If you would still like to purchase a full weekend pass, then you can purchase them from the BIX representatives at the Thursday night dance at Blues Union or up until 11pm at the main Friday night dance at the Crosby Whistle Stop. Payment of $85 will be accept in cash or check only at the dances.

Any questions or concerns, please email us at info@dancebix.com.

Want to know what to wear? Check out the Themes tab.

Want to know which bands are going to be providing the fabulous tunes? Check out the Music tab.

We are also updating the precise details of the schedule, as they get finalized. Keep checking back for more!

Photo Courtesy of The Fried Bananas

The Fried Bananas

www.thefriedbananas.com
The Fried Bananas was created with the goal of providing music for swing dancers and plays a mix of blues, swing, and gypsy jazz. The majority of the members live in Boston though Josh lives in Albany and Jeramie lives in DC.

Shawn Hershey put the Fried Bananas together in December of 2006 to play at a Lindy Hop house party for his girlfriend’s 30th birthday party. Josh and Jeramie, lindy hopping friends, came from Albany and Washington DC to dance and to play. Our friends Steve and Ben, both Boston locals, also donated their services. Anna Callahan, also a local swing dancer and musician, joined the band to perform at a Blues Cafe dance. Jim Frey plays with the Fried Bananas when Jeramie can’t make it up from DC to join them.

Photo Courtesy of The Rusty Scott Quartet

The Rusty Scott Trio

www.rustyjazz.com
The Rusty Scott Quartet has been together since 1995 and has been one of Boston’s premier “Straight-ahead” Jazz bands, having been nominated for a Boston Music Award for Best Jazz Band. They are often described as having that “Blue Note” sound and play original compositions and Jazz standards with an emphasis on combining their diverse experiences into one creative and swinging sound while always keeping a healthy respect for the tradition of jazz.

The Group has played at numerous festivals and clubs throughout New England and New York; including, The Regattabar, Ryles, The Hatch Shell, and Wally’s Café to name just a few. In addition to their healthy schedule of recording and club work, the Rusty Scott Quartet is regularly featured on New England radio stations such as WMBR, WHRB, WGBH and WERS in Boston.

Members of the band, having been schooled at Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory / Thelonius Monk Institute, have all played nationally and internationally including appearances with the likes of Danilo Perez, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Heath, Jackie McLean, Wayne Shorter, T.S. Monk, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and James Moody, Bill Pierce, Yoron Israel, Robin Kenyatta, Slide Hampton, John Faddis, and Arturo Sandoval.

In addition to their healthy schedule of recording and club work, the Rusty Scott Quartet are regularly featured on New England radio stations such as WMBR, WHRB, WGBH and WERS in Boston.

Their second CD release Short Bread was feted on September 7, 2000 with a packed house at the Regattabar in Cambridge, Mass.

Photo Courtesy of The Boilermaker Jazz Band

The Boilermaker Jazz Band

www.boilermakerjazzband.com
The Boilermaker Jazz Band is an ecstatically fun band performing authentic hot jazz and swing. The group has a wide repertoire that can make an audience swing to a classic jazz standard, get sentimental over an old-time ballad, boogie to a hot jump tune, or get low-down with a gritty blues. From concert halls to dances, festivals to family parties, listeners and dancers agree — with their infectious beat and enthusiasm this band can make any crowd move!

Leading the Boilermaker Jazz Band on clarinet and vocals is Paul Cosentino, a full time bandleader/performer who founded the band in 1988 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He is constantly searching for new and original tunes to add to the band’s classic jazz repertoire — you’ll hear something different every time! Paul plays an antique Albert system clarinet giving him a wonderfully distinctive sound.

The band also features fabulous female singer Jennie Luvv who will thrill you with her smooth and sultry vocal stylings. From bar room ballads and not-so-standard standards to hot and bubblin’ swing, Jennie’s performances add a touch of sophistication to the Boilermaker ensemble.

The Boilermaker Jazz Band has performed at major festivals, concert halls, ballrooms, colleges, and clubs throughout the world- including Lincoln Center in New York City, The Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland, and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. See the complete list.

Everywhere they go, they deliver the good feelings that real jumpin’ jazz can create. Paul and the Boilermakers have recorded six critically acclaimed CD’s and have received rave reviews for their excellent live performances. The Boilermakers have been featured on radio shows across the country and overseas, including a National Public Radio Jazz Series that was broadcast on over 50 stations.

The Boilermaker Jazz Band performs for festivals, concerts, clubs, dances, seminars, corporate events, weddings, and parties of any kind. We also offer dynamic, informative school and children’s programs and specialized “theme” performances — just ask!

The band is available in a variety of formations to suit your needs and budget — including: solo piano, duo, trio, quartet, 5-piece, 6-piece, and full 7-piece bands.

Photo Courtesy of Solomon Douglas

The Solomon Douglas Trio:

www.solomondouglas.com
Solomon Douglas is a jazz pianist and bandleader, whose various bands have played at more than fifty exchanges, camps, workshops, and other events in North America, Asia, and Australia in the past ten years. His experience as a swing dancer and dance instructor gives him an understanding unique among musicians of the music that swing dancers and blues dancers like to dance to! His influences as a pianist include Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Gene Harris, Count Basie, and Thelonious Monk. His small groups play a mixture of musical styles including blues, old-school swing, and groovy mainstream swinging jazz with tinges of bop and soul-jazz.

Photo Courtesy of Baby Soda

Baby Soda

www.babysoda.org
Baby Soda! Developed by hoboes, perfected through science… Baby Soda is on the cutting edge of a new movement loosely known as street jazz; with an eclectic set of influences ranging from 30’s era swing, New Orleans jazz, and southern gospel. The ensemble doesn’t desire to recreate the past, rather they bring the concept and joy of the music to the present. Baby Soda is an adaptable and ever changing group made up of New York’s finest musicians; featuring trumpet, trombone, clarinet, drums, banjo and the unique one string box bass. The band has performed at some of New York’s finest venues such as The Village Vanguard, Barbes, The Knitting Factory and the Jalopy Theater. In addition to their busy schedule of club dates, Baby Soda loves performing on the street and in the subway. This allows them to hone their skills and bring the music directly to the people. Both Pediatrics and Geriatrics agree, Baby Soda is the sure cure for the aches and pains of the modern world!

Blues Union:
www.bluesunionboston.com
Blues Union was created out of a desire to encourage, teach, and improve blues dancers in our community, while providing a weekly blues dance venue in Boston. At Blues Union, the focus is on providing quality blues music and lessons to improve and grow the Boston blues dancing scene. Blues Union also strives to be more than just another lesson and dance venue. Here you will find a community of dancers who are committed to constantly improving themselves and their students. Dances are held every Thursday in the beautiful Dance Union studio in Union Square.

Boston Swing Central:
www.bostonswingcentral.org
Boston Swing Central is a dancer-formed, volunteer-run organization dedicated to promoting positive and fun swing dancing experiences in Boston. Each Friday dancers join in for a fabulous evening of dancing and music from some of the best DJ’s and bands around. Each dance starts out with a free lesson beforehand and dancing goes till midnight.

Blues Cafe:
www.bluescafeboston.com
Join MJ&J on the fourth Saturday of most months for Blues Cafe! This event features themed music nights, where you can dance to blues, soul, Dixieland jazz, and more. All dancers welcome: Lindy Hoppers, blues dancers, Chicago steppers, and more!  No experience or partner required.  Snacks are included in the admission price.  Beginner lesson starts at 8pm. Blues Cafe embraces the eclectic influences that have led to the development and resurgence of swing dance —from their earliest roots in West Africa to the blues, boogie-woogie, and gospel forms, and slow, one-step dances like the Grizzly Bear, to the Charleston and the Lindy Hop. Come dance it all, old and new alike!

Uptown Swing Dance:
www.hoptothebeat.com/dances.html
Uptown Swing Dance run by Hop to the Beat Dance Studio runs a monthly dance the third Saturday of each at Brookline Tai Chi. Each dance features some of the best live bands in the area with a lesson beforehand. The atmosphere is always fun and friendly with people of all levels attending. Beginners are very welcome and you do not need to come with a partner! There is a lesson 8:15-9:00pm which starts with basics for beginners and about the last 15 minutes will include a different intermediate move each month. Then live & DJ music for dancing 9:00pm-Midnight.

We would like to thank the following sponsors for their delectable contributions to our fabulous weekend:

www.foodshouldtastegood.com

www.larabar.com

www.boloco.com

www.immaculatebaking.com

Please feel free to visit their websites often.

Thursday: Get the weekend started early at Blues Union with some great DJ’s spinning some tunes that make you want to move your feet.

When – 9pm-12pm
Lessons – 7:30pm-9pm ($5, not included in weekend pass)
DJs – Alex Abdoualev, Julie Brown and John Brooks
Where – Blues Union

Friday: Boston Swing Central will be kicking things off with the Black and White themed main dance at their brand new venue, the Crosby Whistle Stop in Charlestown, with music provided by The Fried Bananas. Then we bring back the color for our Vaudeville themed late night dance as we move over to the fabulous Springstep in Medford and enjoy the wonderful music of the Rusty Scott Trio.

Main Dance:
When – 8pm-12am
Lesson – 8pm-9pm
Band – The Fried Bananas
Host – Boston Swing Central
Where – Crosby Whistle Stop
Theme – Black and White

Late Night:
When – 12:30am-4am
Band – The Rusty Scott Trio
Host – Boston Swing Central
Where – Spring Step
Theme – Vaudeville

Saturday Afternoon: Join us on Saturday afternoon for a circus playtime picnic on Boston Common (3pm- 6pm) – come hang out, learn, or show off your skills, with slack lines, poi, unicycles, juggling, bellydancing, contact juggling, and anything else we can come up with!

Also this just in! Get geared up for BIX’s circus skills picnic by heading over to historic Faneuil Hall to see Boston’s annual Street Performer Festival! It starts Saturday morning at 11am. While you’re there, grab lunch next door at the awesome Quincy Market where there are dozens of food booths to choose from… Indian, clam chowder, burgers, Greek/Mediterranean, pastries – whatever you’re in the mood for!

Circus Playtime/Picnic:
When – 3pm-6pm
Where – Boston Common

Saturday Evening: If eight hours on Friday night wasn’t enough for you, then come back to Springstep for two more bands and another eight straight hours of dancing, hosted by Blues Cafe. Mystery and intrigue fills the air at our main dance, along with the sounds of The Boilermaker Jazz Band, as our Masque theme makes old and familiar seem new and exciting. Then let loose to the tunes of The Solomon Douglas Trio at our Burlesque themed late night. Please note that at the door pricing for Saturday night will be one price ($30) for both the main dance and late night. There is no option to pay for one or the other.

Main Dance:
When – 8pm-1am
Lesson – 8pm-9pm
Band – The Boilermaker Jazz Band
Where – Spring Step
Host – Blues Cafe
Theme – Masquerade

Late Night:
When – 1am-4am
Band – The Solomon Douglas Trio
Where – Spring Step
Host – Blues Cafe
Theme – Vaudeville

Sunday Afternoon: Come enjoy some scenic views and sunny skies at an outdoor dance at Piers Park in East Boston.

Picnic/Dancing:
When – 2pm-5pm
DJ – Mike Hibarger
Where – Piers Park

Sunday Evening: Our Sideshow theme causes things to take a turn for the weird and the wacky as Uptown Swing hosts the Baby Soda Jazz Band at Brookline Tai Chi.

When – 8pm-12am
Band – Baby Soda
Where – Brookline Tai Chi
Host – Uptown Swing
Theme – Sideshow

Monday Morning: The return of Monday morning waffles and movies!

Waffles and movies will be from 11-3:30pm at Tim and Khrysti’s house (cost is $5 for non-registrants to cover food and supplies). Three floors, three kitchens, three living rooms with great movies, AND our awesome backyard with a huge grapevine arbor, hammock, and chickens! Waffles, movies, and paper/plasticware will be provided. Contributions of any of the following would be hugely appreciated:
Bacon, Eggs, Beverages (juice, milk, coffee) and Fruit

A full movie schedule will be available soon, but expect classics like Star Wars, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Willow, Animal House, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc. and a few more recent gems as well!

When – 11am-3:30pm
Where – Tim and Khrysti’s house, 20 Cedar Street, Somerville, MA 02143 (please come round to the back yard/door)

Monday Evening: We’ll be closing up the weekend with an End-of-Event Pajama Party at STOMP in Arlington! We’ll be rockin’ the joint with a slammin’ lindy room upstairs and a sultry blues room downstairs. If you’re not registered for the weekend, at the door cost will be $5 so throw on your PJs (or just leave them on if you spent all day playing video games) and come on over and take the opportunity to squeeze in one last dance with old friends and new.

When – 8:30pm-11pm
DJs – Upstairs: TBA, Downstairs: Tim Lewandowski and Khrysti Smyth
Where – Episcopal Church of Our Savior (21 Marathon Street, Arlington, MA)
Host – STOMP
Theme – Pajama Party

Interested in joining in the fun of BIX but unable to attend the entire weekend? Don’t let that stop you. All the dances are open to the public with payment at the door. The two dances on Friday night can be paid for individually, but Saturday night is one price for all 8 hours of dancing. Costs are listed on the event page for each venue. Check out their websites for more info.