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| SwingSet Quintet's "Blue York" The jazz group, SwingSet Quintet, is a mixture of southern blues and classic jazz. The quintet, which began several years ago in Jacksonville, Florida, has opened up for such notables as Nat Adderley and Sam Rivers. Deeply rooted in blues and swing, SwingSet pays homage to the past, but deludes their hopes, disillusionments and dreams in new and exciting ways. The quintet has taken from the golden age its melancholy, its blue mood, as it were, that seems fitting in today's uncertain world. SwingSet Quintet is aligned with musicians such as Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong alluding to them as a reference, but recreating from the past. Drummer Robert Rucker and tenor saxophonist Alex Mincek formed the band, tapping the talents from the University of North Florida and Florida A&M University noted for their music departments. Besides Rucker and Mincek, quintet members are trombonist Vince Gardner, pianist Roy Dunlap and bassist Greg Williams. Gardner has toured with the Mercer Ellington Orchestra, Count Basie Orchestra, Marcus Roberts, Frank Foster, and currently the Lincoln Center Orchestra. Williams has toured with Wynton Marsalis and Elvin Jones. Rucker has toured with Wycliff Gordon and appears on Wynton Marsalis's “Amongst the People" Live at the House of Tribes on Blue Note Records. Mincek has performed and toured with Marcus Printup, Wynton Marsalis and Phillip Harper. Dunlap has toured and performed with Wessell Anderson, Branford Marsalis and Doug Wamble. SwingSet was the one of the highlights of the Jacksonville Jazz Festival following its debut at Birdland in Manhattan. In 2006, SwingSet released its second CD, Blue York, featuring special guest Wynton Marsalis. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |