We’ll be co-hosting the Saturday night dance at Beantown Camp tonight!  Come check us out for a rockin’ good time with The Boilermaker Jazz Band!!!!  Need a ride?  Check the forum for friends that are going too!

Check in: 8:45 PM

End Time: Very Late

Callahan Center, Endicott College

376 Hale Street

Beverley, MA 01915

It’s been a wet week and half, and with the wet weather, we’re a little sad to tell you that this is our final week at St. Mary’s Church.  So come on out and dance one last time at this great little venue.   This week we have Retro Mike and Jay Provost spinning and hopefully summoning some Summer Sun…

We are taking a couple of weeks off from our regular Friday night dance in July to do some special Summer dances (again assuming it gets here) and to look for a new venue. So even though we won’t be at St. Mary’s, don’t forget we’ll still be out there bringing you some great dances over the next couple weeks!  Including these you’ll want to put on your calendar:
– Co-hosting the Beantown Saturday night dance with the Boilermakers this Saturday, June 27th at Endicott College
– Our first Copley dance on Sunday July 12th (the June date was rained out)
– A special one off Dance on Friday, July 17th (details and location TBD)
– The Boathouse dance on Saturday, August 1st

So watch your inbox, check out or website, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more information, we have some exciting things coming!

Your friends at Boston Swing Central.

It’s the 4th Friday of the month and you know what that means… BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is hosting Swingology!  Swingology is where we feature some of Boston’s finest DJs spinning their best for you.  There are so many talented and knowledgeable swing DJs in this town.  It’s fun to shake things up and see what’s out there.  Our theme nights force them to rethink their oeuvre, but on Swingology, we let them spin what they want!  It’s as simple as 5, 6, 7 and 8!

And don’t forget tomorrow, June 27th, Boston Swing Central goes to Beantown, where we’ll be hosting the Boilermakers from Pittsburgh.  This will surely be a great night of dancing as well, as the Boilermakers don’t make it up this way too often, you don’t want to miss them!  BSC will also be running the late night party and djing between the Boilermakers sets…so come up to Endicott College if you haven’t already signed up for Beantown and see what all the hub bub is about!

Kellian & Brian are our teachers for the evening.  Always guaranteed to put a smile on your face…

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-1am
$10 / $8 for students (with valid ID) and seniors

June 14th dance CANCELED due to rain.

Boston Swing Central is really excited that Summer has finally arrived! (well sort of, you wouldn’t know it by the chilly temps we’ve had lately, but technically it’s still Spring until June 21st).  And to usher in the warmer weather and the sunny skies, we will start with Copley Square Swing on Sunday June 14th.  This is a free dance, it’s open to the public and we’ll be teaching a lesson for those that are interested from 1pm – 2pm…and of course there will be open dancing throughout the afternoon.

Later on this summer we’ll be back at Piers Park in East Boston one more time, hopefully this time it won’t be so windy!

Copley Square  1pm – 4:00pm  FREE

BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is happy to have the return of J Street, a fantastic band from Albany headed by piano player and smokey-voiced singer Josh Fialkoff, whom we all know and love from the Fried Bananas!  We hear that Shawn Hershey may join them on trumpet for a bit, as well.  Expect a lively jazz sound with a bluesy grooviness inspired by the likes of Ray Charles, Bill Withers, and Lou Rawls.

Shawn and Amanda will be teaching our weekly lesson with BSC. Check out what they have for you this week!

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-12am
$13 / $10 for students (with valid ID) and seniors
Boston Swing Central
St Mary’s Orthodox Church
8 Inman St, Central Square, Cambridge, MA

BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is proud to introduce the Rusty Scott Trio.  It’s been a while since we’ve had some new bands at Boston Swing Central, but we’ve finally found a few and we’ll be kicking off this little run of new bands (see June’s schedule for more BSC debuts) with the Rusty Scott Trio. Rusty Scott is a pianist who has been a fixture on the Boston jazz scene for some time.  He plays a groovy soulful jazz style in the vein of Gordon Webster.  We’re hoping he catches fire like Gordon has and we’ll have a new star on the Boston swing circuit.

Don’t forget!  We’ll be returning to St Mary’s Orthodox church starting today — right around the corner at 8 Inman St (click to view a map). 

What’s Buzzin’ Cousin? A veritable catchphrase in swingology from the hepest of hepcats, Cab Calloway.  He coined the phrases that are now common place and with his Bugs Bunny grin lit up the screen in the Blues Brothers with his classic Minnie the Moocher…Cab is a true icon in American culture.  Tonight, Boston Swing Central is buzzin with his songs and his crazy hep to the jive vibe. Cmon out and get in the groove tonight!

The view from the park is spectacular, it’s one of the best views of downtown Boston and overlooks the Harbor.  We’re very excited to be throwing a dance here for the first time, so come on out, it’s FREE to the public!  DJs Retro Mike and Downtown Julie Brown will be spinning some of their finest feel good Springtime music, keep your fingers crossed for good weather (the forecast shows that it’s going to partly cloudy with intermittent sun and about 64, so let’s hope that it doesn’t rain).  In any event bring a light jacket, it’s by the water, so it can get a little chilly and breezy…Details below

Details

Address: Piers Park, 95 Marginal St, East Boston, MA 02128

Date: Sunday May 10th, 2009

Time: 2pm – 5pm

Cost: FREE!!!

Here’s a link to the park for further info.  Check out that view! 

http://www.bostonharborwalk.com/placestogo/location.php?nid=4&sid=24

Boston Swing Central is excited for a night of house rockin’ Soul!  We’ve invited Soul DJ extraordinaire, Mark Francis, who DJs Lost & Found on WMBR, MIT’s college radio station, as well as many soul nights at various nightclubs around the Boston area.   So for those of you who like to groove while you move, this is going to be your night!

Special Note: BSC is going green for Earth Day again this week.  Bring your own or buy a brand new BSC Water Bottle! If you forget, dig deep for those quarters!  Cups will be available for $.50 a piece.  Cup proceeds and $1 from each water bottle sale will go to the Green Streets Initiative.

Once again, BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is happy to welcome back, The Swing Legacy! This six-piece little big band has been a fixture of the Boston swing scene since 1991, playing with the polish and powerful beat 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 Hopping. Their exciting original arrangements produce a room-filling sound that will keep you on your feet all night long!

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-12 midnight
$13 / $10 for students (with valid ID) and seniors
Boston Swing Central at the YMCA
820 Massachusetts Avenue, Central Square, Cambridge, MA

We at Boston Swing Central are happy to celebrate our first Anniversary with you.  The year has gone by so fast and we couldn’t have done it without you!  It’s been such a great experience and I think we’ve had some very memorable nights of dancing!  From Calling All Zombies to the I >heart< Swing! We’ve just had a blast.  And it all began just a year ago.  Anyhow we’re kicking off our 2nd year with the glorious Back Bay Rhythm Makers, who definitely tear it up old school, just the way we like it!  Let’s dress up for this party!

So tell all your friends and come early, as we’re expecting a very fun filled and packed evening.

Lesson 8:00-9:00pm / Dancing 9:00pm-12:00am
$15 / $12 for students (with valid ID) and seniors
Boston Swing Central at YMCA
820 Mass Ave, Central Square, Cambridge, MA

Don’t forget!  We’ll be at our temporary venue – right around the corner at The YMCA (click to view a map).

BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is really excited to have Rocco and the Stompers, along with their parental unit, the Beantown Swing Orchestra, play for us tonight.  So, essentially we have a little big band and a big band.  And as an extra special treat, nationally renowned singer/ songwriter Erin McKeown will join the Beantown Swing Orchestra on vocals.  You won’t want to miss this!  This is going to sell out, so get there early!

We’re also going to do a Shim Sham for Frankie’s 95th Birthday Party!  “A What Wham?” you ask?  “And who’s this Frankie guy?”  Well, Frankie Manning is one of few surviving Lindy Hoppers from the Savoy Ballroom days in the 1930s, (and also one of our guiding lights!) and he turns 95 this May.  And he’s having a gigantic birthday celebration in New York.  And for his birthday, dance scenes from all around the world are performing the Shim Sham (Frankie’s favorite line dance) for him which will be edited into a video.  So Boston represent!  We are also encouraging everyone to dress vintage on this night!!

We’ll have a basic swing lesson from 8-8:30pm and a lesson on the Shim Sham from 8:30 -9:15pm, both taught by Tony and Aurelie Tye of Hop to the Beat dance studio!

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm to 12 midnight
$15 / $12 for students (with valid ID) and seniors
Boston Swing Central at YMCA
820 Massachusetts Avenue, Central Square, Cambridge, MA

Don’t forget!  We’ll be at our temporary venue — right around the corner at The YMCA (click to view a map)..

Once again, BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is proud to welcome back Gordon Webster and his full quartet, including his super talented vocalist Brianna Thomas.  But since Gordon is making his second appearance at BSC this year, we asked him to change it up and throw us one of his curveballs…and this time he also brings Jesse Selengut, on trumpet and additional vocals. Jesse might be familiar to you if were at the packed Brookline Tai Chi show last Fall.  Anyhow, Jesse brings an added dimension to the Quartet and makes them now a Quintet!   Brianna, Jesse, Gordon, they are going to ROCK THE HOUSE!  This band creates an electric vibe like how we imagine it was back in the day, when people were packed into the Plug Nickel, the audience sitting on the edge of their seats with excitement.

This wildly popular group draws a big crowd, so come early to guarantee your spot on the floor!  If we’re at capacity when you arrive, check back in 30 minutes and we’ll likely be able to let more people in.  There are a lot of great bars, clubs, and a fantastic coffee shop right around the corner to keep you entertained in the meantime!

To warm you up in the dead of winter and to kick off the Sweet Molasses Blues workshop weekend, we’ve brought back our Red Hot and Blues night! A hit from this past summer, we’ll feature red hot jazz early in the evening, kickin’ it old school before turning ever more bluesy as the night goes on.  We have some special guest DJs from out-of-town who are visiting for the workshops to lend their energy to our scene! So come on out and see what this talk about blues is all about.

Plus, Shawn and Amanda of It’s All Swing will be teaching the lesson tonight!

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-1am
$10 / $8 for students (with valid ID) and seniors

Boston Swing Central is back with another night of Swingology, where our DJs experiment and explore all sorts of different things that swing… So come on out and enjoy a variety of your favorite swing songs mixed with some new ones that you might not have considered to be swing.  This is where our DJs get to have a little fun and be creative, so we know you will too!

Kellian Adams & Brian Pletcher will be teaching the lesson tonight.

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-12am
$10 / $8 for students (with valid ID) and seniors

Attending a Boston Swing Central dance you might often hear us champion Frankie Manning or invoke his name in some context. You might also here the names of Norma Miller and Dawn Hampton. These three are all dancers from the original swing era. And in the case of Norma & Frankie, they are both original Lindy Hoppers from the 1930s Harlem Ballrooms.

Frankie Manning was was a dancer, choreographer, performer and innovator of the Lindy Hop. He was a member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers a perfomance troupe which appeared in several movies and in Life Magazine. After his storied career as a professional swing dancer, Frankie disappeared from the public eye and went to work at the Post Office where he worked for years. Very few if any of his co-workers knew he was a dancer, let alone an amazing one who had invented airsteps (or aerials).

In 1986, Steven Mitchell & Erin Stevens found Frankie, brought him out of retirement to teach them the Lindy Hop. Since his discovery, Frankie spent the remainder of his life teaching, performing and promoting the Lindy Hop becoming the dance’s Grand Ambassador, and it’s spiritual leader. Frankie died in 2009 right before his 95th birthday. Many of us learned from him or were inspired by his talks. We keep his memory alive by spreading the joy of swing dancing and in particular the Lindy Hop, the Shim Sham and his favorite music, Count Basie’s “Shiny Stockings”.

If Frankie was the King, Norma Miller is the definitely the Queen. She too was one of the Founding Lindy Hoppers who has spent a great deal of her time inspiring, teaching our current generation of swing dancers.

Dawn Hampton is a little younger and was from the next generation of swing dancers. She was also a jazz musician and a cousin of famous xylophone player, Lionel Hampton. She often appeared at dance camps where she performed and spoke eloquently about the love of the dance.  If you have some time, find her on YouTube and listen to her words or watch her dance, she will lift you up with her presence, truly an inspiration to us all!