Big Band Music Returns to Dreamland Ballroom After 50 Years of Silence!
By the Swing Band Reunion
On Friday, July 25 at 7:00 p.m., the historic Dreamland Ballroom will come alive once again with the sounds of classic jazz and swing, as Swing Band Reunion (SBR) takes the stage for a one-night-only celebration of music and history. Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased online:
This landmark performance marks the triumphant return of Big Band music to Dreamland Ballroom, a revered venue that hosted some of the greatest names in jazz and blues from the 1920s through the 1960s. After more than fifty years of silence, the echoes of legends like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Etta James, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Jimmie Lunceford, and Arkansas’s own Louis Jordan will once again fill the air.
Swing Band Reunion is celebrating its 25th anniversary as the modern extension of the outstanding Central High School Swing Band. The ensemble has performed throughout Central Arkansas, including at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, churches, retirement communities, and at the 2024 Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
This event also sets the stage for another historic anniversary: Taborian Hall, home to the Dreamland Ballroom, will mark 107 years on W. 9th Street in downtown Little Rock in July 2025. Originally known as the Taborian Temple, the building was inaugurated with a week-long celebration in 1918 by the Knights of Tabor.
Join us as we honor Dreamland’s extraordinary legacy and keep its musical spirit alive for a new generation.