Solitaire Miles has always loved singing Swing tunes. Her grandmother, a singer with a big band in the late 1930s, exposed her to the music as a child. Several members of her family were musicians and she grew up hearing Swing and Retro Country at Sunday afternoon family concerts. She performed as a teenager in the late 1980's with well known Jazz saxophonist Bruce Johnstone in the NW Pennsylvania area where she is originally from. Solitaire originally planned to be an opera singer, but while attending DePaul University in Chicago, she met the legendary Swing violinist Johnny Frigo who encouraged her to sing Swing. After college in the early 1990's she began working in Chicago with Sax Master Von Freeman, and pianist Willie Pickens, who also played on her self-titled release in 2006.
For her first Western Swing recording, Solitaire used most of the musicians from her regular band. "They all did a great job of adapting to this music. Neal Alger, who wrote most of the arrangements, is one of my favorite guitarists in Chicago. He is a dynamic musician who can play many different styles, working with Patricia Barber during the past 20 years, as has our fine bassist Larry Kohut. And drummer Phil Gratteau is also a great accompanist for singers. "Three other musicians are new members to Solitaire recording group, pianist Tom Hope adds to perfect 1950s Country feel to the music, sometimes recalling Floyd Cramer. Slide guitarist TC Furlong, who in 1983 had a Nashville hit in "The Curly Shuffle" with his Western Swing group "Jump 'N The Saddle Band," blended in well with the Jazz musicians. Also, the versatile fiddler Stuart Rosenberg who is known for performing Folk, Argentinian music, Klezmer and Swing, adds an authentic flavor to the group.
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