Cheeze And Culture

Formed in 1974, N.Y.C.'s Dictators were one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth. Alternately reveling in and satirizing the wanton excesses of a Rock & Roll lifestyle and lowbrow culture, The Dictators played loud, fast Rock & Roll fueled by a love of '60s American garage rock, British Invasion pop, and the sonic onslaught of The Who. The band are represented in the "Punk Wing" of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland, Ohio. Steven Van Zandt called them "The connective tissue between the eras of The MC5, Stooges, NY Dolls, and the punk explosion of the mid to late 1970s"…

Combining the swing of Count Basie, the beat of Buddy Johnson, the New Orleans lilt of Fats Domino, and the passion of Dinah Washington, the J Street Jumpers are one of the East Coast’s most popular swing bands. They’ve garnered the respect of the Washington music industry as well, evidenced in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 by Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) Wammie Awards wins: Best Big Band – Swing Duo/Group, Best Big Band – Swing Recording and Best Jazz. Their 1998 release, Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby, was on The Washington Post’s list of favorite local CDs of the year.