The Big Band Era Lives at The Suffolk

Suffolk Theater presents The Glenn Crytzer Orchestra on Saturday, January 14, at 8 p.m.

The Glenn Crytzer Orchestra is an award-winning 17-piece big band specializing in the music of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Named “Best Group in New York” by the NYC Jazz Awards in 2017, The GCO brings to life the music of this bygone age with stunning authenticity. The band is an elite aggregation of some of the world’s most prominent vintage-jazz specialists. Their superlative musicianship and unbridled swing is fueled by each musician’s genuine love for playing prewar jazz, making every performance one to remember.

The GCO’s repertoire includes the music of artists like Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Jean Goldkette, Cole Porter, Bing Crosby, Harry James, Fletcher Henderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, George Gershwin, Billie Holiday and many others. More than just a repertory orchestra, the band also continues to expand the repertoire by performing bandleader Glenn Crytzer’s original “vintage-style” compositions and arrangements.

Glenn Crytzer is a New York City based bandleader, arranger, composer, guitarist, and vocalist who is in love with the music of the Jazz Age and Swing Era.

While completing his formal training in classical composition and cello at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Florida State University, Crytzer took up dancing the Lindy Hop as a hobby. Through the Lindy his love of early jazz grew, but he lamented that there were so few musical groups that specialized authentic performance of his favorite kind of music. He decided to put his musical training to use, taught himself guitar, banjo and jazz arranging, and set about bringing to life the music he loved.

The band has been featured at Lincoln Center, The Plaza Hotel, the Rainbow Room, the Glen Echo Ballroom, Lindy Focus, The Century Ballroom, The Montauk Club, the Fillmore Room, Kola House and many more. The band’s debut recording “Ain’t It Grand?” was released in 2018 on Blue Rhythm Records.

Tickets for The Glenn Crytzer Orchestra are $45 to $65 at suffolktheater.com. Suffolk Theater is at 118 East Main Street in Riverhead.