INTERVIEW: Hot Toddies swing into Lincoln Center
Photo: The Hot Toddies Jazz Band will play Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City festival, July 6. Photo courtesy of the band / Provided by official site.
The Hot Toddies Jazz Band, a well-respected jazz band from New York City, will soon host one of its most important and largest concerts to date. They will kick off Lincoln Center’s Summer in the City festival Thursday, July 6 at Josie Robertson Plaza. Audience members are recommended to bring their dancing shoes for what promises to be a swingin’ good time.
The band is led by two accomplished musicians: Gabe Terracciano, a Grammy nominee, and Patrick Soluri, a drummer, composer and producer. On stage, they will be joined by pianist Gordon Webster, vocalists Hannha Gill and Queen Esther, trumpeter Alphonso Horne, reed player Danny Lipsitz, and tap dancer Dewitt Fleming Jr., according to press notes. Lincoln Center is the latest venue to host this fast-rising band; other vaunted venues on their résumé include the Whitney, the Plaza Hotel, The Public, the Montauk Club and the Watermark, among others. If there’s a stage in a basement parlor or up on a rooftop, there’s a good chance the Hot Toddies have played it.
Summer 2023 is shaping up to be an important one for the Hot Toddies Jazz Band. In addition to their concert at Lincoln Center, their debut full-length album will be released on Prohibition Productions, July 28.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Soluri, the drummer for the band. At Bennington College, he studied jazz with Bill Dixon, as well as Western and African drumming with Milford Graves, according to his official biography. He’s a composer of diverse output, scoring multiple ballets and operas. He’s also a swing dancer and the creative head of Prohibition Productions. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
When did you first fall in love with swing and jazz music?
My identical twin brother started swing dancing first (but I walked first!), and after couple years I finally went to see what he was raving about and was blown away by a room full of dancers getting down to a great band! I immediately started taking lessons, right before going to grad school, and have been tightly connected to the swing community ever since. My dad is also a big jazz fan, so we grew up hearing all styles of jazz. He even shot the cover photo to a Herbie Mann album!
Are you excited for your Lincoln Center debut? What does this particular concert mean for you?
We are all extremely excited for the band’s Lincoln Center debut and have an incredible lineup to celebrate! Our night is part of Lincoln Centers “Summer for the City,” which used to be called “Midsummer Night Swing.” It is known worldwide amongst swing dancers and a pinnacle event to play as a swing band. Personally, it’s where myself, and countless others, fell in love with swing dancing. So we hope to continue that tradition!
Is your music meant to be enjoyed while dancing? How do you get the audience up and moving?
Yes! There is a significant difference when playing for dancers as a band. This includes song lengths and tempo, but also with how the rhythm section plays. There is a certain drive and pulse that is simply contagious! At our weekly gig at Somewhere Nowhere, we see lots of people who aren’t “swing dancers” just get up and starting grooving in their own way — which I love and consider a true measure of success since our goal is to connect not only with hardcore swing dancers, but everyone!
Are you planning more recordings beyond your 2021 EP?
Yes! Our debut full-length album comes out digitally on all platforms July 28, and we’ll have CDs for sale when we play Lincoln Center on July 6 as part of the pre-release. This album was started in 2019, shortly after forming the band, but interrupted by the pandemic. We put out the 2021 EP Quarantine Tracks during the pandemic and resumed work on the album last year, so we’re very excited to finally be releasing the album!
Was the pandemic difficult being away from your dancing fans?
The pandemic was difficult on so many levels for musicians and dancers. It became so clear how “social” dancing and music making is. Musicians really connect with one another in the moment, and swing bands feed off the dancers. And [it] becomes a conversation. While all the remote recordings and video created by dancers and musicians helped us get through the pandemic, it became super clear that it could never replace doing it in person together. So we’re seeing a lot more jazz and swing “curious” people coming out to our gigs since things reopened in the last year, and the beginner dance lessons are full of new people!
How do you honor the past of these genres but also forge a new path into the future?
Great question! The birthplace of swing dancing is NYC, and specifically Harlem, so as a native New Yorker it’s very important to me to not only connect to the roots of the dance and music, but also to reinterpret it for today through our own unique voices. We mostly play a mix of standards from the 1920s Prohibition and 1930s swing era, up to 1950s jump blues, plus a few original tunes by co-bandleader Gabe Terracciano that are influenced by these styles. Each musician in the band is also crazy talented from diverse backgrounds, so everyone brings a lot to the table. And we try to create an open environment to let that come out. So we might be playing a 1930s swing tune undeniably geared towards dancers, but you’ll hear subtle flavors in there ranging from bluegrass and Western swing, to Americana, classic rock, and even classical music!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Hot Toddies Jazz Band will play Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City festival Thursday, July 6. Tickets are free, but are first come, first served. Click here for more information.
