Before Swing Noire was a band, it was a series of acoustic jams... Jared on mandolin with Rob and Jim McCuen on guitar and bass, trading licks and late-night laughs over stringband tunes inspired by Uncommon Ritual by Edgar Meyer, BĂ©la Fleck, and Mike Marshall. We were deep into bluegrass and new acoustic music back then, until the pull of the Grappelli / Grisman album was too much and the door to Gypsy jazz swung wide open. It was a gateway to Django and all of the contemporary artists keeping the style alive.
Once we started listening to Django, there was no going back. Jared got obsessed... studying the art of la pompe (that driving Gypsy rhythm) and soaking up everything he could. Around that time, fate handed us a connection: Jaredâs brother and sister-in-law were old friends with violinist David Gusakov. Weâd spend holidays together, trading music talk after dinner. Eventually Jared got up the nerve to ask David if heâd want to play.
That one question turned into a year in Davidâs studio... fueled by beer, popcorn, and a shared love for this wild, elegant music. We workshopped our favorite tunes, deliberated over arrangements, and slowly found our own sound. When it finally clicked, we started to play out.
We played jazz festivals, cafés, and dance halls across Vermont and beyond... the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, First Night Burlington, Town Hall Theatre in Middlebury, Hen of the Wood in Waterbury, The Ball and Chain in Brandon, Vergennes Opera House, The Starry Night Café in Ferrisburgh, and rooms like Radio Bean, The Skinny Pancake, The Black Door, Langdon Street Café, 51 Main, Two Brothers Tavern, and more. Every room had its own story.
Weâll be sharing some of those moments here... live recordings, videos, and photos from those early days when the band was finding its footing and the swing was just starting to take hold.
After a long stretch away (Jared spent about a decade out of state), we reunited when he moved back to Vermont. It felt like no time had passed... the groove was still there, the friendship still easy, the music still alive.
Hereâs a video from that reunion era... our take on âBlue Dragâ, filmed live at Chandler Music Hall in Randolph around 2011.
