Emerging from a fifty-year hiatus, the sounds of swing are back, and local Montreal jump band Kamikaze Mustang are here to show us how it’s done. These young swingsters are revamping the 1940s and 50s jump era through classic covers
of Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller, combined with their own modern day music styles. Over herbal tea and brownies in a noisy Second Cup on Monkland, baritone saxophonist Eugene Negrii fills me in on the band’s experience in the Montreal swing scene.
“We know it’s not an easy money maker, but people really seem to like it,” says Negrii, 24. “We’ve played in front of many strange venues – from heavy metal to rock crowds – and we’ve never been rejected.”
The band originally started off playing rock on the West Island in 1998. But with new opportunities rising, the group decided to convert to the energetic styles of swing. Over time, the band has had a big turnover with its musicians:
“You could take all the former members and form a band,” quips Negrii, who joined around the fall of 1998.
Kamikaze Mustang is a nine-piece “little big band” of 19- to 23-year-olds composed of three saxophones, played by Negrii, Evan Brydon and Paul L’Esperance, trumpet players Dominic L
of Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller, combined with their own modern day music styles. Over herbal tea and brownies in a noisy Second Cup on Monkland, baritone saxophonist Eugene Negrii fills me in on the band’s experience in the Montreal swing scene.
“We know it’s not an easy money maker, but people really seem to like it,” says Negrii, 24. “We’ve played in front of many strange venues – from heavy metal to rock crowds – and we’ve never been rejected.”
The band originally started off playing rock on the West Island in 1998. But with new opportunities rising, the group decided to convert to the energetic styles of swing. Over time, the band has had a big turnover with its musicians:
“You could take all the former members and form a band,” quips Negrii, who joined around the fall of 1998.
Kamikaze Mustang is a nine-piece “little big band” of 19- to 23-year-olds composed of three saxophones, played by Negrii, Evan Brydon and Paul L’Esperance, trumpet players Dominic L
