Swing Junction to perform Oct. 14 at Bethany Blues
Though swing music is no longer mainstream, Bethany Blues will create a one-night Swing Revival Saturday, Oct. 14, during the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival. Swing Junction…It's a Swing Thing will re-create the music of the best swing bands including classic songs fromthe Great American Songbook and songs from the newer neo-swing movement (Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brian Setzer and Royal Crown Revue).
Swing Junction is a seven-piece band that includes trumpet, sax (alto, tenor and bass) and three rhythm section members (piano, bass, drums). All the players have a strong connection to the Cape Henlopen School District.
Leading the musicians will be Cody Leavel, who has just spent four years touring with the Count Basie Big Band; he is also a Cape Henlopen High School graduate. Kevin Van Syckel is a longtime sax player from the Dover area. He has been the school band instrument road salesman and manager for B&B Music and a sax teacher for many of the area's finest players. Rob Barbarita, former Cape Henelopen High School band director and currently music director at Beacon Middle School in Rehoboth will be on sax. Completing the horn section will be trumpet player Craig Striet. Originally from Philadelphia and son of Philadelphia Big Band legend/leader Al Raymond, Craig has decades of experience playing in swing dance bands.
Joining them will be Jennifer Barbarita on piano. She holds bachelor’s and master’s arts degrees in classical and jazz piano, and currently plays in the Delmarva Big Band. George Freeman will be on bass and is from Philadelphia, Pa. He is currently working on a doctorate in bass performance at Shenandoah University. The drum duties will be filled by Ken Schleifer, a recently retired music teacher for both the Indian River and Cape Henelopen school districts. He has previously toured with many well-known groups.
The performance kicks off at 8 p.m. There will be no cover charge for this program, and seating is not reserved. For more information, contact Bethany Blues in Lewes at 302-644-2500 or email Sydney Arzt at artsinfo.sydney@gmail.com.
