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The Art of The Jitterbug Concert By The SRJO

Some of the most popular music of the 1930s was played by the big bands of the Swing Era. Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Chick Webb, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller and other bands toured across the country playing for dancers in ballrooms like the Savoy in Harlem, the Rendevous in Balboa, the Trianon in Seattle, the Spanish Castle in Tacoma and Evergreen Ballroom near Tacoma. 

On this episode, The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, co-directed by Clarence Acox and Michael Brockman is featured in highlights from a concert devoted to “The Art Of The Jitterbug."

This is one of three concerts by the SRJO last month celebrating the dance music of the 30s. To help complete the picture, The SRJO was seated further upstage and provided space for two couples who demonstrated dances popular with the jitterbuggers who filled the ballrooms wherever the bands played during the Swing Era. The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra’s next pair of concerts, featuring the West Coast jazz of Stan Kenton and Gerry Mulligan will be on Saturday June 21 at Nordstrom Recital Hall in Seattle, and Sunday afternoon June 22 at Kirkland Performance Center.

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Jim has been a fixture on Seattle radio since 1961. He was the host of Jazz After Hours on Public Radio International from 1984-2014. Currently Jim has been producing Jazz Northwest for KNKX since 1988. This weekly program focuses on the regional jazz scene and frequently includes performances Jim records on location for Jazz Northwest.