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Itinerary
 Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller, Louis Jordan, Billie Holiday, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Arlen…
The music is our passion. Witty and romantic tunes from the 1930s and ‘40s have inspired Swing Fever since 1978, and we can’t seem to get enough. We stopped keeping track of our song list after 1000 tunes. We learned from the originators of the music, which is why our performances have an authenticity that fans expect and critics appreciate.
It helps to have the most experienced jazz players in the San Francisco Bay Area. Swing Fever musicians have performed and recorded with: Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, BB King, Rosemary Clooney, Stan Getz, Thelonius Monk, George Shearing, Coleman Hawkins, Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, Vince Guaraldi, Bill Evans, Red Norvo, Wes Montgomery, Teddy Wilson, Max Roach, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Michael Feinstein, Glen Campbell, John Hendrix, Johnny Mathis, Carmen McRae, Mel Torme, Joe Pass and Kenny Burrell.
And then there’s our fine vocalist, Denise Perrier.
Swing Fever has been performing jazz of the 1930’s and 40’s for thirty years. The band has toured and recorded with renowned musicians, including Count Basie – Duke Ellington trumpeter Clark Terry, clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and vibraphonist Terry Gibbs.
Swing Fever has released three CDs, two of them with Duke Ellington – Count Basie trumpeter Clark Terry, growing out of several tours together and an appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival. A fourth CD, from live tour performances with Buddy DeFranco and Terry Gibbs will appear this Fall.
Swing Fever is dedicated to the music of the Swing Era, playing it as critic Phil Elwood said, “as though the numbers are on today’s Hit Parade.” The band treats Swing Era music as a living breathing form, to which the players bring fresh excitement, new arrangements and unusual instrumentation. Clever, fun, romantic, moody, witty – here is wonderful, classic music presented in its full emotional range.
As Jazz Now said, “Swing Fever keeps its music alive without turning it into a museum piece.” If this is the band’s mission, it is a successful one, as demonstrated by the band’s notable longevity and popularity,
Created and nurtured in the San Francisco Bay Area, Swing Fever has always persisted, somewhat against the grain. In its own piano-less Swing style, well garnished with vocals, devoted to classic Gershwin and Ellington on the one hand and jive on the other.
Swing Fever has played the Monterey Jazz Festival twice, also the San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento and Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festivals. In 1990, the California Arts Council honored Swing Fever with an appointment to its touring roster. It has remained on that roster for 15 years and played more than 400 concerts in California. The band has played two recent concert tours in Alaska, and is a long time member of Western Arts Alliance as well as Arts Northwest. A recent Oregon tour took the band to Newport, Astoria and Salem.
Rhythmic, romantic, torrid and witty…this is Swing Fever’s music and they’re crazy for it. Watch out, you may catch Swing Fever too.
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