SWINGTOPIA JAZZ consists of eight musicians who between them have performed and toured throughout the world with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Harry James Orchestra, Tex Beneke, Ray Anthony, Les Brown, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Diva, and many others. Many of our band members are past or present members of the premier service bands in DC, including the Airmen of Note, the Army Blues, and the Navy Commodores.
Swingtopias musical director, Doug Elliott, has been a highly respected jazz trombonist in the Washington DC area for over forty years. His extensive big band experience includes eight years as solo jazz trombonist with the USAF Airmen of Note, seventeen years with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and four years touring with the 1940s revue, "In the Mood." Doug can be heard on recordings with Eva Cassidy and Chuck Brown, and has been featured on recordings which include the Bill Potts "555 Feet High" album from 1985, the Airmen of Note, Bruce Gates\' Jazz Consortium Big Band, the Don Junker Big Band, Dick Johnson\'s tribute to Artie Shaw "Stardust and Beyond." In addition to SWINGTOPIA, Doug has performed with many other DC area groups including the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and the Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra. In various musical groups he has performed in every US state and fourteen other countries, on six continents.
Co-leader Cyndy Elliott has played string bass with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, Harry James Orchestra, Tex Beneke, Ray Anthony, Les Brown, Sammy Kaye, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, the Pied Pipers, the Ink Spots, and Diva, and has performed all over Europe and the Caribbean as a cruise ship musician. Cyndy has travelled throughout the United States with the national tour of "Meet Me in St. Louis" and also spent four years touring with the 1940s musical revue "In the Mood." In 2008 she performed at the Glenn Miller Festival in Clarinda, Iowa with the Jack Million Orchestra from Belgium and in 2009 she received her M.M. in jazz studies from the University of Maryland. Cyndy is currently a freelance bassist in the Washington DC area, performing many different styles of music in big bands, small combos, orchestras, and chamber ensembles.