Gualala Arts Jazz Series, in association with Fred Adler KTDE (100.5 FM), presents: An Evening with City Swing Dancing and Listening Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Gualala Arts Center Doors open at 7:00 p.m.

Gualala Arts Jazz Series in association with Fred Adler, KTDE 100.5 FM, presents "An Evening with City Swing" at Gualala Arts Center's Coleman Ballroom on Saturday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m.; doors open at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $30 advance and include hors d'oeuvres. Tickets are $5 more the day of event, if available. A no-host micro brew, wine and martini bar will be available. Bring your dancin' shoes!

Since 1984, City Swing, an 18-piece big band, has dazzled audiences and dancers by bringing to life the sounds of big band jazz. City Swing has cherry picked the best charts from the books of swing era greats like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Glen Miller.

Conducted by featured trumpet soloist Bradley Connlain, City Swing's two decades of credits include performances at Herbst Theater, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Beaux Arts Ball, the Galleria, the Fashion Center, Marines Memorial Club, the Miyako, the Meridien, the Presidio Officers' Club, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and countless other ballrooms, street fairs, private parties and events held in and around the Bay Area. Along with a calendar of regular dance and fundraising events, City Swing has performed for a wide array of special invitation events.

In 1986, the band was honored to be declared the City of San Francisco's "Goodwill Ambassadors" to the '86 World Expo in Vancouver, B.C., by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In 1988, City Swing performed at City Hall for the Mayor's Inaugural Ball, and in 2000, City Swing was flown to Palm Springs as the centerpiece of a gala benefit for the AIDS Assistance Program. In 2001, City Swing performed on the top deck of the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, providing WWII-era music for this National Liberty Ship Memorial on its annual Fleet Week cruise on the Bay. In 2005, City Swing performed as the house band for the Imperial Court of San Francisco's 40th Anniversary Ball at the Gift Center Pavilion.

City Swing starts a new chapter in 2007 with jazz singer Joyce Grant. The great-great-niece of famed ragtime composer Scott Joplin, Grant has been singing jazz in Bay Area venues like the Plush Room and the Donatello Hotel for 20 years. A mezzo-soprano with a voice like dark honey, Grant has a performance resumé that includes a wide range of venues including the Empire Plush Room and the Donatello Hotel (9 years) in San Francisco, the Ledson Hotel in Sonoma, Cetrella in Half Moon Bay, the Liberty Hotel in Pittsburg, Slates in Walnut Creek, Joe's of Lafayette, the Woodminster Amphitheater, and the Zingari Ristorante (5 years) in San Francisco.

Born in Texarkana, the town where Scott Joplin was raised, Grant moved to Oakland as a child where she started singing with the North Oakland Baptist Church Youth Choir. Since that time she has earned the respect of singers and musicians alike performing professionally in San Francisco, the East Bay, Walnut Creek, Napa Valley and beyond. Her unique shows consist of a blend of jazz, blues, country western, Rhythm and Blues, and funk. Her vocal interpretations range from sensitive to powerful to cheeky over a broad spectrum of charts.

An Evening with City Swing

Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
at the Gualala Arts Center

It was a swingin' evening!
Hot songs with a lot of cool dancing...

Sponsored by:

La Crema

Lagunitas Brewing Company

Rams Head Realty

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.