Big Band Jazz is alive and doing quite well in the Puget Sound region with Jim Kerl's 17-piece group, Swing Session. This band features some of the best talent the area has to offer, and with featured vocalists Joey Jewell and Trish Hatley, Swing Session is a swinging, exciting musical experience. The music of Swing Session mirrors the philosophy of its bandleader, Jim Kerl; accessible melodies that swing hard and leave the audience and band wanting more. To paraphrase the great Count Basie, "..it don't mean a thing if you can't pat your foot to it."

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Swing Session's library includes the great charts of the 40's up to the music of today's top contemporary big band jazz writers. Original compositions and arrangements by nationally recognized writers Tom Kubis and Bill Liston, as well as the band's own by Dan Rupert and Pat Thompson, give the band a unique book of great big band music. The band features some truly gifted jazz soloists as well; Clark Gibson and Ted Dortch on saxes, Brad Smith on trumpet, Dan Haeck on trombone, with a stellar rhythm section anchored by Ken French on drums, and the soaring lead trumpet of Ted Bowden.

The band performs at jazz festivals, parks concerts, private functions, and jazz clubs and is a favorite of audiences throughout the region.