The last swing music revival of the late 1990s heralded in by groups like the Brian Setzer Orchestra may have seemed like the end of the line for the big band-fueled dance craziness \u2014 just don\u2019t tell that to Rebecca Roudman.<\/p>\n
A classical music student at Cal State Hayward (today\u2019s CSU East Bay) in the late 1990s, Roudman and her future husband we\u2019re so into jumpin\u2019 and jivin\u2019 that they made fake IDs to let themselves get into swing dance clubs in San Francisco. And they just kept on swingin\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe rode the wave of the \u201990s swing revival,\u201d says Roudman, a classically trained cellist who is now the orchestra director at her alma mater.<\/p>\n
Roudman and her husband, Jason Eckl, will return Feb. 14 along with a cast of rotating musicians to Alameda\u2019s USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum for a follow-up to last year\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day concert with their swing band Death and Taxes.<\/p>\n
Roudman is the group\u2019s sultry lead singer and electric cellist while Eckl plays guitar and is the band\u2019s main musical arranger. Death and Taxes formed when Roudman became aware that Cal State East Bay\u2019s jazz band was in danger of being nixed about three years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were worried that all the young performers in the group wouldn\u2019t have a chance to play jazz. So we thought we should form a jazz band of seasoned professionals and these young players.\u201d<\/p>\n
The end result is Death and Taxes \u2014 \u201cit\u2019s a fun mix of experienced players and energetic up-and-comers,\u201d says Roudman.<\/p>\n
While swing music has not hit late 1990s levels of mania stateside, it\u2019s another story in Europe. London and Stockholm are particular hotbeds and while Death and Taxes hasn\u2019t performed in those cities, a smaller Roudman-led band has performed in Portugal to very receptive audiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Portugal of all places, where you would think they\u2019re not going to relate to any of the themes of the music at all and not even understand it maybe, they were totally having a great time,\u201d says Roudman.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you play the song \u2018In the Mood\u2019 to American audiences, it makes everybody come out onto the dance floor. And we did the same thing in Portugal, and my God, it had the same reaction. And so that really made us smile. We thought that was very cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those who may feel a little intimidated by all the acrobatics of swing dancing, Roudman assures that attendees don\u2019t have to be the next Fred Astaire or dress like him and his dance partners to enjoy themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t expect you to know how to dance this dance, and we don\u2019t also want to give a very long one-hour lesson. We like to just give an appetizer of how to do it,\u201d says Roudman.<\/p>\n
This appetizer takes the form of a 15-minute tutorial and gives people who are new to the scene the basics \u2014 sort of a swing-dancing-for-dummies briefing. It gives the audience a \u201ctaste of what it\u2019s going to be like so they know how to dance to the music when we start playing it,\u201d says Roudman.<\/p>\n
The swing dance mentors for the evening come from the Sacramento-based dance instruction group Rags 2 Rhythm. Instructor Yoni Magallanes (rags2rhythm.com\/our-story<\/a>) says the goal isn\u2019t to get attendees ready to audition for \u201cDancing with the Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to gauge it by, \u2018Did you enjoy yourself? Did you have a good time?\u2019 That\u2019s our basis of how we see if it\u2019s successful or not,\u201d says Magallanes. \u201cBecause as a beginner, you\u2019re not going to be proficient, but did you at least enjoy your time?<\/p>\n \u201cWe love to dance with people who are new because we were new too at one point. Just like when you do anything new, it\u2019s a little intimidating. It can be a little scary, but once you start getting in there and you realize that everyone is on a similar journey and we\u2019re all just trying to have fun, people tend to relax.\u201d<\/p>\n Dateless wall flowers need not worry as the Rags 2 Rhythm hoofers are also down to get down with anyone on the dance floor.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll get out there after teaching everybody a lesson and spend the night dancing amongst everybody. And the really cool thing is if you want to dance with them, they\u2019re more than happy to dance with you. So you get to dance with professionals, which also is an added bonus,\u201d says Roudman.<\/p>\n Indeed. The Death and Taxes swing band plans to hit the USS Hornet stage aboard the former U.S. Navy vessel at about 7:15 p.m. on Valentine\u2019s Day, right after the 15-minute dance lesson. For tickets and details online, visit uss-hornet.org\/event\/valentines-day-swing-dance-2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n