3.2 Is Heady Stuff: A "When Swing Was King" Update

Rest assured, the 3.2 in the title above doesn't refer to anything from my misspent youth. No, the number refers to the particular volume of "When Swing Was King" that Claire and I are presenting in February to our audiences in 11 senior facilities around town.

3.2 corresponds to the system we've developed ("stumbled into" might be a more accurate term) to keep track of the 23 different volumes we've created so far -- each volume with 12 original hits from the big band era, more than 200 photographs in the accompanying Power Point display, and plenty of notes to keep the commentary interesting and fun.

Earlier this week, I listed the songs for this volume (Solid! "When Swing Was King" Swings Into February) and I did so with high hopes they would prove popular to our audiences. Well, those hopes have been fully satisfied...and then some!

Let me pass along a few responses.

* "Oh, that was a wonderful program! You know, I'm 93 and I knew almost all of those songs. And even the ones I didn't know very well, I had heard before. But, oh my, weren't they all just great!"

* "I loved each song you played. So many brought tears to my eyes -- they were so lovely and they brought back memories that were so sweet to me. Thank you so much."

* "I could have sang along with most every one of those old songs except, you know, I can't sing anymore. As I have gotten old, I just can't sing. Isn't that sad?" I held this lady's hand and replied, "Oh, but you can sure thank the Lord that you were once able to sing, right? Because, you know, some people, like Claire and I...well, we've never been able to sing!" The lady laughed, "You're right. That's how I should think about it."

* "We just love it when you guys come. You make the whole week special because we look forward to it before you come and then, after you're gone, we still we hum the songs and talk to each other about it the whole rest of the week. Thank you so much for thinking of us and doing all this for us."

Our response to such comments is always some form of -- "It is our distinct pleasure. We love putting the shows together and we love even more presenting them to you in person. But it is a really big thrill for us to hear that you like them so much. That means the world to us and we are so glad and honored and encouraged by your appreciation. So thank you. We will look forward to seeing you next month."

And we mean every word.