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George Gee Swing Orchestra

While he was a Freshman at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, George Gee launched his Make-Believe Ballroom program (named after the vintage Martin Block show) on the college radio station - and told everyone who’d listen about his dream of leading his own big band. In an era when punk, new wave and heavy metal ruled, some first thought that George was revisiting the past. Twenty-five years later, it is delightfully clear that George was just way ahead of his time!

The only Chinese-American Swing big band leader, George Gee is unique in so many ways. The snap in his fingers, the shuffle in his step and that unbridled joy he radiates and spreads like ecstatic wildfire to all his world-class musicians make immediate and permanent impressions on audiences, musicians, and dancers - even seasoned press! It must be in his blood—since he was a kid, all George ever wanted to do was lead his own big band.

A native New Yorker, George always loved music. He grew up with rock’n’roll and R&B—but also developed a powerful passion for Swing - especially for the big band styles of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Louis Jordan, Frank Sinatra, Cab Calloway and other legends. At renowned Stuyvesant High School, George wowed the crowds with his flashy bass showmanship in the school’s jazz band.

His college radio show was a huge hit! The station asked George to interview his idol - William "Count" Basie - before a campus concert (listen to the interview). That extensive, exclusive conversation would change George’s life forever. The next day, he assembled his own 17-piece big band - the Make-Believe Ballroom Orchestra! Staffed by student players, the band quickly became the darling of the campus community. Throughout the 1980's, George spread his swing gospel throughout the Pittsburgh tri-state region - from rowdy frat houses to black-tie society galas, corporate events and top nightclubs. But George knew what he needed to do next.

He returned home to New York City in 1990, and summoned top New York-based musicians - young and older veterans of the world’s most legendary big bands - and Latin and pop giants - to continue living his dream. With each performance, George’s powerhouse 17-piece Make-Believe Ballroom Orchestra continues to set new standards—elegantly balancing the genuine big band tradition with exhilarating modernism. His 10-piece Jump, Jive & Wailers, formed in 1998, puts a new twist on big band favorites and delivers all-out rollickin’ roadhouse boogie! With this group, which George lovingly calls his “Economy Big Band,” they have been able to travel around the United States and the world headlining swing and lindyhop dance events.

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Album Review

George Gee Swing Orchestra: Winter Wonderland

Read "Winter Wonderland" reviewed by Jack Bowers


After an absence of several years the New York City-based George Gee Swing Orchestra is back in a recording studio, doing what it does best--swinging merrily through a Winter Wonderland chock-full of holiday favorites that kids of all ages can relate to and appreciate. Gee formed his first band while still in college at Carnegie Mellon University, one day after interviewing Count Basie on the campus radio station. After moving back to New York City, where he ...

11
Album Review

George Gee Swing Orchestra: Swing Makes You Happy!

Read "Swing Makes You Happy!" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Swing Makes You Happy! isn't just an album title: it's a mantra and belief system that guides the George Gee Swing Orchestra, a little big band intent on rekindling the ear's love affair with music associated with a bygone era. Gee has been in the big band business for more than three decades, but it's his eighteen-years-and-counting residency at New York City's Swing46 Jazz and Supper Club that has afforded him the opportunity to fine tune and ...

10
Album Review

George Gee: Swing Makes You Happy!

Read "Swing Makes You Happy!" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The George Gee Swing Orchestra swings in the manner of Gee's friend and mentor, Count Basie, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale (Gee's group numbers only eleven, and that includes vocalists Hilary Gardner and John Dokes). Even so, the Basie spirit is ever-present, and if Swing Makes You Happy, Gee's eighth album as leader (and first for Rondette Records) should put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. Thanks to resourceful charts by trombonist / music ...

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Album Review

The George Gee Big Band: Settin' the Pace

Read "Settin' the Pace" reviewed by Elliott Simon


Although they're not typically household names, a strong case can be made that no single group has had more of an influence on the sound of American music than arrangers. One thing that can't be disputed though, is that the arranger is front and center when it comes to big band swing. A first-person participatory tribute to the arranging skills of Frank Foster, the latest from the George Gee Big Band, Settin' the Pace, showcases Foster's music under his own ...

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Album Review

George Gee Big Band: Settin' The Pace

Read "Settin' The Pace" reviewed by Jim Santella


The full-bodied big band arrangements of Frank Foster make this session swing with a lush tonality and a finger-snappin' groove. The New York ensemble that George Gee has put together tackles each standard piece with a passionate love for the art. And the timing is right. Settin' The Pace also serves as a fine tribute to what Count Basie developed and nurtured for us several decades past.

Outstanding soloists on Gee's big band session include Howard Johnson, Robert ...

160
Album Review

George Gee and the Jump, Jive and Wailers: Buddha Boogie

Read "Buddha Boogie" reviewed by Jack Bowers


George Gee, as energetic and enthusiastic a bandleader as you are likely to meet, has at least two bands under his baton, the larger Swing Orchestra and the Jump, Jive and Wailers, which is actually a tentet. And he may have three, if the Swing Orchestra isn’t a renamed version of Gee’s Make Believe Ballroom Orchestra, which recorded at least two albums a few years back. Whatever the case, the Wailers are a throwback to the jump/swing/proto-R&B groups of the ...

116
Album Review

The George Gee Swing Orchestra: Swingin' at Swing City Zurich

Read "Swingin' at Swing City Zurich" reviewed by Jack Bowers


According to the liner notes, George Gee’s Swingin’ at Swing City Zurich was recorded in a train station, the Hautbanhoff, an assertion that isn’t hard to believe once one hears the outcome. Having enthusiastically reviewed two of Gee’s earlier albums ( Swingin’ Live!, Swingin’ Away ), also recorded in concert, I was rather let down by Zurich. Not so much by the band, which recovers from an erratic start on “Trumpet Blues and Cantabile” to give the early-morning performance its ...

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Performance / Tour

George Gee Celebrates Van Alexander Centennial In Los Angeles on July 12th

George Gee Celebrates Van Alexander Centennial In Los Angeles on July 12th

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

The George See Swing Orchestra, one of New York’s premiere dance bands, returns to the world famous Maxwell Demille’s Cicada Club at the Oviat Building in downtown jny: Los Angeles for an evening of swing music and dancing honoring the great Chick Webb / Savoy Ballroom music man, Van Alexander (composer of the Ella Fitzgerald hit song “A Tisket A Tasket”) in celebration of his 100th birthday at an exclusive once-in-a-lifetime centennial celebration swing dance party Sunday, July 12th @ ...

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Performance / Tour

George Gee Swings in Harlem Every Monday, Starting May 24th

George Gee Swings in Harlem Every Monday, Starting May 24th

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

Gospel Uptown (GU LIVE!) Harlem's Hottest Entertainment Night Spot Presents UPTOWN SWING every Monday starting May 24th Featuring The George Gee 17pc. Big Band (aka The George Gee Swing Orchestra) With Jazz and Blues Vocalist John Dokes

New York, New York -- Beginning May 24, 2010, The George Gee 17-piece Big Band will begin a weekly Monday night engagement at Harlem's newest hotspot - ...

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Event

Holiday Spectacular Dinner Theater "Sleigh Bells Swing' Show Rivals Anything on Broadway

Holiday Spectacular Dinner Theater "Sleigh Bells Swing' Show Rivals Anything on Broadway

Source: Daniel Kassell - Authentic Marketing

The Edison Ballroom 228 West 47th Street (between 8th & Broadway) New York, NY 10036 212-201-7650 Reservations Required A hip Big Band show, just off Times Square, George Gee’s 22 tuxedoed musicians back the Singin' Sleigh Belles gals, a Sinatra clone singer, a sexy vocalist, a tap dancer plus gravity-defying Lindyhoppers. Famous B&W movie stars interact with Mickey Marcello’s seasonal anecdotes after a sumptuous four course dinner. The Grand Ballroom of the ...

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Festival

Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomp

Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomp

Source: All About Jazz

The New Jersey Jazz Society presents its 39th Annual Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomp, a swinging afternoon of great jazz dedicated to the legendary clarinetist.

Sunday March 2, 2008 noon to 5 p.m. at the Birchwood Manor, 111 North Jefferson Road in Whippany (off Route 10)

The lineup: Smith Street Society Jazz Band Jon-Erik Kellso, trumpeter and band Barbara Rosene, vocalist and group George Gee's Jump, Jivin' Wailers ...

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Performance / Tour

George Gee Upcoming Appearances

George Gee Upcoming Appearances

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

Saturday, Sept. 29th, 2007 The World's Biggest Dance Party “BRICK CITY SWING" at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Newark, NJ Sunday, Sept. 30th, 2007 Come and Help Save the Environment at EcoFest at Damrosche Park at Lincoln Center, NYC This is our 15th year in-a-row at this special festival! SAVE THE DATES: George Gee and the Jump, Jivin' Wailers return with Sweet & Sour Swing (All-Swing, All-Nite!) at the Grand Harmony Palace 98 Mott Street, ...

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Performance / Tour

George Gee Swing Orchestra every Tuesday evening starting on March 7th SWING46 Jazz & Supper Club

George Gee Swing Orchestra every Tuesday evening starting on March 7th SWING46 Jazz & Supper Club

Source: All About Jazz

After a five year hiatus, The George Gee Swing Orchestra will be returning to NYC premiere swing dance nightclub - SWING46 Jazz & Supper Club--every Tuesday evening starting on March 7th, 2006. SWING46 is located in the heart of Times Square at 349 West 46th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues on Restaurant Row. Besides a nice, classic ambiance with a sizable dance floor - SWING46 also offers a full bar and dinner menu. A fun, complimentary dance lesson is ...

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Bedrock

From: Swing Makes You Happy
By George Gee Swing Orchestra

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