“An eclectic synthesis of the American idiom.”
Casey MacGill, The Blue Four Trio
Jonathan Rooke grew up influenced by the feel and sound of Minneapolis and St. Paul gospel churches. He migrated west, finding swing, jazz, and gypsy players in aplenty in Boulder, Colorado and Seattle, Washington. His set lists include music played in an earlier era by the likes of Fats Waller, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Williams, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, B.B.King, the Mills Brothers, the Ink Spots and many others.
He is now a seasoned entertainer, with many years under his belt as band leader. While in Seattle, Jonathan led his with his band, Flip and Fly, for many years and performed with many other local swing and gypsy jazz groups.
Jonathan loves to sing classic jazz standards such as “Honeysuckle Rose”, “All of Me”, or “Ain’t Misbehavin”. But, he also likes to dig a little deeper into the archive to highlight classic songs which don’t get often get the spotlight such as “Baby Face”, “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby”, and “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover”.
After many years absorbing the work of the great jazz composers, Jonathan now adds to the genre with his own compositions. These tunes are catchy, lyrical, and fun and are modeled on the great songwriters from the 1920s through the 60s.
Jonathan now lives and performs in New York City where is soon to release his first album.