We invite every one to attend Gordon Webster’s Sneak Peek Meet & Greet Pizza Party and Q&A Session on Thursday January 24th at 7:00pm. One of the rewards for Gordon Webster’s Kickstarter Campaign was admittance to this special event. We’re also opening this up to everyone who wants to contribute to this weekend by attending this fundraising event. Gordon and his band will be rehearsing some of the songs that they’ll perform on Thursday and Friday night. Some of them will also be hanging out and you can meet them and talk with them.

To give the evening a little more structure, we’ve asked Gordon and the band to have a Q&A session at 8:00pm.

Here’s a chance to learn more of what Gordon thinks about the dance, jazz music, and get to know Gordon on a more personal level. He’ll also be milling about during part of the evening meeting, greeting and thanking everyone for helping with this campaign.

After the Q&A session, Gordon and the band will entertain us with their live rehearsal. Oh, and there will be pizza! So don’t worry about coming here straight from work…we have some food for you…

7:00pm – 10:30pm(ish)
Admission $15
Advanced tickets available here!

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129

Swing Legacy, a six piece little big band has been a fixture of the Boston swing scene since 1991, playing with the style and informed of the great big bands from the swing era. Their repertoire concentrates on classic big band swing music including many Duke Ellington and Count Basie numbers ideal for Lindy Hop and swing dancing. Much of their great catalog of songs showcases their phenomenal singer, Debby Larkin. It promises to be a night full of exciting original arrangements that will keep you dancing all night long!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners return to this Whistle Stop with their awesome hot jazz charts that are good for your soul! The Easy Winners are just at the beginning of a great Winter line-up…we hope you’ve made your New Year’s resolution to dance more! And come out tonight! And also for Kind of Big Deal Weekend, it’s a kind of a big deal!

Here they are back in March, lighting up our stage with their joyous & blissful version of “Everybody Loves My Baby”…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Boston Swing Central welcomes back, local Diva extraordinaire, Toni Lynn Washington. Toni Lynn rocked the the Crosby Whistle Stop on several occasions last year.   

She does us the honor of playing the first Friday of the brand new year and we are looking forward to a great year filled with some awesome dances. Hearing Toni Lynn’s soulful voice and her deep grooves is sure to warm up the dance floor! She is a local legend, an institution, a master, a treasure, and we’re happy to have her once again!  Not to be missed!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Boston Swing Central is excited to be hosting our third New Year’s Eve Gala in the style of the famous Great Gatsby. We’ve got a great band playing, they played once back for us in April and blew us away with their enthusiasm…this is going to be an exciting New Year’s and our third Great Gatsby Gala…get your tickets today (see below) and stop worrying about where you’re going to be on Dec 31st…you’re going to be with us at the Crosby Whistle Stop!

2013 will also see the release of a new Great Gatsby movie (see the trailer below), directed by Baz Luhrmann, who did the awesome Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge….so that is something to look forward to! As with all Baz Luhrman movies, they can only be described as fantastical!

What is the New Year’s Eve Great Gatsby Gala?…a swing dance party harking back to the roaring 20s!   Vintage black tie dress-up encouraged (but not required)…Charleston and Black Bottom were the dances of the day…There will be a midnight toast (non-alcoholic – true to the prohibition era)…and to top it all off, we’ll have the Recessionals Jazz Band from Brooklyn to provide the soundtrack to ring in 2013.

Tickets available at the door tonight: $30 General admission/ $25 Students and Seniors.

Boston Swing Central at the Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129
Admission: See Above
Time: 8-9pm lesson, General dancing from 9pm to at least 12:30am.

If you’re stuck in town and feeling a little cooped up or just itching to dance, you are in luck! We are open tonight for a special extra night of dancing. Our DJs have survived last week’s End of the World and well, we’re all feeling fine and you should too! Come on out tonight and get some of you’re Holiday ya-ya’s out!

ALSO…..Abby has come up with a DJ Special Request Night!

While Abby’s spinning tunes, you can request anything you want to hear (provided it’s in her library.) The catch? It’ll cost you $1 per request….and all money raised will go into our Kickstarter campaign for the Gordon Webster recording in January. But wait, did one of your friends request a song that you hate? Donate $2 and request that Abby NOT play it. Want to hear your favorite 5 songs all in a row….fork over $5 and there you go. But beware that someone else doesn’t outbid you. The bigger your donation, the higher in the queue goes your request. The request list will be up at the DJ booth. Got it? Good, let’s have some post-holiday fun! 😉

Don’t forget to register for our New Year’s Eve Great Gatsby Gala if you haven’t already and are planning on going…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $8

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Merry Merry Christmas, Happy Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Joyous Kwanzaa, or whatever you might celebrate.   Tonight our DJs aim to give you their best Holiday Swing tunes and general good cheer. As the mercury falls, so falls the snow (or at least we can dream of a White Christmas)…and we’ll need some swing dancing to keep our popsicle toes warmed. This will also help us dance off all of the extra holiday treats and meals we plan on consuming…

Don’t forget to register for our New Year’s Eve Great Gatsby Gala if you haven’t already and are planning on going…also don’t forget that it’s the end of the world, you also might want to register for Kind of a Big Deal as the early bird discount pricing expires on Christmas Day at midnight.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $8

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Frank Shieh and the Beantown Swing Orchestra are back and they’re in a gift giving mood… Tonight Frank and all 17 of his elves in the BSO are filling up their sleigh and our stage with a boatload of Holiday music…on Dasher, on Dancers…on Vixens!

Get ready for Boston Swing Central’s annual Christmas party with Beantown Swing Orchestra!  Check them out at the Crane’s Estate last summer, and those backing vocalists are amazing and um…they look very familiar!

Let’s hope the Bombshells appear for a performance this week…hint hint: Abby Courage, Anna Kathryn Darling, and Sarah Rund!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Have you ever wanted to learn to Lindy Hop but don’t have time to commit to a weekly class?  This is your chance! Our next weekend “crash course” workshop is 3 hours on Sunday Dec 9th, 12:00pm-3:00pm. Come learn from experienced teachers who are also social dancers in the Lindy Hop scene.

We will cover six count basic (East Coast Swing), basic eight count (Lindy Hop), and Charleston Basic. Moves include swing out, Lindy circle, swing out from closed, and side by side Charleston. At the end of this class, you will be able to attend a social dance and dance to music.

Instructors Brian & Kellian will be teaching Swing Boot Camp for the first time! But they’re not unfamiliar as they’ve taught the Friday night lessons fairly regularly for the past 4+ years and also lead the Boston Lindy Bomb Squad on their adventures of dancing in public spaces. They are super fun teachers and we highly recommend you experience one of their classes.

Noon – 3:00pm
$25 advanced on-line registration, $30 at the door (register here.)

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129

The Red Hook Ramblers are back! Brooklyn’s preeminent hot jazz dixieland band, these cats are larger than life characters. They’re engaging live show is as much fun to watch as they are to dance to, from rag-timey roadhouse blues to speakeasy backroom numbers, this band could easily fit right into an episode of Boardwalk Empire.

We thought we’d have them make a December appearance to cap off a great year…check them out here performing the St. Louis Blues at the Whistle Stop:

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Yes, it’s that time of year when thoughts of turkey appear in our heads and a lot of it ends up in our tummies. Tonight we’re going to dance off the previous nights yams and pies (or at least try to). What better way to burn off all those added calories than taking a spin on the dance floor? So if you happen to be in town, come on out and share some camaraderie with those of us who aren’t travelling on this hectic holiday weekend.

Back in the day, Brooke Shields used to swing dance in NY at swing dances much like ours…here she is performing in “Swing” the musical on Thanksgiving during the Macy’s parade…(not sure what year this is from, but probably is from about 8-10 years ago).

Lesson (included in the price of admission):
8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am

General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $8

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Phil McGowan is back with his Easy Winners, sort of…we had the Blue Vipers scheduled but they had a conflict and had to cancel, so we asked our Phil in if he would put his band together and his regular bass player was not available. Not to worry, he’s bringing Peter Ford from Baby Soda! This has the makings for an exciting evening!

This has been a Fall has been filled with alternative lineups and awesome jam sessions. Peter brings his homemade broomstick/washtub bass and vocals back to the Whistle Stop this time not as a bandleader but as guest musician with Phil is the band leader.

We love to see our musicians collaborate and see what they come up with. Expect it to be red hot and swingin’….

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Friday, November 9th we will salute Veteran’s Day and we’d like to say a big Thank You to our Vets (and active service men and women) by throwing a special USO-style swing dance, like they did back during WWII. Though we have no political agenda here at BSC, it seems appropriate to show our respect to those who serve and protect so the rest of us can keep on swingin!

The USO is a private organization that has provided morale and recreational services since 1941. Their first priority has always been supporting America’s troops. USO centers and clubs opened around the world as a “Home Away from Home” for GI’s, and was a place to go for dances and social events.

Bria Skonberg brings her amazing Hot Five back to Boston Swing Central. And after the last several times, we can safely say, this is a band that you never want to miss. Bria is a rising star and a great band leader who can do it all. She can belt it out with the best of ’em, as she notes: “i’m an old jazz man trapped in the body of young woman.”

Bria has spent a lot of time playing with Baby Soda, Glenn Cryzter’s Syncopators, and the Louis Armstrong Centennial Band. An accomplished trumpet player, she’s also an excellent singer, and a A-One band leader…we’re so glad she can assemble this kind of talent and bring her Hot Five back to BSC!

Check out her jaunty and jubilant playing in this video:

Servicemen and women who show up in their Dress Uniforms get in for FREE!
Veterans of WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Desert Storm, Iraq & Afghanistan get in for FREE!
All other veterans and active military (as well as police and fire) personnel get in for $5 off!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Boston Swing Central is excited to be celebrating the release of Skinny Minne, the new live album from Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators! It is also the first time we’ve had the pleasure of Glenn Crytzer gracing our stage! Glenn is one of a new crop of band leaders taking the country by storm with his expert eye and hard-nosed attention to details in keeping the music as authentic as possible. Here is performing an old classic, “If you’se a Viper”:

Those of you who are not yet familiar with Glenn, he’s a guitarist and band leader from Seattle who has been tearing it up at large National Lindy Hop events around the country. From Northwest Lindyfest to DCLX, Glenn Cryzter & His Syncopators have been featured at some very high profile events. You can learn more about them here: www.syncopators.net Glenn likes to keep things high energy and swingin’ hard and his band will feature his regular piano player Solomon Douglas, as well as some BSC regulars such as Gordon Au (who plays w/ the Grand St Stompers, Gordon Webster and many others) and Rich Levinson who played most recently at Dirty Water w/ Meschiya Lake & the Little Big Horns. This night will definitely be a highlight of our amazing Fall lineup and something you don’t want to miss!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Have you ever wanted to learn to Lindy Hop but don’t have time to commit to a weekly class?  This is your chance! Our next weekend “crash course” workshop is 3 hours on Sunday Oct 28th, 12:00pm-3:00pm. Come learn from experienced teachers who are also social dancers in the Lindy Hop scene.

We will cover six count basic (East Coast Swing), basic eight count (Lindy Hop), and Charleston Basic. Moves include swing out, Lindy circle, swing out from closed, and side by side Charleston. At the end of this class, you will be able to attend a social dance and dance to music.

Instructors Mike Legett and Dan Rosenthal recently moved to Boston. And we welcome them to our scene and we’re really lucky to have them teach Swing Boot Camp this month. Here they are performing a Lindy & authentic Jazz demo:

Mike (the Girl) (as she’s affectionately known) is a passionate aficionado of jazz and blues dances, known all over the world for her friendliness, teaching skills, beautiful following, and expressive dancing. She brings both vibrant energy and technical precision to the classroom, and strives to make every social dance the best experience possible.

Dan is a dynamo of energy, attempting to do all the things, all the time. He strives to excel at all forms of solo and partnered vernacular Jazz dance, from Lindy Hop to Blues, even dabbling in West Coast Swing. Dan loves being the center of attention, whether he’s performing, competing, or just being a goon. As much as he loves the stage, Dan’s foremost goal is to be the best social dancer and teacher he can be. As a teacher he focuses on strengthening connection and aesthetic, helping dancers feel as good to dance with as they look.

Noon – 3:00pm
$25 advanced on-line registration, $30 at the door (register here.)

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129

Calling All Zombies*! It’s time to heed the bell toll for another ghastly, ghoulish and grim Halloween party at Boston Swing Central. It’s our 5th year and this time we’re making it a Red Hook Zombies Halloween. What does that mean? Well, you guessed it!  We’re being invaded by Zombies from Red Hook. 

So, rise up all you creepy crawlies and pay tribute to the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson and dance to the red hot swing of one of the hottest new swing bands to appear at the Whistle Stop. They’re guaranteed to rattle your bones…and reanimate your zombie hearts…it won’t mean a thing until the zombies start to swing!

The lesson will feature Michael Jackson’s Thriller line dance.  And since this line-dance has a lot of material to cover, the lesson starts early and begins promptly at 7:30pm!  Be there or be comatose!    The Thrilller dance will be performed later on in the evening (performing is, of course, optional – we won’t force ya!)   So, start boning up on your YouTube now… Don’t miss this party as it will be one of the best of the Fall!

Check out the Red Hook Ramblers playing BSC here:

If you are unfamiliar with the Thriller line-dance, um, you must’ve been born somewhere else, but you can watch last year’s BSC performance here (note: the video starts in the dark, but gets brighter):

Extended Lesson Time (included in the price of admission): 7:30pm – 9:00pm

Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $22
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

Get $2 OFF ADMISSION if you come in costume. But no lame costumes like, “I came as a swing dancer”, or “I came as myself” or putting a couple socks on your shoulder and being “static cling”. Discount is at the discretion of the door staff, so put in some effort!

Please note that we will be accepting passes at the rate of: 1/2 off for one pass, full admission for two passes.  And no coupons will be accepted for this evening.

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Baby Soda are back and they’re bringing a special guest with them. When we heard they were collaborating with this artist, we were intrigued and we wanted to hear it! So we asked them to bring this special guest with them this Fall…now you must be as curious as we are, so come out, listen, watch and dance!

Here’s Baby Soda this past New Year’s at the Whistle Stop…

Baby Soda’s heart-pounding brand of hobo street jazz is guaranteed to make your feet happy. Their horn section, a mere trumpet and trombone was like a herd of happy elephants. And the one-string that bassist Peter plucks is more than enough to keep us moving and grooving all night long. Minimalism at it’s most perfect. Listen to them here.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Here they are performing Fats Waller’s “Let’s Pretend there’s a Moon” at the Whistle Stop earlier this year…

Tamar Korn and Gordon Au form the nucleus of this amazing Brooklyn outfit. We can’t say enough about how much we love listening to and dancing to this band! They are that good. Come out and experience their magic as they light up our room and get this joint jumpin’.

Lesson: 8pm to 9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $15 (general), $13 (students and seniors with valid ID)

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Tonight, we’re showcasing this awesome Benny Goodman number which was cutely animated back in 1944…

Our DJs will look to Benny for some inspiration and wherever else they decide to take us, it will surely be a swingin’ affair.

Lesson: 8pm to 9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $10 (general), $8 (students and seniors with valid ID)

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

The last time we had the privilege of dancing to the swingin sounds of Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners we were al fresco in the North End. Phil & Co. return to this Whistle Stop with their awesome hot jazz charts that are good for your soul! The Easy Winners are just at the beginning of a great Fall line-up…we hope you keep your dancing momentum going from the Dirty Water weekend and come out tonight!

Here they are back in March, lighting up our stage with their joyous & blissful version of “Everybody Loves My Baby”…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

You don’t want to miss our Dirty Water Lindy & Blues finale! It’s going to be such a great weekend of dancing, you won’t want to go back to work on Monday morning!

No Lesson tonight
Dancing: 8:00pm – Midnight(ish)
General Admission: $10
Students & Seniors: $8

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Swingin’ at the Charlestown Navy Yard! (Yes, we go all out for you) And we’ve found and secured permission for another new place to dance with an incredible view. We’ll dance alongside the ships and the U.S.S. Constitution. Another spectacular view of downtown, Pier 4 is a place we’re excited to hold an outdoor dance at for the very first time. We’ve got some great DJs lined up for you. Since we’re right on the water, and it is the ocean, it can be a little windy and get a little chilly, so bring a jacket, dress in layers…

Pier 4
Charlestown Navy Yard
Sunday September 23th
2:30pm – 5:00pm

Directions are here.

Get to know Carsie here:

Gordon Webster & Carsie have something super special planned for us tonight! We can’t tell you but we know it’s going to be intimate, crazy sexy cool and ultimately brilliant as only the two of them know how…

Dancing: 1:15pm – 4:30am
General Admission: $20
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

Springstep
98 George P. Hassett Dr
Medford, MA 02155

Gordon Meets Meschiya, last January at the Crosby Whistle Stop, tonight will be a reprise of this evening…and we’ll paint the town red, ie wear something RED. A tie, a scarf, a dress, a zoot suit, shoes, it doesn’t matter, just where something anything RED.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $30
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $25

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

Kehillath Israel Epstein Auditorium
384 Harvard Street,
Brookline, MA 02446

The Dirty Water party continues with a late night and Meschiya & Gordon getting down and dirty, bluesy and gritty…here they are at the Whistle Stop earlier this year…

Dancing: 1:15pm – 4:30am
General Admission: $20
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

Springstep
98 George P. Hassett Dr
Medford, MA 02155