Friday, March 19, 2010
Steamboat Springs — With a year of dances and performances under its belt, community big band Steamboat Swings is putting together a program of swing-era favorites for Saturday night.
Steamboat Swings plays a community dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Depot Art Center. Tickets are $15 per person or $25 per couple. Proceeds from a cash bar will benefit the Steamboat Springs Arts Council; the nonprofit arts organization is helping present the dance.
Since starting rehearsals in fall 2008 and performing its first gig almost exactly a year ago, Steamboat Swings has established a steady base of about 20 Yampa Valley musicians, tenor saxophonist and band founder Henry Savage said.
The group has provided the music for dances at the Depot Art Center, The Steamboat Grand and the Steamboat Springs Community Center and has played for community events including the Fourth of July Pioneer Day Block Party, the Doc Willett Health Care Heritage Awards and the Steamboat All Arts Festival.
There are about 70 charts in the Steamboat Swings songbook, Savage said. Most of them are in the big-band, swing style of Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller and the like, Savage said. A few songs bring in elements of Latin or pop music.
The band includes a few high school students, several professional musicians and players from across Routt County. Michael Lewis, a saxophonist who also helps lead the group, said Steamboat Swings has remained a community band.
“It’s funny that some of the guys who play music around town all the time, local musicians who are getting paid for it, like to come in and rehearse with us because it’s music they don’t get to play very often,” Lewis said.
The band played at the Depot for a block party at the end of the inaugural Steamboat All Arts Festival in August and liked the acoustics and the setup of the venue, Lewis said. As a relatively recent addition to the Steamboat Springs Arts Council’s list of affiliate groups, the band plans to continue performing at the Arts Council’s home at the Depot. Another dance there is scheduled for May, Savage said.
Also on tap for the summer is a return to the Pioneer Day Block Party. More gigs are in the works, with three to five outings planned between now and the end of the summer, Savage said.