Shawn Hershey, Josh Fialkoff & The Fried Bananas at Uptown Swing Dance
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Uptown Swing is excited to welcome back Shawn Hershey, Josh Fialkoff & The Fried Bananas to our May dance! The Fried Bananas was first assembled in 2006 under the guidance of co-leaders Shawn Hershey and Josh Fialkoff, who are both dancers themselves. Together they carefully crafted the Bananas’ sound, drawing inspiration from Jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Dr. Michael White. Since then, this versatile band has evolved to incorporate other swing influences from New Orleans to New York City, from the ’20s to the ’40s. So whether you’re looking to swing out or boogie back, The Fried Bananas has your back, and your dancing shoes. We had a lot of fun last year at Uptown Swing and are looking forward to having them in Boston once again!
The guest DJ for May is Dang Mai.
This month Uptown Swing is on an adjusted time schedule in order to fulfill the requirements of using the space at KI. We must follow the rules of not starting prior to sundown. The lesson will come first, followed by a short band soundcheck and then dancing. Due to the later start time, the dance will run until 12:30am! It will be worth the adjustments to dance at this beautiful venue!
May is Frankie Month and Lindy Hoppers worldwide will be celebrating this very special man. There isn’t a better example than Frankie Manning to remind us of the joy and fun we have dancing! If you don’t know much about him, be sure to check out his bio. Of course the night would not be complete without a Shim Sham, Frankie style!
The Frankie Manning Foundation was established with Frankie’s passing to carry on his legacy. We’ve been honored to have Beantown Camp as part of the Ambassador Program, which provides scholarships to support the growth and development of new ambassadors of Lindy Hop. Recipients are primarily selected from African-American communities throughout the USA as well as areas around the world where Lindy Hop is in a very early stage of development.
The experience is often life-changing, and it is wonderful to watch them grow as individuals and dancers and begin to help teach future generations. Starting in 2014, Beantown began collecting funds to help bring past ambassadors back to camp as many do not have the means to do so on their own. There is no charge to attend camp, however funds are needed to cover housing, meals and travel.
The Solomon Douglas Heptet is a tight-swinging little band that plays music inspired by the great later swing small groups and early modernists of the late 1940s. This New York City-based group was founded in September of 2014 by Toronto-born pianist and composer Solomon Douglas, whose various bands have played at hundreds of swing dance and music festivals in North America, Asia, and Australia in the past 15 years. You’ll hear and feel the evidence of his experience as a swing dancer and dance instructor in the deeply swinging groove of his music. After a fabulous dance last year, we know this is going to be another very fun night!
The 18-piece Beantown Swing Orchestra specializes in the performance of vintage Swing Era and Sinatra classics as well as popular and original songs custom arranged for big band. The music of the Swing Era (late 1930s to early 1940s) was created specifically for dancing, with its characteristic and infectious Swing beat and exciting horn arrangements. Most of the BSO musicians and songwriters/arrangers are in their twenties and play with the energy and drive to keep everyone moving on the dance floor. What a special treat to have this wonderful big band back at Uptown Swing!
Racky Thomas is primarily a Blues man, although he continues to add to his repertoire, which has grown to be quite eclectic! He has a talent for blending his musicians on different occasions to come up with just the right mix for his audience. Racky loves playing for dancers and is great at keeping a Swing groove to everything played. There is plenty of inspiration for swinging out! His delivery has always been “soulful” and for this dance he’ll be reaching into his bag of tricks to add some classic Soul selections. Racky connects with his audience and his energy is infectious. His fan base keeps growing as it is always a fun night when Racky is on board!
Guest DJ Javier Johnson will be playing some get-up-and-dance Soul music during the band breaks as well as teaching the lesson at the start of the dance. Javi is the founding member of what is now the Hartford Underground, a Swing dance organization based in Hartford, as well as Hart & Soul, an annual dance weekend event held in September. In addition, he teaches both locally and internationally, and besides Swing, specializes in Balboa and Soul. He has a smooth, joyful, rhythmical style which is always a standout on the dance floor.
Special lesson Intro to Partnered Soul to start the evening. This class will get you grooving with the music and your partner. You’ll learn the basics of how to connect your dancing to the soul of the music. Open to all and included with admission.
Grab a partner and participate in the Soul Competition! No advanced registration and no added fee to enter. This will be a fun competition open to anyone who would like to participate. There will be prizes!
Gordon Webster has grown into one of the most sought after musicians in the Lindy Hop world today. All the tremendous praise he receives is well deserved. His music is exciting, exhilarating and joyful! Our annual dance during the Skye & Naomi weekend has come to be a major highlight of the year.
May is Frankie Month and Lindy Hoppers worldwide will be celebrating this very special man. There isn’t a better example than Frankie Manning to remind us of the joy and fun we have dancing! If you don’t know much about him, be sure to check out his bio.
Gordon Au and The Grand St. Stompers at Uptown Swing Dance
Saturday, September 19, 2015
The Grand St. Stompers, called “a pillar of New York’s hot jazz scene” by the New York Times, are a New York-based New Orleans-style hot jazz band, reviving and refreshing the music of the 1920s to 1940s for today’s listeners, dancers, and fans. Their leader Gordon Au, called “comfortable in any idiom and fearless” by music writer Michael Steinman, is known in the Lindy scene for his fiery and rhythmic trumpet playing, found at the forefront of bands led by Jonathan Stout, Glenn Crytzer, Gordon Webster, Vince Giordano, Baby Soda and others.
Guest DJ Stan Yen.
The Hop to the Beat Dancers are reuniting for a performance, joining forces with dancers from our latest class routine for an updated version.
Jessy Carolina and The Hot Mess at Uptown Swing Dance
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Jessy Carolina and The Hot Mess is a NYC based traditional Jazz band that specializes in music from the 1920s-1930s. The band plays songs made popular by Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday just to name a few. Over the past few years the band has performed around the east coast and has been a regular performer for The Jazz Foundation of America and featured on The Simpsons.
