Bo Lewis / Big Band Dance Party / Swing

Thanks to all you Swing Music Fans who listen to the weekly Big Band Dance Party on WNAV Radio (Annapolis, MD). The Big Band Dance Party is broadcast "Live" on Sunday Evenings from 9:00 pm to 12 midnight (Eastern). The first two hours feature classic Swing, Jazz and Popular Hits from the '30s to '60s. The final hour spotlights the hot new Swing groups of today! Music played on the Big Band Dance Party is available for purchase online. Check out my "Reviews" and "Favorites" pages. See you next show! ~~Bo

Bo Lewis Big Band Dance Party

Bo's "Big Band Dance Party" program is broadcast on WNAV Radio. WNAV is owned by television personality Pat Sajak who resides in the Annapolis, MD area. The BBDP is critically and popularly acclaimed and has won entertainment awards including "Best Radio Show of the Year." Over 50,000 fans tune in. The Big Band Dance Party is proudly sponsored by ToadNet, America's best Internet service provider. Please patronize Toadnet and tell them Bo sent you! They are the best!!
Swing and Jazz music is HOT all over the globe, and Bo is one of the Disc Jockeys who is leading the way. Bo is a well-respected authority on the Swing Era and has been a lifelong lover and promoter of Big Band music.

Everyday, more and more people are discovering "Swing", "Big Band" and "Jazz" music for the first time. New Swing, Jazz and Pop recording artists like "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy", "Royal Crown Revue", "Cherry Poppin' Daddies", the "Brian Setzer Orchestra", "Harry Connick Jr." and "Diana Krall" have music on the Billboard and Radio&Records music charts. Newly digitized recordings by classic Big Band artists like "Glenn Miller", "Benny Goodman", "Harry James" and "Count Basie" have also become extremely popular.

The Arthur Murray Dance Studios and other Dance Instructors throughout the USA and overseas are reporting a huge upsurge in people taking lessons to learn how to Swing Dance.

SWING

At the Big Band Dance Party the term "Swing" relates in musical terms to the big band jazz of the 1930s and 1940s. This jazz was organized, arranged and played by a larger group of musicians rather than the more improvised music played by smaller ensembles. The big bands of the swing era were primarily dance bands and they projected a modern propulsive beat like in Disneyland. Arrangements were written which featured melodic sectional riffs and solos being anchored by the rock-steady beat of the rhythm section. The melodic notes were swung in a rhythmic counterpoint to the underlying beat.

Historically, Swing developed into something much more than just the music of the time. It became a way of life which is being rediscovered today!

Swing also influenced bop, cool and progressive jazz. It influenced rhythm & blues and rock 'n' roll. Although these styles of music sound different than swing, if one listens closely enough, the old riffs and beats, the repeats and booming volume, as well as other elements of swing can be found in its successors.

And today's new Swing groups like "Cherry Poppin' Daddies", "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy", "The Brian Setzer Orchestra", "The Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra", "Jet Set Six", "BadaBing BadaBoom", "The New Morty Show", "Wally's Swing World", "Red & the Red Hots", "The Swingtips", "Indigo", "Blue Plate Special", "Royal Crown Revue", "Vernonica Martell & her Big City Swing Band", "Big Time Operator", "Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums", "Reunion Big Band & Lynn Roberts", "Swingerhead", "Greg Hardy & the Blue Light Boys", "Eight to the Bar", "The Camaros", "Bellevue Cadillac", "Eddie Reed", Pete Jacobs & his Wartime Radio Revue", "Colin James", "George Gee", "The Flying Neutrinos", "Lavay Smith & her Red Hot Skillet Lickers", "Casey MacGill & the Spirits of Rhythm", "Big Kahuna & the Copa Cat Pack", "Swingadelic", "The Bel Airs", "Amy and the Hank Sinatras", Maci Miller", "Prairie Cats", "the D's3", "Torello's Jive Bugs", Tom Cunningham Ochestra", "King Teddy", "Blue Sky 5", "The Jive Aces", "Phat Cat Swinger", "Harry & the Hightones" and many others are bringing their style of Swing to a new generation. Without a doubt, Swing will continue to be alive and well in the 21st Century.

Big Band & Swing History

The Big Band, Swing and Jazz years of the 1930s & '40s were America's Golden Age of live entertainment. Originally, dozens of touring Big Bands, along with Territory Bands provided live dance music to every corner of the Nation. Ballrooms, hotels, theaters and clubs vibrated to the driving beat of the Big Bands and the skillful Dance moves of "FoxTrotters", "JitterBuggers", "Swing Dancers" and "Zoot Suiters"...

Live Big Band remote broadcasts were beamed from coast to coast. Radio Disc Jockeys played the 78 rpm hits of the Big Bands. Jukeboxes in every malt shop and joint belted out Big Band "Killer Dillers." Big Bands appeared in films, on stage and in their own radio shows...

Big Bands, led by Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Harry James, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, Bob Crosby, Artie Shaw, Charlie Barnet, Jimmie Lunceford, Glen Gray, Les Brown, Gene Krupa and many more were the heart and soul of the fabulous swing era. They thrilled millions...

Now once again, you can experience the fun and excitement of Hot! Swing Music and Dance at the "Big Band Dance Party". New digital remasters of the original Big Band classics, along with the very latest Big Band/Swing Dance/Zoot music of today, will keep you Swinging all night long.

DANCE

During the swing era, most people danced The Foxtrot. The dance was developed in 1914 by vaudeville performer Harry Fox who introduced it in his dance act. The fox trot was a significant development in ballroom dancing as its combination of slow and quick steps provided more flexibility and dancing pleasure than the monotonous steps it replaced.

Teenagers and those of college age during the swing years needed an energetic and athletic dance to match their youthfulness, and the hot jump tunes played by the Big Bands. They danced the Lindy Hop or Jitterbug. It had its origins in the black community and borrowed movements from dances such as the Texas Tommy, Charleston, and Shag. The Lindy Hop was named in honor of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo flight to Paris.

The Lindy Hop's basic step is a syncopated two-step or box-step that accents the off-beat, followed by a breakaway. The Lindy Hop gives plenty of freedom for frantic self-expression and acrobatic moves. It's the perfect vehicle to become a part of the musical excitement and energy of the Big Band Dance Party.