Swing band music will always be cool. An inability to see its coolness is, well, not very cool. In this writer’s opinion, it’s still one of the hippest things around, a style of music that literally swings, an infectious sound that spurs rhythmic movement out of anyone within earshot, movement that could be to tapping, snapping or full-blown dancing.
Its early purveyors were cool, too; Benny Goodman and Glen Miller, Artie Shaw and Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, these were dudes leading big bands and playing to big crowds, the rock stars of the day before there was such a thing.
It’s a style of music kept alive by many modern swing bands; bands like After Midnight Jazz Band, who have kept the swing and big-band thing going for 25 years. These are musicians who stuck out their clarinet or trumpet lessons from grade school, people who are still playing without the regret of giving up their music lessons when they were kids.
The After Midnight Jazz Band will perform in Durango next week, playing in Buckley Park for the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College’s “Concert Hall @ the Park” series.
If you go
WHAT: The Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College Concert Hall in the Park Series.
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
WHERE: Buckley Park, 1250 Main Ave.
TICKETS: Free.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.durangoconcerts.com.
For the members of After Midnight Jazz Band, who are proud members of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame at Red Rocks, it’s all about the fun.
“Our specialty really is swing jazz, and our jazz and swing comes from and was most popular in the 1930s, ’50s and early ’50s. You’ll hear some Benny Goodman-type clarinet stuff; Artie Shaw, Nat King Cole. Lots of great swing music,” said Roger Campbell, who is the band leader and plays clarinet. “It’s a family-friendly show, and we just tend to have a nice time, especially these summer concerts. It’s great to get out and play in the park, bring your blanket, relax and have a good time.”
It’s also all about education. While this music has had its ups and downs in popularity for the above-the-radar crowd, perhaps seeing a resurgence or two if a tune is used in different mediums, what this band is doing aside from flat out entertaining is educating; this is a lesson in pop culture from back in the day, from not only the music but the influential people who made said music; it’s important.
“The ’30s and ’40s names like Goodman, Miller, Basie, these were household names. Superstars of the day, they sold millions of records, they toured all around the country, just like pop stars of today,” Campbell said. “So, introducing people to this music, I think what’s interesting is they do recognize it. You’ll see kids perk up because they hear it in cartoons. Squidward (from ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’) plays clarinet, right? So, they automatically recognize that.”
The dance floor is always open at an After Midnight Jazz Band show, although in the case of the “Concert Hall @ The Park” series, it’s a dance-field. Go to an EDM club or a jam-band show and the dancing is more like singular wriggling to the music. Swing jazz, however, calls for a little bit more you if you choose to dance, which it often hard not to once the band gets rolling.
“It’s funny. Music these days and kids dancing to it, there’s not really no patterns to learn, you just go out on the dance floor and move, I guess. But swing dancing is just really fun to watch, fun to do, and it’s a great way to interact with the music, which I think this music was intended for,” Campbell said. “It was meant to be interacted with.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
