Dancers don’t know how good they have it now. This latest episode is our humble effort to give you a peak into the most unique and talented musical line ups in recent Lindy Hop history.
Bobby White and I had some very elaborate plans for A Word on Swing at Lindy Focus, but none of that actually happened just because . . . well . . . Lindy Focus happened. In particular, the live music line up blew me away, and Bobby was otherwise pre-occupied with MC’ing and other things . . .
The way the weekend turned out is appropriate for the unofficial one year anniversary of our show. The original idea for was spawned at the last Lindy Focus, but we never got around to do anything formal because we couldn’t get our schedules together. Eventually Bobby scored an ultra-last minute interview with drummer, Josh Colazzo, and we’ve been stumbling along ever since.
I did get to do a number of interviews as part of our continuing efforts to get to know dancers and musicians. In the course of my conversations with Michael Gamble and Ben Polcer, we naturally got side tracked into what was happening that week at Lindy Focus. In short, it was one the most incredibly ambitious projects for any swing event to date.
There’s something very special happening now between the dance community and the jazz community. This is our latest, but not last, attempt to delve into it. We hope you enjoy the show above. Below is a list of all the musicians that took part in this historical line up.
ps. Over on my personal blog, I’m going to talk more in depth about certain aspects we don’t get to in the show, especially some of the songs I recorded as well as some of the more stuff I’m learning by doing this show. Check it. Later this week.
Pps. All the music used in the episode was recorded at Lindy Focus. I’ve posted each song individually on YouTube as a playlist. Click for your casual listening pleasure.
The Bands of Lindy Focus
- Ben Polcer & His NOLA Crew
- Ben & His Slow Dragons
- Ben & His Swingin’ Six
- Crytzer’s Blue Rhythm Band
- Glenn Crytzer & His Syncopators
- The Hot Club of Lindy Focus
- The Solomon Douglas Swingtet
The Band Leaders
- Ben Polcer (New Orleans, LA), trumpet & piano
- Glenn Crytzer (Seattle, WA) guitar
- Solomon Douglas (Seattle, WA), piano
Lindy Focus Musicians
- Benji Bohannon (New Orleans, LA), drums
- Dennis Lichtman (New York City, NY), clarinet & violin
- Evan Arntzen (Vancouver, BC), reeds
- Gordon Au (New York City, NY), trumpet
- Jason Jurzak (New Orleans, LA), bass/sousaphone
- Keenan McKenzie (NC), reeds
- Ken McGee (Washington, DC), trumpet
- Laura Crytzer (Cleveland, OH), trombone
- Laura Windley (NC), vocals
- Lucian Cobb (NC), trombone
- Meschiya Lake (New Orleans, LA), vocals
- Mike Faltesek (Seattle, WA), guitar
- Patrick Breiner (Madison, WI), reeds
- Paul Cosentino (Pittsburgh, PA) reeds
- Rich Levinson (New York City, NY), drums
- Rich Willey (NC), trumpet
- Russell Welch (New Orleans, LA), guitar
- Todd Yannacone (New Orleans, LA), guitar
A Word on Swing 
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