Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators
The Syncopators are a jazz band dedicated to the popular music of the 1920′s, 1930′s and early 1940′s. Founded in 2007 by Glenn Crytzer, the group has become the premiere swing-era band in the US, having won over the hearts and feet of dancers across the nation. Their musical influences include jazz greats such as Benny Goodman, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, John Kirby, Jelly Roll Morton, and more. In addition to performing classic songs, the Syncopators, perform new songs composed in the vintage style by bandleader Glenn Crytzer.
The Syncopators are the house band for swing nights at Seattle’s historic Century Ballroom and have been featured at popular dance events including Lindy Focus, the Seattle Lindy Exchange, the Emerald City Blues Festival, Camp Balboa, Savoy Swing Jam, Century Masters of Lindy Hop and Tap, Harlem Nights, Hot Mess, The Washington DC Lindy Exchange, Midwest Lindy Fest, and the Killer Diller Ball. Their debut album – Harlem Mad – consisting of 20 original songs will be released in May 2011.
Crytzer’s Blue Rhythm Band
The Blue Rhythm Band is a 13 piece dance band which focuses on the music of the late 1920′s through the early 1940′s. This 13 piece line up (the size band that predominated the popular music scene in the 1930′s) plays charts from the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the Benny Goodman Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and many more including of course their namesake, Mills’ Blue Rhythm Band. The band also pioneers new arrangements of classic tunes and even new songs written in the 1930′s style by bandleader Glenn Crytzer.
The Blue Rhythm Band has appeared at Camp Jitterbug, the Killer Diller Ball, the Seattle Lindy Exchange, and was declared the winner of the big band battle at the 2011 Washington, DC Lindy Exchange, one of the nation’s largest and most popular swing dance events. The Blue Rhythm Band’s debut album Chasin’ the Blues was released in the autumn of 2008.
Glenn Crytzer
Musical Director Glenn Crytzer’s background includes both classical music and jazz. He earned his Bachelor of Music in classical composition from the Florida State University in 2003 and a Master of Music in classical composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2006. Crytzer’s classical works have been programmed by the American Modern Ensemble, the Hachidori Duo, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra and more. In 2005 he was awarded a BMI Student Composer Award for his Orchestral piece “Nocturne Fantasy.”
While studying at Florida State he took up swing dance as a hobby and has been dancing for over 11 years. Through dance, Glenn became interested in classic jazz and took up the banjo in 2005. Encouraged by a warm welcome in the Cleveland early jazz scene, Crytzer soon founded The Any Measure Jazz Band with fellow students at the Cleveland Institute of Music. After moving to Seattle in 2006, Crytzer began seeking out musicians to form the Syncopators a band which would uphold the stylistic integrity of the music of the jazz and swing eras.
Crytzer switched to guitar in 2008 and founded the Blue Rhythm Band, the big band counterpart to the Syncopators. Since that time he has continued to refine the bands’ style while writing new songs and arrangements in the vintage style. Harlem Mad, the Syncopators‘ debut album, will feature 20 original songs composed by Crytzer during 2009 and 2010.