This Friday Boston Swing Central will bust out some more of our summer favorites. Nothing fancy, just a good night of music from our DJs.

And just a reminder that September is right around the corner…Dirty Water will soon be here featuring Gordon & Meschiya, get your weekend pass today….have a little preview here:

Lesson: 8pm to 9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $10 (general), $8 (students and seniors with valid ID)
The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Swingin’ on the Charles is back! The dance is ON! We’ll be there at 7:00pm tonight, weather or not! Forecast says overcast, 70 degrees, 30% chance of rain, but we’re going for it. And rain doesn’t look likely until after midnight. We hope to see you there, tickets will be available at the door!

This is what Summer is all about! Dancing outside at sunset, on the banks of the River Charles. We Love that Dirty Water! This is one of the most magical nights of dancing that we have all year. It just doesn’t get any better than this. A summer classic and definitely a dance you’ll be thinking about next Winter when you’re driving down Storrow on a grey day.

It’s been a couple of years since we last danced on the docks of Community Boating and we are extremely excited to be back here!! You don’t want to miss this weekend (schedule your vacation for another weekend, we only do this once a year).

Community Boating has new docks since the last time we danced there, they’re smooth, level and have more square footage. So we’ll enjoy significantly better dancing conditions. This is going to be such a great night!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 7:00pm – 8:00pm
Dancing: 8:00pm – 11:00pm
General Admission: $12
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $10
(Rain date is Aug 18th)

Community Boating (on the banks of the River Charles near the Hatch Shell)
21 David Mugar Way (Charles MGH T-Stop)
Boston, MA 02114

Validated Parking at Mass Eye & Ear is $5, please bring ticket to desk at CBI for validation.

Everybody loves summer and our summer is not complete without our annual Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest. It was quite a sight to see, everyone puckering up and spitting all at once on the back patio. Right out of a 1940s Life Magazine photo…or a Norman Rockwell painting or this…

This Friday Boston Swing Central will bust out some of our summer favorites including “Watermelon Man”. Game on…so practice up (if you are lucky enough to find a place that sells seeded watermelons, a feat unto itself in this day and age!) Or if you’re not game for seed spitting, just enjoy snacking on some of the seedless we’ll have available as well. It’s a summer celebration!

Lesson: 8pm to 9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $10 (general), $8 (students and seniors with valid ID)
The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

The Jazz Age was a golden age, the roaring 20s, prohibition, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. Boston Swing Central and the City of Boston recapture the spirit and energy with the Jazz Age Revival at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park in the North End.

This dance is free, it’s outside, and it’s down near the Harbor. The evening starts with a free dance lesson at 6pm, so bring your friends who have not experienced dance. We encourage you dress up in some light summery vintage attire if you’ve got it…

After which Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners Jazz Band will start swingin’ their red hot jazz. The Easy Winners are a crowd favorite at Boston Swing Central’s dance hall.

Location: Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, North End right where Atlantic ave takes a 90 degree bend and (sort of turns in to Cross St). The park is on the blue line at the Aquarium stop.

Time: 6pm – 8pm (Lesson from 6:00-6:30pm)
Cost: FREE!

It’s going to be a Red Hot August night with our musical guests the Red Hook Ramblers. This band creates quite a ruckus and they’ve managed to tear the Whistle Stop down both times they’ve played. An annihilation of pure New Orleans-style energy.

We thought we’d invite them to make an August appearance and get this weekend really cooking…check them out here performing the St. Louis Blues at the Whistle Stop:

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

It’s a hot August Night and we welcome back the fantastic Downtown Julie Brown and the enigmatic Gina Helfrich to DJ for us. They’ll start off spinning swing tunes and sink into the soulful grove of motown and blues as the hours tick on. We’ll be recreating the feeling of those old summer night parties with the lights turned low, and the music drifting you into a sense of long summer night timelessness: all it’s going to take is our beautiful venue and two of our favorite New School Swing teachers cooking up amazing set lists from their mp3 collections.

Just say, “Downtown Julie Brown”..

Gina stands up!

Lesson: 8pm to 9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $10 (general), $8 (students and seniors with valid ID)

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

No, the Lemonade Stand is not the name of Toni Lynn Washington’s backing band…even better!  It’s exactly what you think it is, a full-blown Lemonade Stand, with fresh squeezed lemonade to parch our heatwave-strained brains. 

So c’mon out, enjoy the libations…we did this last year and the girls working at the Lemonade Stand squeezed over 80 lemons…they look to beat their record this year…

Toni Lynn Washington and her crack band will provide the soulful and deep swingin’ soundtrack to a perfect Summer’s evening of dancing…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Boston Swing Central is really excited to present the Crosby Whistle Stop debut of the Hot Club of Cowtown.

Normally, Hot Club of Cowtown play venues where this isn’t much room for dancing, but we were lucky enough to convince them they should play for dancers. This is American Roots music at it’s finest! A fun-filled Yee Haw of Honky Tonkin’ swing crossed with some infectious Django/Stephane Grappelli Hot Jazz…and kablooey…you’ll be thanking BSC for getting such a whoop-ass band! Tonight, it’s a Special Thursday BSC and we encourage you to break out your Western shirts, jeans and other Cowboy duds…

If you have not seen Hot Club of Cowtown, they seriously kick ass! And hence we’ve had a handful of dancers beg us to book them…Based in Austin, Texas, they don’t get around these parts very often, this is some rowdy Western Swingy Hot Jazz…check ’em out here:

And here…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
We’ll have a special 2-Step lesson at the end of the regular lesson.

Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

Tickets are still available tonight at the door. Come and join us!

Advanced Tickets are no longer available and if you’ve already purchased them are held at the door. We are unable to issue refunds.

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Josh Fialkoff & J Street return to Boston Swing Central to release his debut CD that he recorded here this past Winter at Blues Cafe. And to celebrate this party, we’ve decided we need ice cream!

Josh will bring his smokey voice, soulful piano playing and quirky cover choices back to the Whistle Stop for a party to celebrate a major milestone for him and for the Boston Swing Scene. This promises to be a groovy night, here’s Josh singing “Save the Bones for Henry Jones”…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners return with some hot jazz that is good for your soul! A new Boston Swing Central favorite, Phil has been refining his band lineup over the past year and we think they’ve finally hit the nail on the head with this incarnation of the Easy Winners…

Here they are back in March, lighting up our stage with their joyous & blissful version of “Everybody Loves My Baby”…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Boston Swing Central is ready for another great 4th of July celebration, this year 4th of July is on a Wednesday, so we’ll actually be doing our dance and annual back-patio BBQ on Friday after the 4th, this July 6th.

Perhaps this year, we’ll have even more people than previous years do to the holiday being midweek. So come out and grab some dinner before the dance and hang out in the back of the Whistle Stop as the BSC staff grills you up something delicious. If you could bring a yummy side dish or dessert that would be great…we’ll have plenty of burgers and dogs, and some sort of veggie options too!

Musically, this dance will be All-American swing, and that means that we’ll be true to the Red, White & Blue and only play American artists! Americans like Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Sidney Bechet (who sounds French but is as American as apple pie). So, come on out and celebrate all that is American with American music and an American dance: The Lindy Hop!

Wear red, white, blue or all three or any combination on this night!

Lesson: 8pm to 9pm (included in price of admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12pm
Admission: $10 General Admission, $8 for Students and Seniors

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Tonight Boston Swing Central is excited to debut yet another new band from Brooklyn: Jessy Carolina & the Hot Mess.

We’ve been asking our friends in other Brooklyn bands what other bands we should check out and several of them said, “Jessy Carolina!” And right after that Jessy contacted us about booking her band and she really needed this particular date to round out a short tour. So there, you have it…she is coming to Boston Swing Central and we couldn’t be more excited, as what we’ve heard on the web and from friends…well, this band is surely going to become a new favorite. We know there’s a lot going on this summer and tonight in particular…BUT, if you’re lucky enough to be around and feeling up for dancing, Jessy Carolina & the Hot Mess is going to be a great hot mess, check ’em out here:

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

When we were kids, many of us saw Disney’s Jungle Book and our eyes lit up when King Louie started singing and swinging! Little did we know that years later, we’d be swinging too! Perhaps he subliminally planted the idea in our developing brains…bare necessities indeed!

Tonight our guest DJs will take over the helm at Boston Swing Central and deliver us some high energy swing music.

Lesson: 8pm-9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $10 (general), $8 (students and seniors with valid ID)

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

We’re happy to welcome back Sweet & Low Down to the BSC.  They haven’t played for us in awhile.  The Sweet & Low Down are a side project of Miss Tess, which features Miss Tess and co-vocalist Rachel Price. And they’ve been in demand with their other projects, so we haven’t been able to book them.  But we’re pretty persistent about asking them to play and they’ve finally been able to make their schedules work.  They have a strong local following and used to live here and where they reguarly played at many prominent Boston Venues, including the Beehive, Precinct, and Toad.

This is Rachel with her other band, Lake Street Dive, and they too are so great…this is WHY you don’t want to miss Rachel anytime she sings!

You can check out some of their music here: http://www.myspace.com/thesweetandlowdownmusic.  We are really excited to have them and hope you’ll come on out and see why!  Check them out here:

Lesson: 8pm-9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $15 (general), $13 (students and seniors with valid ID)

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Who is Professor Cunningham? And what possibly is he going to lecture about? Well considering Professor Cunningham is better known as Adrian Cunningham and can often be seen moonlighting as super saxophone/clarinet player with Gordon Webster, Baby Soda and many others….you can probably guess, that he’s going to present a treatise on Trad Jazz…Brooklyn-style (and by treatise, we mean he’s going to play his heart out for us with his awesome band). Here’s the Professor playing with Baby Soda…

And here, our Australian Professor can be seen with the Big 72, playing Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me…

So get ready for a great seminar of red hot trad jazz!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Boston Swing Central is happy to have The Rusty Scott Quartet back. It’s been a while since we last danced to Rusty Scott. And this time he’s bringing with him guest saxophonist, Ted Casher. (Ted is quite familiar with the Whistle Stop having played at our dance many times in the past year with Phil McGowan and many other bands).

Rusty is a soulful and groovy pianist who has been a fixture on the Boston jazz scene for some time and has played for us on several occasions. Check out his versions of Night Train and Tuxedo Junction. His playing reminds us of a little bit of Jimmy Smith and Gene Harris combined.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

This Memorial Day weekend marks what would have been the 98th Birthday of Frankie Manning. Frankie Manning was a founding father of the Lindy Hop and spent the last 20 years of his life inspiring and teaching the Lindy Hop to an entire new generation of swing dancers. This includes a great many dancers who are currently dancing. As we get farther and farther away from his life, it becomes all that more important that we keep his memory alive by spreading the joy of the dance.

Boston Swing Central, Blues Cafe and Hop the the Beat have joined together to pay tribute to Frankie with 2 dances featuring Shim Sham lessons. The Shim Sham was Frankie’s favorite line dance to lead, it has become the defacto, “National Anthem” of Lindy Hoppers the world over. During his birthday celebrations in years past, there were many scenes which sent Frankie videos of themselves doing the Shim Sham in beautiful and iconic places all over the world, Frankie would also lead the dance when it was performed live during these celebrations. Anyhow, if you’ve seen it done at a local dance and wanted to learn how….now is your chance! Take both lessons and keep practicing. We’ll also perform it at both dances.

Friday Night kicks off at Boston Swing Central. Hop to the Beat‘s Tony & Aurelie, who probably knew Frankie the longest and the best of anyone in Boston will be teaching the Shim Sham at the Crosby Whistle Stop. Later on in the evening, we’ll all perform it with Tony & Aurelie leading us with a “push and you push and you…” followed by a chorus of “crossover!” Then special guest DJ Gina Helfrinch will be spinning Frankie’s favorites into the night!

Frankie leads the Shim Sham:
 

Saturday Night at Blues Cafe, Boston Swing Central’s Abby Cohen will be teaching the Shim Sham. This will be followed up by a special Boston appearance of the Boilermaker Jazz Band. The Boilermakers, as we often call them, hail from Pittsburgh, and because it’s a third of the way across the country, they perform here very infrequently. This is not to be missed! Also includes special balboa performance by Team Balboa of MA and RI!

Find out more about Frankie Manning.

And Gina Helfrich will be our special guest DJ this Friday evening. You can purchase tickets for both nights at a discount at the door!

Friday Night:
Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $8

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Saturday Night:
Dancing 8:00pm-9:00pm
Open Dancing 9:00pm-12:30am
General Admission: $18
Students & Seniors (w/ valid ID): $15

Springstep
98 George P. Hassett Dr
Medford, MA
02155

April Showers bring May flowers, and at BSC, that means some great bands. Not only do we get Gordon Webster, but we’ll follow it up with the Baby Soda Jazz Band! We’re extremely jazzed that everyone seems to agree and have been filling up with the Whistle Stop week after week.

The last time Baby Soda played for us, they helped us ring in the New Year! Now we’re almost midway through 2012…time flies when you’re dancing… Their heart-pounding brand of hobo street jazz sends us for the stratosphere! Their horn section, a mere trumpet and trombone was like a herd of happy elephants. And the one-string that bassist Peter plucks is more than enough to keep us moving and grooving all night long. Minimalism at it’s most perfect. Listen to them here.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Phil McGowan is back with his awesome Quintet (which has grown to a sextet), and they finally have a band name! The Easy Winners, named after a Scott Joplin rag…you can hear it here:

Incidentally, this was recorded in 1901 (same year as our Steinway upright piano was born) on piano roll, which was for playback on a player piano. While it wasn’t Scott Joplin’s actual sound being recorded, this early recording technology was documenting his actual playing of the notes. So playing this back recorded his sense of timing, expressiveness as much as the technology could support at the time.

We’re excited to welcome the Easy Winners back to the Whistle Stop, they’ve been an evolving work, and really started to come together as a band with the addition of Brendan Cooney on stride piano. And this time, they’ll debut virtuoso trumpet player, Trent Austin. Phil says, he sings, plays trumpet and will knock us out with his energy…just what we like to hear! Check ’em out:

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Gordon Webster is back and this is his Boston CD pre-release party for his Live in Rochester album which he recorded last Fall and will be out officially out the following weekend. So, what I think Gordon means by pre-release party is that he’ll have some of these CDs and we’ll get to have them before the rest of the world…but we’re not clear and the guy is so hard to get a hold of these days, he’s in Spain one day and the next he’s in Australia…! That shows you just how in demand he is. Everywhere Gordon goes there’s a big event sure to follow. Tonight is no exception. Along with the CD Pre-Release Party…we’d like you to dress to impress!

Here’s a video of the last time Gordon was here with Meschiya Lake:

And of course, there are some more videos on our YouTube Channel, just follow the links…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $20
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

These last few years of living in a down economy haven’t been fun for a majority of Americans, and perhaps that’s where the Recessionals derive their name. But don’t let the name fool you…this is a fun band for fun times. Check out a video of one of their songs here:

The Recessionals are the latest band from Brooklyn to grace our stage. A high energy trad jazz outfit that will get you up and dancing all night long. We’re very excited they could make the trek up to Boston to play for us.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Want to learn Lindy Hop?

Maybe you’ve wanted to go further than our Friday night introductory lesson, but don’t have time to commit to a weekly class?  This is your chance! Our next weekend “crash course” workshop for 3 hours on Sunday April 22nd, 12:30pm-3:30pm Come learn from experienced teachers who are also social dancers in the Lindy Hop scene.

We will cover six count basic (East Coast Swing), basic eight count (Lindy Hop), and Charleston Basic. Moves include swing out, Lindy circle, swing out from closed, and side by side Charleston. At the end of this class, you will be able to attend a social dance and dance to music.

Instructors Seth & Jasmine have been teaching at Boot Camp on a semi-regular basis.   Seth Burgess has been teaching Lindy Hop in Boston and lighting up the BSC dance floor with his gold sneakers and razzamatazz for years!  (He’s also really funny.)

12:30 – 3:30 PM
$25 advanced on-line registration, $30 at the door (register here.)

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129

Some of you may taken our Boot Camp over the last several months have asked us, “When is Swing Boot Camp 2?”   Well, this is your chance to get some more razzamatazz from Shawn (Potter) & Sachiko.  In a nod to Hot Shots Part Deux, we’ve got Swing Boot Camp Part Deux…yes, you too can be a hot shot on the dance floor…Saturday April 21st, 12:30pm-3:30pm.

We will review the Lindy Hop basics, go more in depth and give you some other turn variations, delve more into the “connection”, Texas Tommy and Charleston.  And as always, Shawn & Sachiko will bring their boundless enthusiasm, super revved up energy to class.  Class size is limited to around 24 so that the instructors can give each student one-on-one attention.

Instructors Shawn & Sachiko are founders and senior instructors at iSwingTokyo. Shawn was very instrumental in helping build up swing dancing in Tokyo.  He has since moved back home to Massachusetts and has been teaching quite regularly for Boston Swing Central. He brings a unique, fun and fresh perspective to the Lindy Hop. Everyone that takes his classes leaves with a smile on their face. Sachiko has also recently relocated from Japan and we’re lucky to have her teaching with Shawn as they are a great team!

12:30 – 3:30 PM
$25 advanced on-line registration, $30 at the door (register here.)

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129

Spring is in the air, baseball season is underway and we’re happy to welcome Shawn Hershey back to the Whistle Stop stage.  Of course, Shawn is here every week, teaching for New School Swing…but tonight, he gets to play his trumpet. And he’s bringing some fellow dancer/musicians…

Jan Marie a vocalist extraordinaire who is sure to dazzle and mesmerize. And Mike Valdez, crackerjack piano player who helped us find our 1901 Steinway piano.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Swing Legacy, a six piece little big band has been a fixture of the Boston swing scene since 1991, playing with the style and informed of the great big bands from the swing era. Their repertoire concentrates on classic big band swing music including many Duke Ellington and Count Basie numbers ideal for Lindy Hop and swing dancing. Much of their great catalog of songs showcases their phenomenal singer, Debby Larkin. It promises to be a night full of exciting original arrangements that will keep you dancing all night long!

Here’s a short story as told to us by their larger-than-life saxophone player, Ted Casher

(on right) Ted Casher

“I was gigging with Bo Winiker Orchestra at the Faneuil Hall Rotunda for a Wellesley College 10-year class reunion. Bo said that we could play anything we wanted, only as soft as possible! We were playing bebop tunes, the ladies were reuniting, when I noticed a tall, good-looking man listening intently, standing up against the wall. At the end of the set, he came up to me and asked, “Is that the new Dukoff mouthpiece? I’ve heard about it. Sounds good!”

We talked on—he was knowledgeable about reeds and mouthpieces, and I asked “Are you playing now? He answered, “Not much these days. I’m the Governor of Arkansas, and I don’t have time to practice.”

I then asked, “Wanna play?” He said, “Sure!”, and so I grabbed Bo and said “I’ve got a tenor player who wants to sit in—he’s the Governor of Arkansas.” Bo said “Sure”, and so I gave William Jefferson Clinton a spare strap and my tenor sax. I grabbed my alto, and we all played.

We played some blues, followed by “Perdido”, then “Take the A-Train.” You could tell that Bill had spent time with the instrument — he knew such minutae as the out-choruses to “Perdido” and “A-Train”. He also soloed well — didn’t make any blatant errors!

The alumnae were beginning to come up to the bandstand to watch him play, and after the set was over, a lady with brown wavy hair and big hexagonal glasses came up and said to him “You sounded great, Dear!” It was Hillary Rodham Clinton!

The next time I saw Bill Clinton, I was playing a fundraiser for him at the Parker House. And the next time, I was in DC with the Winiker Orchestra, playing lead alto at his Inauguration!”

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129