Friday, April 1, 2011 – The great hall at the Knoxville Museum of Art resounded with the music of the Streamliners Swing Orchestra. Playing for the Alive After Five Show which takes place almost every Friday evening of the year at the museum, the Streamliners, a 16pc big band, was center stage as the featured performer for the evening.

In addition to the usual cash bar, optional dinner, and free popcorn (donations appreciated), the Museum featured an expanded dance floor to allow the local swing dance community plenty of room to cut a rug. The band played many favorites, including St James Infirmary, Caldonia, Almost Like Being in Love, Sing Sing Sing, and many others. Their final number was, as always, Bluebird Land.

I really enjoyed being able to go to this event with Jacqui. Having had chest surgery 3 days prior, I did not plan on dancing, but rather sitting, resting, socializing, and enjoying some great music by a great band. The Director of Alive After Five, Michael Gill, was kind enough to reserve a table right next to the dance floor for me and the rest of the dancers. He’s nothing short of awesome. Jacqui and I got there 15 minutes after the dance started and it was already full of dancers! Happy! Jacqui and I found seats and watched everyone having fun dancing!

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What’s really amazing about dancers is that they don’t really sit down while the music is playing. More dancers kept showing up and I just told them to set their stuff at the table and have fun dancing. By the end of the night we probably had 35 ppl sitting at our table with 8 chairs, including Daniel Brown, the new mayor of Knoxville. He was a real nice fella, and the band even dedicated a song to him, Mr. Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode.

A couple times the music was so tempting that I couldn’t restrain myself from grabbing Jacqui and dancing with her. I was careful not to overexert myself, and it was loads of fun. Jacqui and I were very happy to see lots of good friends at the dance. The energy at the event was AMAZING! It’s been a long time since the energy level has been that good at Alive After Five, and it made me very happy.

The Streamliners recognized a legendary person in the Knoxville Jazz scene during their show, and I’d like to the take the time to recognize him in this post. Billy Scarlett was an amazing jazz musician who was instrumental in the Knoxville Jazz scene. He passed away on March 28, and he will always be remembered as one of Knoxville’s finest musicians. His obituary is in the April 3rd Knoxville News Sentinel. A memorial service will be held for Bill Scarlett on Sunday, April 10, at the Foundry on the World’s Fair Site, from 7-9pm.

The band played a lot of good numbers. The band sounded better than I have ever heard them sound. Everyone enjoyed dancing to the band, and everyone who didn’t dance seemed to have a good time as well. I had a wonderful time, and I’m glad that I was able to share that wonderful time with everyone else.

It’s great to have happy times in the midst of dealing with all the cancer stuff. Thanks to the KMA, Michael Gill, The Streamliners Swing Orchestra, and everyone who came to the KMA for making it a magical evening!