With the Celebration of American Composers as their theme, the four jazzmen of the Bruce Swaim Quartet shake the Mansion at Strathmore tonight playing classics from the American Songbook and adding a dollop of their own American originals to the mix. “We’ll be covering tunes by Jerome Kern, Oscar Levant, Oscar Hammerstein; people like that,” explained Swaim, the tenor saxophonist of the group recognized as one of the District’s premier jazz quartets. “We’re actually doing our arrangement of a Stevie Wonder tune, “Bird of Beauty.” It makes for a real nice, ‘up’ Latin-like flavor.”
In addition to Swaim, the quartet features Paul Langosch on bass. His credits include working with Tony Bennett for more than 20 years as a permanent member of his trio. Drummer Dominic Smith, with a degree in jazz performance, has worked with the likes of Charlie Byrd, Phil Woods and Buster Williams, among others. Finally, at the piano, Jay Cooley is also an accomplished composer working extensively with the quartet doing many of his original works.
| Onstage |
| Bruce Swaim Quartet |
| » Where: The Mansion at the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| » When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday |
| » Info: $30 general admission; 301-581-5100; strathmore.org |
With three albums to their credit, “Lucky Strikes,” “Winter’s Waltz” and “My Heart Stood Still,” the quartet has cemented their place alongside Washington’s top jazz groups. An article in JazzTimes magazine praises the foursome noting, “They display a chemistry that comes out naturally. Each musician connects with the others on a plane that is intangible to the audience, which makes the Bruce Swaim Quartet music conducive to the jazz club experience.”
Little wonder, then, that the group always looks forward to a Mansion show, a venue they have played many times, one that Swaim calls “an intimate setting [where] everybody is right there and a little more immediate than other settings.”
In Thursday’s performance, where they plan to do two original pieces during the course of the show, Swaim will be talking between the tunes of the jazz greats, so people have an idea of what they will be experiencing.
“A lot of people that come out for [shows] like this are sophisticated people with sophisticated tastes. They really do pay attention and know what they’re listening to. It’s a pleasure to play for informed and sophisticated audiences.”
