August 1, 2023
Greetings, Friends!
As we turn the page on the calendar to August, we hope that you and yours are having an enjoyable summer thus far, and if you haven’t yet had a chance to catch one of our recent concerts, I am happy to tell you about our last few shows of summer 2023—featuring highlights from our fun and entertaining SWINGIN’ ON HOME! program (described by The Queens Gazette as “a stunning performance by the Swingtime Big Band who entertained the audience with an awe-inspiring musical tribute to the Great American Songbook").
We kick off August on Thursday, August 3 (7:30pm) with our annual ‘homecoming’ concert for the Westhampton Beach Village Green Concert Series, which celebrates our 34th consecutive year performing for Big Band night on the Village Green! We are immensely proud that our band has been THE ONE AND ONLY ensemble featured through all those years (beginning with our original incarnation as The Stardusters Big Band, led by founding director, Bob Rotunda, which debuted in 1972--which means that our band is also celebrating five successful decades of playing this classic American music!). We can’t wait to see all of our fans and friends in WHB (which happens to be our only eastern Suffolk County show this summer!), so please join us at this free performance as we swing under the stars! Click HERE for more details.
Next on the calendar is our eagerly awaited return to one of our most picturesque venues, where we have not played for a few years. On Sunday, August 6 (7pm), we perform for the Morgan Park Summer Music Festival in Glen Cove, NY, which has a breathtaking view, featuring their outdoor amphitheater with Hempstead Bay in the background. Please bring a blanket, chairs and a picnic supper and join us for what promises to be a spectacular evening. Click HERE for more details.
And to put the icing on the cake, we conclude our summer season on Thursday, August 10 (8pm), with Swingtime’s annual concert at Eisenhower Park’s Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre in East Meadow, presented by our friends at Nassau County Parks. Some of you may have read that Boys II Men recently drew a record crowd of 40,000 people at this world class outdoor venue, and we would like to try to equal that record, so please spread the word!! There is plentiful parking available (in Fields 6 and 6A), and lots of room to spread your blankets, so phone the kids and wake the neighbors and come join us as we make it a grand night for swinging! Click HERE for more details.
As mentioned above, these shows feature highlights from our new SWINGIN’ ON HOME! program, featuring hits from the Great American Songbook focused on the concept of ‘Home.’ We’ll be “Flyin’ Home” with the music of Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Harry James, and Gene Krupa, and our engaging vocalists, Bobbie Ruth and Zack Alexander, will salute such ionic singers as Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, and the immortal Frank Sinatra.
We’ll have more news in our next newsletter about our upcoming shows after that, but in the meantime, you can always check out the schedule page on our website.
We hope to see you soon at one of these upcoming shows, and let me also invite you to please come say hello at intermission or afterwards (and be sure to check out our ‘merch table’ where you can acquire some Swingtime ‘swag’ to take home with you!). In the meantime, we wish you a cool, safe, and pleasant summer!
Swingingly yours,
