The Minidoka Swing Band remembers the Japanese Americans who were interned behind barbed wire during WWII with big band sounds from the 1930’s, 1940’s and beyond. The band’s name comes from the Minidoka Internment Camp near Twin Falls, Idaho, one of ten major camps where Japanese Americans from Portland and Washington State were imprisoned by the U.S. government without due process. To give a sense of normalcy to the lives of the teenagers and young adults, the camps often held Saturday night dances to make the best of a horrific situation.
The band consists of 17 musicians and 2 vocalists. Three of our band’s original members were actually interned during WWII and several of our band members had parents, grandparents, and other family members interned. Our group plays at festivals, concerts in the park, schools, senior living centers, and special events such as weddings, retirements, holiday parties and more. We have entertained for conventions, special events, and concerts in Seattle, Puyallup and Vancouver, WA; Portland Metro area, Hood River, The Dalles, Astoria, Salem, and Eugene, OR; San Francisco, San Mateo, Mountain View/San Jose, and Sacramento, CA.
Stomp
Off
Party
Stomp Off Party swings the standards with vibrance & depth, bringing together voices from all corners of the Willamette Valley jazz community (and beyond!). Polyphonic and multigenerational, Stomp Off Party is collaboration at its best, digging into the American Songbook from all directions, delivering riffs and rhythms tuned expressly for dancing. Always lively, always swinging!
Michael Horsfall
ft. on Vibraphone
Mike Horsfall has enjoyed a successful and diverse musical career for over 35 years, serving as an educator, composer, arranger, recording artist and concert soloist on both piano and vibraphone. He was educated at Central Washington University and the University of Washington, earning a Bachelors in Piano degree from Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon. He has also studied with Gary Burton, Joe Locke, Mal Waldron and Hal Galper. Mike began his musical career in the 70’s, perform in venues across the country.
He settled down in Portland with his wife and two daughters in 1980, and went to work establishing his music career. In 1989 he co-founded the trio Tall Jazz, playing vibes and piano and serving as musical director. The trio started a record company, PHD Music, which represents jazz artists in the Portland area, and currently has 15 titles on the market, including Mike’s solo piano CD recorded in 1998 ("I Thought About You" PHD-1008). His acclaimed composing and arranging skills can by heard on any of the eight recordings that Tall Jazz has on the PHD label. In 1994 Mike designed a program giving piano students a chance to perform in a professional setting, and earned wide acclaim from the National Music Teachers Association. In 2002 he won First Place (Jazz) in the USA Songwriting Contest for his work on the tune, "Moonshadow Dance" ("Once In A Blue Moon" PHD-1013). Besides being in demand as a concert soloist, both on piano and vibes, Mike is an avid music educator, serving on the faculty at Mt. Hood Community College and Oregon Episcopal School. An accomplished, well-rounded musician, Mike has performed with a large number of world class musicians, including Bud Shank, Bobby Shew, Leroy Vinegar, Chuck Redd, Rebecca Kilgore, Pete Rugolo, and Norman Leyden. He has also worked with such notable groups as Pink Martini, the Nu Shooz Orchestra, and the Portland Chamber Orchestra.
Marilyn Keller
ft. on Vocals
Marilyn T. Keller, 2016 Jazz Society of Oregon Hall of Fame Inductee, is a 44-year veteran of music and stage performance in Jazz, Gospel, R&B, Pop, Blues, and theater, nationally and internationally. Her musical roots are diverse. Marilyn has built a career that has taken her as a feature artist to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Russia and the UK for concerts, festivals, nightclubs and recording work. Her voice can be heard on multiple recordings, movie sound tracks, commercials and documentaries.
Marilyn's formative jazz training was as a member of the Mt. Hood Community College Vocal Jazz Ensemble and as the vocalist fronting the award-winning MHCC Jazz Lab Band. She can be seen frequently at clubs, restaurants, festivals and holiday events throughout the Pacific Northwest. She remains active, performing with Don Latarski, Darrell Grant, Tom Grant, Black Swan Classic Jazz Band, Pressure Point Band and the Augustana Jazz Quartet, among many others.
THE HOT LOVIN’ JAZZ BABIES is a high-powered swing ensemble based in Portland, Oregon featuring Doug Sammons and Dee Settlemier, front persons for the long-time Portland swing band the Midnight Serenaders. The group was put together at the beginning of 2015 specifically for the Secret Society’s (Portland's former premier dance club) Thursday Swing night series, and has since become a favorite of Portland’s swing dance community. The Hot Lovin' Jazz Babies strive to resurrect the spirit of late 1930’s small band ensembles such as Fats Waller & his Rhythm, Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra and Billie Holiday and her Orchestra.
The group has a monthly residency at the Alberta Street Public House in Portland, OR, and perform at other Portland area dance clubs. They have also been featured at past Portland Lindy Exchanges. The 7-piece band features Dee Settlemier on drums/vocals, Doug Sammons on guitar/vocals, Pete Lampe on bass, John Moak on trombone, David Evans on sax/clarinet, Garner Pruitt on trumpet, and Andrew Oliver on piano.
Founded in 2020, the Rhythm Wrecker Dance Band is a Portland, OR based swing band led by drummer and swing dancer Eddie Montejo. Formed by dancers and for dancers, the Rhythm Wrecker Dance Band plays solid, four-to-the bar swing with a commitment to making danceable music for lindy hop and swing.
Eddie Montejo — Drums
Alejandro Novie — Keyboard
Breckenridge Cartwright — Bass
Evan Landman — Guitar
Ray Griffin — Saxophone
Jessica Hughes — Vocals