MUSIC

As part of the Great Southwest Lindyfest 2010, the Houston Swing Dance Society presents Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, featuring Hilary Alexander.

Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, featuring Hilary Alexander is a septet dedicated to preserving the classic and often overlooked small group swing from the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Founded by two dedicated swing dancers, the Campus Five was a way to expose many dancers and listeners alike to some of the more interesting and under appreciated tunes from the swing era, while still being the most danceable band playing swing today. The Campus Five picks tunes from the books of notable small groups as the Benny Goodman Sextet, Count Basie’s Kansas City Six/Seven, Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five, as well as the small groups of Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet, Cootie Williams, Django Reinhardt, Duke Ellington, and Coleman Hawkins, and features vocal numbers from Ella Mae Morse, Anita O’Day, Peggy Lee and the young Ella Fitzgerald.

The Campus Five have released two albums, 2003's "Jammin' the Blues" and 2004's "Crazy Rhythm." Both records sold out of their initial runs, but are now in stock again. Both records feature 21 tunes, over 70 minutes of music, all of which is danceable - in fact, swing dance teachers all over the world use our CD's in their dance lessons. Due to popular demand, our third record, "Moppin' and Boppin'" was released in 2007 and available now.

The Campus Five has traveled the world to play to eager swing dancers. We have played at the London Balboa Festival (UK), Hawaii Lindy Exchange (Honolulu), the San Francisco Balboa Festival, DCLX (Washington, DC), and two years running at the All Balboa Festival (Cleveland). The Campus Five has played at jazz festivals, such as the Sweet and Hot Jazz Festival and the OC Classic Jazz Festival, and many municipal festivals, such as the Culver City Music Festival, the Ventura Music Festival, the Ventura Lemon Festival, and the Lake Gregory Summer Concert Series. The Campus Five was featured on an episode of the Ellen Degeneres Show, which aired 2/14/05.

Jonathan Stout and His Campus Five, featuring Hilary Alexander will perform Friday, March 12th and Saturday, March 13th in conjunction with the Houston Swing Dance Society's Great Southwest Lindyfest Lindy Hop workshop. Friday and Saturday evenings will also have Lindy Hop exhibitions by internationally renowned dancers.

General audiences are welcomed and encouraged to attend.