Centenary Stage to Kick Off January Jazz Fest with Benny Goodman Tribute, 1/10

"The King of Swing" will be celebrated in high fashion this month as the Benny Goodman Tribute by the Stan Rubin Orchestra kicks off the annual January Jazz Fest at the Centenary Stage on Saturday, January 10th at the Centenary Stage Company.

With a career spanning over 50 years, Benny Goodman became synonymous with swing and jazz orchestra, renown for his talents as a bandleader, conductor, and clarinetist. The Benny Goodman Tribute is sponsored in part by a generous grant from Fulton Bank of NJ.

Band leader Stan Rubin has been called he "crown-prince of swing" by many, and is committed to preserving and performing the music as it sounded in its heyday. Speaking with an unbridled passion, Stan declared, "I loved the swing era, the whole period with soldiers in uniform for a cause we supported, the atmosphere of innocence. People then knew musicians the way they knew baseball rosters. If I had been old enough at the time I would have skipped school to go to the Paramount Theatre in New York to see shows like Benny Goodman with Frank Sinatra."

Rubin has invested $300,000 over many decades in a library of swing, a collection of the arrangements played by the likes of Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Harry James and a half-dozen others who swung America from the 1930s into the early 50s. And he continues to keep this brand of music on the menu, through live appearances by the Stan Rubin Orchestra.

Tickets for the Benny Goodman Tribute with the Stan Rubin Orchestra are $30 in advance for adults and $20 for children under 12, and may be purchased online at centenarystageco.org, or at the CSC Box Office directly at 08-979-0900. The Box Office in the Lackland Center is open Monday through Friday 1-5 p.m. and 2 hours prior to performance times. All ticket orders for concerts, jazz and special events increase $5 on the day of the performance.

Also upcoming in the January Jazz series will be Stanton Davis and the New Orleans Sound on Saturday, January 17th at 8pm, and the "Hot Club" sounds of Fete Manouche on Saturday January 24th at 8pm. Tickets for Stanton Davis and the New Orleans Sound are $22.50 for adults and $15 for children under 12. Tickets for Fete Manouche are $22.50 for adults and $15 for children under 12. A special "Flex Pass" for all three concerts can also be purchased for $66. The Stanton Davis and Fete Manouche performaces are sponsored in part by a grant from Bea Nally's Irish Pub in Hackettstown.

Photo Credit: Bruce Gast