The Charleston Jazz Orchestra has decided to stay with what brought it to the dance in the first place.
Swing.
That elemental but elusive effect that a musician or band creates when it propels its music with grace under the duress of keeping strict time.
CJO's nonprofit presenter, Jazz Artists of Charleston, has announced its 2010 season and is kicking it off Saturday with a show called "Swing! Swing! Swing!"
This is the beginning of the band's second season.
The 20-piece ensemble offered a variety of music in its first year. But if you ask the people who have seen its shows -- and it's a growing number -- they would tell you that if this band does anything else, it swings.
Artistic director and conductor Charlton Singleton makes sure of that.
Saturday's show also will feature vocalist Leah Suarez, one of the most versatile and popular singers around. She was a big hit at the band's "Latin Night" last year, and now she'll offer some of her and the band's favorite standards from the American Songbook.
The subtitle of the show is "Big Band's Greatest Hits."
Singin' and swingin'
Leah will front the band on "Lover Man," " When I Fall in Love," "A Tisket A Tasket" and "Night and Day."
The band plans to perform material such as Charlestonian Julian Dash's "Tuxedo Junction," Benny Goodman's "Sing! Sing! Sing!," Duke Ellington's "Take the A Train," Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump," Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" and CJO's signature song, Charlestonian Freddie Green's "Corner Pocket."
Singleton has planned probably his most adventurous program within one form, swing, as he did last season. Many would remember that April's "Countin' on Basie" peeled the paint and it swung low, like a sweet chariot.
Saturday's show hits every form of swing there is.
Charlton Singleton
Photo by Ben Williams
Special arrangements
All of the band's shows feature special arrangements with an emphasis on local arrangers.
In the spotlight this time are Tyler Ross, a new adjunct professor at the College of Charleston and a fabulous guitarist, and Robert Lewis, longtime head of the jazz studies department at the C of C and an excellent saxophonist.
Ross has arranged "When I Fall in Love," a standard from the film "One Minute to Zero" and made popular by Doris Day in 1952. His treatment of the endearing ballad is tender, just like its intrinsic feel, never undoing the composer's original intent and at the same time expanding on it.
Lewis' fashioning of "Lover Man," Billie Holiday's huge hit, her first record on Milt Gabler's Decca in 1944, is magnificent. He treats the simple, plaintive wail of the melody (the lyric is of a woman's unknown love) like a small flower that blooms right before your eyes and, in this case, your ears.
Both arrangements are lush. The band loves them.
In fact, at rehearsal at Charleston Southern University on Saturday before last, the band applauded Ross and Lewis after the first run-through of each one's work.
The season
There are six concerts planned for this season. There was a demand for more, but JAC is a small nonprofit with an all-volunteer staff, mostly working and teaching musicians, so it decided a half-dozen was about all it could handle and maintain its high production values as well as work on its other projects.
Following "Swing! Swing! Swing!" will be "Singin' on Basie" on March 27. People at last year's Basie show wished we had had vocalists. So, here we go.
Then on May 22, there's "Conductor's Choice." This should be a blockbuster. The show will be led with an arrangement by pianist Tommy Gill of George Gershwin's evergreen, "Rhapsody in Blue."
Sept. 25 will feature "Latin Night," a reprise of the concept from last year that was a smash hit.
Oct. 23 is next with "Pops!" This is an eclectic mix of American popular songs with a guest artist.
The season ends with the signature "Holiday Swing" on Nov. 24. It will feature an extended work and a sampler of the season.
House of Swing
CJO resides at the Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St., a fine example of Charleston architecture developed with a preservationist spirit and an eye toward the future by its owners, Mike Bennett and Hank Hofford. It's a marvel that sits in the heart of the Historic District.
The acoustics and sight lines are impeccable.
It's large enough (seats about 900) to impart the glow of a shared experience and to provide an intimate interaction with the artist and fellow audience members.
It's not fancy-shmancy but the wood-and-brick feel is warm and inviting.
It's the only venue at which the band has performed.
Roots
The orchestra hit the ground swingin' in November 2008. It emerged from the cocoon of the Charlton Singleton Orchestra, which burst onto the local entertainment scene in March of the same year.
The critical success of that show led band advisers to put in a resident band, giving Lowcountry residents a professional, fine art option to dance, the symphony and theater.
CJO's first show under its name was Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker Suite."
That was followed by "Countin' on Basie," a special nonseason show in June called "Holy City Homecomin'," "Latin Night" in September and Duke and Billy Strayhorn's "Far East Suite" in November.
Down the road
The ensemble and its presenter already are looking to the future, conceptualizing some projects for 2011 and 2012, which will include broadening its texture.
Look for maybe a choir singing with the band, or a tap dancer, or strings even.
They're also looking to bring in featured artists from around the world, some with South Carolina roots or connections.
There will be major collaborations, too.
For instance, in my opinion, Quentin Baxter and Friends working with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra last weekend was a harbinger of things to come.
Keep swinging.
If you go
When: The show starts at 7 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St., downtown Charleston.
Tickets: Advance tickets are $30 adult, $25 senior and $20 student. On the day of the show, they are $40 adult, $35 senior and $25 student. Season tickets and three-show tickets are available. To purchase, call 641-0011, go online to Etix.com or visit www.jazzartistsofcharleston.org.
Information: The Jazz Artists of Charleston's office is at 185 St. Philip St. Enter on the Cannon Street side. A Nathan Durfee-inspired Jazz House sign is just above the door.
Jack McCray, author of "Charleston Jazz," can be reached at jackjmccray@aol.com.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 02:33PM 
