Free Swing! @ Paseo Colorado 11-29 July (Fridays)

I never get there in time to save a table for my friends and usually don’t even get to sit down. But when the music’s playing, why sit! Get up and dance.

Fridays, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Garfield Plaza. Go see a movie and cool off afterward.

Friday, July 11: Pete Jacobs Quintet

Friday, July 18: Mora’s Modern Swingtet

Friday, July 25: Eddie Nichols and his Rockin’ Revue

Friday, August 1: Flat Top Tom

Friday, August 8: Stompy Jones

Friday, August 15 Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys

Friday, August 22 Jonathon Stout and his Campus Five

Friday, August 29 Jumpin’ Joz

Destination Burbank: Free Swing 10-31 July

I know that Burbank isn’t really San Gabriel Valley, but Pasadena’s own Francisco and Stacey, owners of The Dance Family Studio, will be leading the free dance lessons at 6 p.m. on the AMC Walkway (at Palm Ave. and San Fernando Blvd. in downtown Burbank starting on July 10 (Thursday).

I’ve had classes with them when they lead the One Colorado free lessons and their lessons are low-key and fun.

From 7:00 p.m., the two-hour concert begins. Live music and dancing with no cover charge. What could be better than that? Presented by Downtown Burbank Partnership. The series is sponsored in part by the Burbank Collection.

SWING AND SWAY IN JULY

July 10 High Street

A high-energy 10-piece show band, High Street’s repertoire includes cover songs and originals in a mixture of swing, blues, R & B, Latin and ballads. The band’s high-voltage shows and interaction with audiences have made them favorites wherever they go. Whether it’s for 50 or 50,000 people, a High Street performance is always a party…and you’re invited!

July 17 Barbara Morrison

Often compared with Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James, Barbara Morrison has a way of making every song her own with her consummate style and infectious personality. She’s a red-hot vocalist with a delicious sense of swing. When she gets up before her quintet, you’ll leap to your feet and head for the dance floor.

July 24 The Wise Guys

This East LA-based big band features a screamin’ horn line, two talented vocalists and a roaring rhythm section. Their repertoire includes the swinging vocal tunes of Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darrin and Peggy Lee, big band favorites from Glenn Miller, Perez Prado, Count Basie and Buddy Rich as well as classic mambos and cumbias.

July 31 Swing Syndicate

With vintage instruments and wardrobe, this seven-piece band fuses stompin’ swing, jump blues and jazz styles with rockabilly. You’ll love their original compositions as well as their cover tunes of Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima, Brian Setzer and Duke Ellington.

Downtown Burbank comprises 34 blocks of retail, office, residential and entertainment destinations and includes more than 200 shops and 80 restaurants such as Macy’s, IKEA, PF Chang’s, Urban Outfitters, AMC-16 and Burbank Town Center. The area is bounded by Verdugo Avenue, Glenoaks, Burbank Boulevard and the I-5 in Burbank, Calif., and contains more than 9,000 parking spaces. Dubbed “one of Southern California’s most appealing urban centers” by Sunset Magazine, the district is managed by Downtown Burbank Partnership, a California nonprofit mutual benefit corporation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:the public is asked to please call 818.238.5180.

Free Swing Dance&Concert: Chinatown!

Swing Dance because swing is as Chinese as chop suey?

I’m not sure of the reasoning, but what could be better than Chinese noodles after sweating, hopping and jumping to big band sounds? It’s all about New Chinatown (which I thought was in Monterey Park but that’s a minor quibble when you put the word free anywhere).
Saturday June 28
FREE 7pm-11pm
at Chinatown Plaza featuring Live Swing Music with the Jonathon Stout Swing Band

Free Admission and Swing Dancing

Chinatown celebrates the 70th anniversary of “New Chinatown.”
at Central Plaza enjoy 1940’s style big band music and dancing, cocktails from the era, a video montage of the many movies shot in Chinatown, and a narrated video presentation of historic photos. A “Best Costume Contest” will be held to judge those who choose to come in 1930’s or 1940’s attire. Other entertainment will feature Chinese martial artists, lion dancers, and book-signings and readings by authors whose books celebrate Chinatown history.

951 N. Broadway Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
Parking around the area is plentiful, and the festival is also easily accessed via Metro Gold Line rail from the Chinatown Station.

The event will be kicked off with the re-dedication of one of the original plaques—recently discovered buried in storage—and an original replica on which is inscribed the words “Dedicated to the Chinese Pioneers Who Participated in the Constructive History of California.” This plaque was originally dedicated by California Governor Frank Merriam on June 25, 1938. The Governor was joined by a host of local dignitaries including Los Angeles Mayor F.L. Shaw, Republic of China Consul T.K. Chang, Princess Der Ling of China, actress Anna May Wong, and artist Tyrus Wong. In Governor Merriam’s words, New Chinatown “represented a monument to those Chinese who played such an important role in building the West and a lasting evidence of American Chinese amity.”

“New Chinatown” was an enclave of restaurants, shops, offices, and residences, which replaced an older settlement which had been displaced by the construction of Union Station. “New Chinatown” was billed as the first modern American Chinatown owned and planned from the ground up by Chinese. Today, “New Chinatown” is known as Central Plaza and is home to old and new establishments including curio shops, restaurants, bars, art galleries, and Chinatown’s trendiest boutiques.

The plaza that was dedicated seventy years ago became the heart of a much larger Chinatown, and today forms the backbone of a vibrant and expansive Southern California Chinese American community.

The 70th Anniversary of New Chinatown is presented by the L.A. Chinatown Business Improvement District with cooperation from the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, the Chinese American Museum, the L.A. Chinatown Corporation, and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles.