The Glenelg Country School Concert Series will deviate from its usual slate of classical chamber music to play some top 40 music -- from 50 years ago.
Tomorrow, the Cocuzzi/Dale Swingtet jazz quartet will perform swing music selections by Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and Fats Waller in the Gould Building that houses the Upper School.
Alan Dale, co-founder of the quartet, said the group performs music that pop culture has largely ignored despite its American origins. "We're playing the music that Tony Bennett refers to as ++ the genius in American music," Mr. Dale said, listing Count Basie, George Gershwin and Johnny Mercer as examples. "It's difficult for younger people to appreciate that this was the top 40 music of its time."
He sees the work of Mr. Bennett along with that of Harry Connick Jr. and Natalie Cole feeding a boomlet of interest in the music his group plays.
"Tony Bennett hasn't changed. It's the audience that's come back," Mr. Dale said.
Cocuzzi/Dale Swingtet is composed of full-time musicians: Mr. Dale, drums; co-founder John Cocuzzi, vibraphone and piano; Vinnie Corrao, guitar; and Jay Miles, bass. For tomorrow's performance, Rick Whitehead will play guitar.
The group also forms the rhythm section of the New Legacy Jazz Band, which has a brass section and plays music from swing to be-bop, modern jazz and Dixieland. Both groups have released compact discs under its Silver Spring-based New Legacy Music label. "We're just playing music we really love. Unfortunately, it // was popular 50 years ago," Mr. Dale said.
The "swingtet" was formed five years ago by Mr. Dale and Mr. Cocuzzi, who wanted independence from managers. They were tired of being "at the mercy of a guy who's a better businessman than you and owns a sound system -- nonplaying people," Mr. Dale said.
About 70 percent of the group's gigs are private parties, which the Washington area has in abundance. The group played at Ethel Kennedy's home and later for Sen. Ted Kennedy as well at the French Embassy, which made for some memorable images. "We've got David Brinkley dancing 2 feet in front of us," Mr. Dale said.
A native of Washington, D.C., Mr. Dale, 34, started drumming as an infant on his parents' hat boxes and was taking lessons at age 5.
His father, vibraphonist Billy Dale, once woke him at 3 a.m. to watch Duke Ellington's band unload their bus at the hotel where they were staying. At 15, he had his American Federation of Musicians union card.
Fellow Washington native Mr. Cocuzzi, 30, traces his path toward the vibraphone like Lionel Hampton's, combining his skills in drumming and piano. His father also was a musician, a percussionist with the U.S. Marine Band.
A review in Jersey Jazz, a publication of the New Jersey Jazz Society, in 1991 said the younger Mr. Cocuzzi "dazzled everyone with his marvelous touch, producing results which have not been heard since the days of the Benny Goodman quartet with the great Lionel Hampton on vibes."
Guitarist Rick Whitehead, a free-lance musician who teaches jazz guitar at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va., has worked with artists such as Sarah Vaughan, Billy Taylor and Louie Bellson.
Bassist Jay Miles has performed for Bob Hope and at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
Although Mr. Dale stresses the heritage of swing music in American culture, he also says the group's arrangements of the music are not dry copies of the past.
"We're going to have everyone in the audience tapping their feet," he said. "Its a very accessible style. It's not stale. It's not 800-year-old guys in the same cummerbunds playing 'In the Mood.' "
The Glenelg Country School Concert Series will present the Cocuzzi/Dale Swingtet at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Gould Building, 12793 Folly Quarter Road. Tickets are $12. Information: 531-2229.