Swing Time is proud to present the legendary Mitch Woods -- boogie-woogie piano man extraordinaire -- who's traveling all the way from California to appear live at Centro Asturiano on November 15th!  Mitch Woods, along with his band, the Rocket 88's, will kick the Centro Asturiano ballroom into high gear, as they jump, boogie, and rock the place like you've never seen!  This must-see event will be full of swingin' high-energy music that'll make you want to jump up and dance!

Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88's are the torch bearers of a great American musical heritage.  Taking their inspiration from the great jump n' boogie outfits of the late 1940's and early 1950's, they breathe fresh life into the swingin' music that gave birth to rock n' roll. Mitch takes his cue from his jumpin' n' jivin', shoutin' n' honkin', pumpin' n' poundin' predecessors -- Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway, Wynonie Harris, Amos Milburn, Roy Milton, and Louis Prima -- just to name a few.

Mitch's piledrivin' piano licks and energetic stage persona combine with the Rocket 88's swingin' instrumentals, playful vocals, thumpin' bass, rockin' guitar, and jungle drums to send every crowd into dancing delight.  With a musical repertoire that combines numerous Mitch Woods originals with some favorites from the past, the band has forged their own brand of music they call "rock-a-boogie", due to its combination of R&B, jump, swing, boogie woogie, and early rock n' roll.  Call it Nouveau Swing or what you will, Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88's distill the essence of these classic American musical genres, make the music their own, and deliver it to the present!

Since the band's formation in 1980, Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88's have recorded six critically acclaimed CDs, and headlined some of the most prestigious music festivals in the world, including the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Amsterdam Blues Festival, the Belgium Rhythm & Blues Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival (appearing 10/23/2002). The band has appeared in concert with the likes of James Brown, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Neville Brothers, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds.

In the studio, Mitch Woods has recorded with music greats that include John Lee Hooker, Ronnie Earl, John Hammond, the Roomful of Blues horns, James Cotton, and Lee Allen, to name a few.  In many cases, Mitch Woods has actually brought the music legends together for his own recording projects.  For instance, Mitch recently wrote an album of new songs, modeled after the 1950's New-Orleans-Style Rhythm & Blues of Fats Domino.  He then brought together the original members of Domino's band, who joined Mitch to record the new material in what became some memorable studio jam sessions.  You can read the full article that ran in New Orleans' Times-Picayune (11/23/2000) by clicking this link:  Legendary Artists Put New Spin on Old R&B

While Mitch Woods finds himself in the middle of the current swing revival, no one can accuse him of hopping on the bandwagon, as he has been pumping the piano for over 20 years in the SF Bay area.  "For years, I would always have swing dancers come down to my show.  We always swung," says Woods. "What people are calling the swing movement, it's really jump blues, and that's what we've been playing since we started, and that's why we fit in the swing movement.  The best dance music is jump blues, period." Mitch Woods has become a modern master of the eighty-eights, with wry vocals and the thunderous chops that inspired legendary jump-bluesman Joe Liggins to tag him as "Mr. Rocket 88".  Want to know more about Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88's?  Click here to read his full bio, including a writeup of the band's latest CD, entitled Jump for Joy!

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT MITCH WOODS & HIS ROCKET 88'S: