The Swing Shift is a big band in the fashion of the big swing bands of the 1930's and 1940's.  Like the bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman, The Swing Shift is made up of 17 pieces and a lady vocalist.  The 17 pieces are 5 saxophones, 4 trombones, 4 trumpets and piano, bass, guitar and drums.  These musicians are highly talented, and some have been members of swing era big bands.

 

The music of The Swing Shift is wide-ranging, from pure jazz like "SING, SING, SING, to cool jazz like "SHORTSTOP" by Shorty Rogers, to "SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE", to Latin material like "MAMBO No.5", to vocals sung by our most engaging vocalist, Jan Nelsen, like "WHY DON'T YOU DO RIGHT" to waltz's like "MOON RIVER".  In short, The Swing Shift provides music for dancing and entertainment for all occasions, celebratory, seasonal, social and even military, e.g. the Military Ball in Santa Barbara.

 

The Swing Shift is available for hire.

 

Our headquarters is in Oxnard, CA, and the band has played in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Kern Counties.  Our charges are quite reasonable and depend to some extent upon how far we have to travel for a gig.