prime music BIG BAND SOUND Classic band has area residents still

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Nov 28, 2004 by Phil Anderson Capital-Journal

One of the band's younger members, Chris St. John, 36, who plays drums, said the Kings of Swing has a competent array of musicians.

"Everybody knows what they're doing," St. John said. "We're helping to keep alive music from the past."

Those who hear the Kings of Swing say they appreciate what the band is doing.

Floyd L. Trahoon, 80, of Topeka, who attended the recent tea dance at the Arab Shrine Temple, said succinctly: "They're good. They're real good."

Betsy Bergen, 76, who stood in a hallway just outside the large room where tea dance was being held, said big band and swing music is simply "the best" and brings back a load of memories for her.

"Oh, sure," she said, "all those old boyfriends I used to dance with.

"I do have a husband," she added with a grin, "but he's parking the car."

When her husband Jerry Bergen, 71, arrived, he agreed with his wife that big band and swing music are in a league of their own.

"What comes to mind is that when we were young, this is the kind of music we enjoyed," he said. "This is better music than they have now."

Other fans of big band and swing music would be quick to agree.

Even detractors can't argue with the fact that this lush style of music, which helped bring the nation through the Great Depression and the World War II eras, has stood the test of time.

Phil Anderson can be reached at

(785) 295-1195 or phil.anderson@cjonline.com.

Ray Rathert, the director and manager of the Kings of Swing dance band, welcomes guests to the Senior Prom last month at Harrah's Prairie Band Casino.

Kings of Swing second tenor Dr. Herschel Stroud cracks a smile between songs during a recent performance at the Arab Shrine Temple. The Topeka-based 14-piece ensemble performs favorites of the big band and swing eras at a variety of functions several times a year and will perform on New Year's Eve at Harrah's Prairie Band Casino.

Kings of Swing director Ray Rathert dances with his wife, Barbara, during a performance at the Arab Shrine Temple. "We love to dance, but we hardly get the chance because I'm always up here," Rathert said, in reference to his band direction duties.

The musicians in the Kings of Swing band have enough music to play for six hours without repetition but usually only play in three-hour sets.

Kings of Swing band members, front row, left to right: Jerry Boster, 2nd alto sax; Chris St. John, drums; Breta Bloomberg, electric bass; Amy Kelly, vocalist; Paul Morgenroth, 2nd tenor sax; Gary Stroud, 1st alto sax; Dr. Herschel Stroud, 3rd trumpet. Back row, left to right: Reid Miller, 2nd trombone; Ray Rathert, director, manager and drums; Jim Parker, piano; Darren Jenkins, 1st tenor sax; Larry Taylor, 1st trombone; C. L. Snodgrass, 2nd trumpet; Bob Ball, 1st trumpet. Not pictured is Steve Quy, baritone sax.

Bill Parrott twirls Jessica McDow, a pair of twenty-somethings from Lawrence, during the Kings of Swing's performance at the Senior Prom last month at Harrah's Prairie Band Casino.

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