March 8 - 10 2013 ~ Ann Arbor, MI
Born in Ottawa, Canada, Mr. Webster began playing the piano at age 4. He moved to Toronto in 1993 to study jazz piano at University of Toronto. In 2001, while still living in Toronto, he became obsessed with the lindy hop and began traveling to exchanges and camps as both a musician and a dancer. In 2002, Gordon met his wife Katie, a lindy hopper, at Swing Out New Hampshire. In 2004, he moved to New York City to pursue his Masters of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music, where he graduated in 2006.
One of the most active and versatile musicians on the scene, Webster maintains ongoing collaborative relationships with a diverse array of jazz/blues and lindy hop luminaries, and is an associate member of one of the most popular traditional jazz bands on the U.S. lindy hop scene, the Cangelosi Cards.
The jam will last for approximately one hour, and everyone is encouraged to come dance! Give some love to our up and coming musicians!
To give everyone some practice time, Mike has kindly created a set of sheet music. It has been arranged in concert pitch, and is available as a PDF. Click Here to download the music.
A bit of funk, touch of vintage, and a whole lot of love makes for dancing that is mmmmm mmmmm good! From Denver to LA to Seoul, Joe has been spreading the Blues love; always throwing in a few surprises to spice up the night. Along with playing the good stuff, Joe enjoys Thai food, anime and long walks on the beach.
Mike's love of blues and jazz has been obsessive for some time, and once she started running a weekly blues dance out of her home in Atlanta in 2008, she committed herself to the art of DJing. She has since gone on to DJ sets around the country, from Austin to San Fransisco to Boston. She prides herself on providing a variety of styles and eras in each of her sets, and strives to create a sound that is both unique and inspiring; she also aspires to expose people to new music, and to challenge their dancing.
On his travels Aleks has shared his love of dance and music as far away as Shanghai and Dubai. In each spot he finds a few forgotten gems or new originals to bring back home and share. Every set will include songs you'll wish you'd heard before mixed in with familiar favorites.
During his formidable adolescent years, Brennan discovered how his feet do fly to the sound of jazz and blues. As his chest hair grew, so did his musical variety. By this he means, he'll twist your ears with tunes. From his hometown back alley blues in Chi-town all the way to gumbo ditties of New Orleans, Brennan brings the skirts above the knees. So lend your ears and let his experienced fingers--the same from CUBE, Blues Anatomy, Pittstop, the Winter Blues and many more--guide your hat tipping and lady dipping until that sunlight says it's time for breakfast.
Ann Arbor's very own Jeff Meyer has been DJing local swing and blues events since 2009. An avid collector of jazz and blues music, Jeff has filled his library with both vintage and modern. Be it a swing set or a blues set, Jeff strives to play fresh and rare songs that inspire you to dance. Jeff is often helped by his cat Leo who has an excellent sense of what dancers want to hear. Leo can be seen in the photo on Jeff's shoulders double checking one of Jeff's playlists. Together they will be DJing both a swing set and a blues set for you.
Jesse likes acoustic blues with a heart-like beat, gospel that throws her soul in the air with joy, and divas singing dirty lyrics. The occasional Algerian pop song or electronic tango might suggest a slight leaning towards fusion. She's DJed at bunches of Michigan events including KissME, and has DJed as far away as Swing into Spring in South Carolina. Jesse likes to DJ super-late so she can play her melty-est blues songs. Melty like chocolate.