There’s something irresistible about those infectious bebop rhythms from the big band swing era.
They have a way of going through your ears and straight to your feet and even if you aren’t inclined to dance, you find yourself tapping your toes and bobbing your head to the beat and before you know it, you’re dancing.
You’re going to see that play out when Brice Winston strikes up his award-winning Tucson Jazz Institute Ellington Big Band at Wednesday’s special big band swing era dance party on the Hotel Congress Plaza.
Brice Winston, Tucson Jazz Institute Ellington Big Band director, will lead the ensemble at Wednesday’s special big band swing era dance party on the Hotel Congress Plaza.
Tucson Jazz Music Foundation and The Century Room are teaming up to celebrate International Jazz Day (April 30) and International Dance Day (April 29) with a big band swing dance featuring the Ellington Big Band and Naomi Uyama & Her Handsome Devils.
The fun starts at 6 p.m. on the Plaza, 311 E. Congress St., with Minneapolis-based Uyama teaching beginning East Coast Swing/Lindy Hop dance lessons for all takers.
Naomi Uyama & Her Handsome Devils will add a swing dance soundtrack to Wednesday's big band swing dance on the Hotel Congress Plaza. Uyama will lead dance lessons at the beginning of the night.
Those lessons will come in handy when the TJI ensemble takes the stage. It’s not often we see the players perform outside of a seated event such as Fox Tucson Theatre, DesertView Performing Arts Center in SaddleBrooke or Hotel Congress’s Century Room; don’t be shocked if a few of them have a little extra groove to their step.
Once the music starts, the Arizona Swing Cats, the University of Arizona student-run Lindy-Hop club, will be on hand to get the dance started and step in as dance partners if you need one.
Uyama and her band will play the dance’s second half, which runs until 10 p.m.
Wednesday’s event is a precursor to the Ellington Big Band’s trip to New York City next month to compete for the ninth time in the prestigious Essentially Ellington high school big band competition at Lincoln Center.
The TJI ensemble has taken home five first-place prizes and finished in the top three in the other competitions.
Tucson Jazz Institute's young artists will perform as part of this weekend's International Jazz Day at Hotel Congress's Plaza Stage.
This year’s competition May 7-11 features 31 bands including ensembles from Spain, Australia and Japan. The competition, often described as the Super Bowl of high school big bands, is organized and produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz Academy, directed by Wynton Marsalis.
Tickets for Wednesday’s all-ages swing dance event are $20 for adults, $30 for preferred seats, and $10 for students with ID. It’s free for anyone 18 and younger. Get tickets at hotelcongress.com.
Naomi & Her Handsome Devils will be back at The Century Room on May 2 for two shows at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $30, or $40 for preferred seats, through hotelcongress.com.
Here are this year’s Tucson Jazz Institute Ellington Big Band members, who come from schools throughout the greater Tucson area:
Saxophone: Itzayana Alvarez, Jaxon Hirsh and Theo Balzer-Partain from Tucson High; Ryan Burns and Keenan Sammani from Catalina Foothills High School; David Nguyen from University High School, who also plays trumpet and clarinet.
Trumpet: Milo Fox from University High School; Alex Meuillet from Cross Middle School; Eli Trujillo and Daniel Valenzuela from Desert View High School.
Trombone: Elia Johnson and Jayce Johnson, Desert View; Hallie Larriva from Marana High School; Joshua Parker from The Gregory School.
Piano: Jacob Nguyen from Gallego Intermediate Fine Arts Magnet School.
Drums: Ryan Robles from Nogales High School.
Guitar: Diego Valencia from University High School.
