The Mount Vernon Swing Band

The Mount Vernon Swing Band has been entertaining audiences all over the Northern Virginia and Washington Metropolitan area for almost 20 years. Founded in 1984 by Mr. Frank Worden, the band has a tradition of supporting charitable and non-profit organizations. The band’s most common venue is the retirement home or County retirement center, however the band also performs for private functions such as wedding receptions and anniversaries, fraternal and civic organization parties, and New Years Eve parties.

The band is under the leadership of Mr. Owen Hammett, a trombonist who has been performing big band music since the late 1950’s. Owen’s musical resume includes the principal trombone in the University of Alabama Symphony, three years as a volunteer with the band of the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe, leader of the Saint John’s Brass Ensemble (Saint John’s Cathedral, Izmir, Turkey), and, since 1993, as a member of the various ensembles of the Mount Vernon Community Band where he plays trombone and euphonium, and is the Band Manager.

As a Big Band, the Mount Vernon Swing Band has a full saxophone ensemble of two alto saxes, two tenor saxes, and a baritone sax, four trumpets, four trombones, and a rhythm section of keyboard, drums, bass, and banjo. This instrumentation is also called a stage band; the style of music is called Swing. This style can be applied to songs of any era, but the most popular are from the first half of the 20th Century.

To add further color to our performances, Betsy Ruderfer and Star Smith provide polished vocal stylings of popular ballads. Betsy is classically trained and has had extensive experience in musical theater and light opera. She stars with many local music and arts societies in a broad range of theatrical and musical roles. Star comes from a folk song and ballad background and hosts her own open mic shows at local coffee houses.

Click to hear some mp3 files of the Swingband

Playing In The Mood (712 KB)

Taking a Chance on Love (1233 KB)

720 In the Book (4 Meg, not for dial-up)

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