Eighteen musicians, four sections, and a library of the real thing — the preservation, development, and presentation of big band music, played live in Dayton every month.
Two Tuesdays with the full eighteen-piece band, and a Monday with the Dancetet playing for dancers. No dress code, nothing to print, and every date open to anyone who turns up.
First
Tuesday
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Hidden Gem Music Club
507 Miamisburg Centerville Rd
Centerville, OH 45459
$10 cover. A listening room with a bar and a proper stage — two full sets, seated, in a space built for live music.
Second
Monday
7:00 PM
Milton Athletic Club
640 Cosler Dr
Dayton, OH 45403
$5 for non-members. Open to everyone. The six-piece playing for dancing — swing, foxtrot, mambo, waltz and salsa, from its own book.
Third
Tuesday
7:00 PM
Central Christian Church
1200 Forrer Blvd
Kettering, OH 45420
$5 or a non-perishable food item — suggested, not required. Nobody gets turned away. What does come in goes to the church food pantry. Complimentary refreshments at intermission.
A big band is not a large combo — it is four distinct voices that answer one another. This is how the stage is laid out, back row to front.
Eighteen on the stand — nineteen when Ken Taylor picks up his horn, and he sings too
Six pieces, its own book, and a different job: this is the group that plays for people who came to dance. Swing, foxtrot, mambo, waltz and salsa — music with a floor in mind rather than a stage.
Second Mondays at the Milton Athletic Club, and available for hire.
Players: we're a community band, and we're glad to hear from subs and new players when a chair opens up. Same contact as bookings.
The third Tuesday is home. The rest of the year takes the band across the Miami Valley — outdoors in summer, indoors the rest of the time.
First Tuesdays, 7–9 PM. A real listening room with a stage and a bar, behind the Submarine House on Miamisburg Centerville Road.
Third Tuesdays, 7:00 PM. The monthly concert series, benefiting the church food pantry.
The Summer Music Series — free, outdoors, sunset over the Great Miami River, with swing dance lessons at intermission.
Free concerts on the downtown lawn, open to everybody, no ticket required.
Swing dances, community festivals, anniversaries, receptions and corporate evenings across the Miami Valley.
Concerts, swing dances, festivals, receptions and corporate events. The eighteen-piece band and the six-piece Dancetet both take bookings, and anything in between can be put together to suit the room — with the book shaped to the night.
All you need to provide is enough room for the band — whether that's a trio in a corner or all eighteen. We travel up to 200 miles from Dayton, and there's no kind of date we won't consider.
Tell us the date, the room and roughly how long you want music, and Ken will take it from there.
