The Swingmasters have been performing in southwestern Ontario for over 30 years. The band was originally started by Joe Van de Velde, the trumpet player. The band consists of 5 musicians who each bring in their own unique styles and experiences, creating a diverse rich sound. Instrumentation consist of trumpet, saxophone (alto & tenor), clarinet, flute, accordion (acoustic & midi), bass guitar and drums (percussion). The strength of the band is the ability to provide a variety of music at exceptional quality.
The band performs varying styles of music from Big Band, Swing,
Continental, Latin, Ethnic and a mixture of Rock & Roll, Ballads
and Blues. The Swingmasters can provide the following types of
ethnic music - Belgian, Dutch, German, Italian, Jewish, Russian,
Italian and Ukrainian. The band is well known for its Oktoberfest
music and has been honoured with the K-W Oktoberfest "Ein
Prosit" award for large bands (see Oktoberbfest link). The
majority of performances are for dances (ballroom style - Big
Band, Swing, Polka, Waltz, Slow Waltz, Two Step, Samba, Rumba,
Cha-Cha, Tango, Beguine, Mambo).
