets and trombones are on the other (stage width permitting). This layout makes perfect sense, considering that swing arrangements contain a lot of "call-and-response" patterns between these two groups. The call-and-response motif is a basic element of early jazz and is derived from the style of human communication found in African cultures. When this is presented on stage in musical form, it really appears that the horns are communicating with each other. |
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| photo by Kanda Images |