Featuring American Idol season 3 finalist John Stevens, this band strives to bring big band swing music into the 21st century.  This band is also featured in “My Best Friends Girl” starring Kate Hudson & Dane Cool

The 18-piece Beantown Swing Orchestra represents the future of big band swing. Although we do honor the tradition by studying and performing the Swing Era classics, our primary mission is to contribute to the evolution of this timeless genre by incorporating innovative and progressive elements to the music and bringing it into the 21st century. We are a vibrant band whose members are in tune with the trends of modern music and are rooted in the fundamentals of jazz and swing. Almost all of us are in our twenties and consist of a highly skilled arranger/composer, four extremely talented vocalists, and seventeen top-notch instrumentalists. Working and performing together, the band actually functions more like a team, well-equipped and prepared to take on the challenges of presenting this music for current and future generations to enjoy.

The only configuration we offer is the standard 18-piece band, which is the only way to achieve the true big band sound. For space, we can comfortably fit into an area of 24′x16′, although 20′x15′ is also doable if space is tight.

Big band swing is one of the most sophisticated forms of American music ever created. Unlike a classical orchestra where many instrumentalists play the same part, each of our seventeen instrumentalists' parts are unique and when integrated into the ensemble results in the distinct big band sound recognized by generations worldwide. That's one of the reasons why it remains a classic even today - there is so much involved with the music that you can listen to it over and over and still hear something new each time. Four trumpets and four trombones engaged in a call-and-response with the five saxophones is one of the most recognizable patterns in swing and originated from the work songs of black slaves in early America. Each of these three horn sections plays four-part harmonies which make up the complex chord structures characteristic of this genre. For example, while most modern songs consist of just three simple chords, just the eight-bar intro to our original arrangement of "The Trolley Song" has eighteen jazz chords. This exemplifies our attempt to reverse the trend over the past few decades of dumbing down popular music to appeal to the masses. We feel that the general public is capable of understanding and appreciating music that is more complex, and they deserve a chance to hear and experience it in a modern context.

While the horns provide dynamics and lyricism, the rhythm section forms the backbone to support them. The piano's comping reinforces the chords outlined by the horns, while the upright bass provides both rhythmic and harmonic support as is most apparent in its walking bass line. The acoustic archtop guitar functions mainly as a rhythm instrument, establishing and maintaining the beat which is highly critical for the band to develop a proper swing feel. This takes some of the timekeeping burden off the drummer, so that he can concentrate on embellishing the music with exciting and artistic fills and hits.

Vocalists
Although instrumental songs can hold their own in big band swing, the music would not be complete without vocalists. Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra got their start with big bands while in their teens, and we continue that paradigm with 24-year-old John Stevens, who appeared on American Idol as a finalist at the age of sixteen, singing in the big band style and showcasing his ability to connect with a wide audience. Eight years and a world of experience later, John is the ideal musician for performing and promoting the music that he loves through the Beantown Swing Orchestra. Complementing John are three female vocalists, each of whom has a distinctive sound and style. Twenty-five-year-old Jen Hirsh is a versatile singer with a sweet and lyrical voice as well as an amazing swing feel and sense of pitch. Since joining the band during our first year in 2006, Jen has appeared on American Idol as a Hollywood contestant in Season 9 after passing her audition with an a cappella jazz rendition of "Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead." Twenty-seven-year-old Laura Brunner, also one of our original vocalists, recently rejoined the band and has the vocal power, tonal quality, and jazz styling of Ella Fitzgerald. Finally, 27-year-old singer Micha Goolsby doubles as a songwriter for the band. Her clever and thought-provoking lyrics are perfectly suited to the storytelling style that this musical genre enables and encourages.

Arranger
The key to integrating these individual musical components into a cohesive whole lies in the arranging and composing skills of 26-year-old Danny Fratina. Influenced by such prominent big band arrangers as Billy May, Nelson Riddle, and Duke Ellington, Danny transforms well-known standards and original songs into unique big band showpieces. His arrangements are custom tailored to accentuate our vocalists' and instrumentalists' strengths and bring out the best in them. This stems from the working experience of having arranged hundreds of charts for us over the past four years.