Vargas Swing
Fire
© 1998 Vargas Swing/MO-ISME PRODUCTIONS (028933503429)
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Arriving to the scene from funk and acid jazz backgrounds, Vargas broke Swing big in St. Louis with a crowd-pleasing style that mined the rich veins of the music's past- while adding modern touches. Currently Mo Egeston and Dawn Weber work as mo & dawn.
tracks
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albums you will love
- URBAN JAZZ NATURALS: urban jazz naturals
- DR ZOOT: Ragtop
- MO & DAWN: THE REMIX PROJECT: mo & dawn: the remix project vol. 1
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Vargas is a dynamic show band that reflects the influences of Latin, soul, jazz and blues. Their high energy show centers on the soulful vocals and crisp trumpet playing of the fabulous Dawn Weber. Bandleader Mo Egeston has assembled a top notch crew of musicians to continue the tradition of musical excellence long associated with all of his successful projects.
The History:
Formed in 1997, Vargas Swing quickly distinguished themselves from most of the so-called "swing bands" and became one of the Midwest's top show bands. Their focus was evident at their shows; dancers danced, but many more came for the high-energy show and high quality music. Vargas Swing recorded an EP Fire (Blueberry Hill) in 1998 and toured the country for most of 1999. This release from the original 8-piece lineup features top-notch musicianship and crisp arranging of five of Dawn's Weber's songs. From 1999-2000 Vargas Swing appeared on two nationally released compilations: House of Blues Swings (House of Blues) and Hipster, Zoots and Wingtips Vol. 3.
The Players:
It was only Vargas Swing's second show and already big things were happening. At that show Dawn approached Mo and politely asked to sit in. Sit in she did and the rest as they say is history. Dawn brings a wealth of training to complement her natural talents. She made the commitment to attend North Carolina School For the Arts (think FAME) at the age of 16. As a result of that training and years spent at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dawn is also an accomplished classical trumpeter. She has performed with the St. Louis Symphony and was invited to be one of five worldwide finalists in the 2000 Ellsworth-Smith International Trumpet Competition in Germany. Her seven years of performing experience with Vargas and more recently UJN (see below); combined with her lifelong commitment to music enabled her to quickly become one of St. Louis' most prominent and recognized musicians.
Vargas was founded in 1997 by Maurice "Mo" Egeston. Since finishing school and "switching musical directions", Mo has been at the helm of some of St. Louis' most exciting projects. Past projects include Invincible Groov (house band at The Green Room on Washington Ave), Vargas Soundsytem and Vargas Swing. Mo currently serves as bandleader and booking agent for Vargas and Urban Jazz Naturals.
Mo's background reflects his true strength which is diversity. He is a classical pianist with graduate degrees in piano performance and is on the faculty of Columbia College. Additionally, Mo is a jazz pianist and has performed in concert with the Nuevo tango chamber group ConcerTango. Mo also was Dawn's accompanist in Germany for the 2000 Ellsworth-Smith International Trumpet Competition.
From 2000- 2005, Mo and Dawn performed and recorded with the electronica act Urban Jazz Naturals, an all-original hybrid of electronic dance, funk and soul. UJN has received national press and international recognition their single "How Can I" in 2004 (Gallery) and the Urban Jazz EP in 2005.
Building on the successful foundation and sound of UJN, the duo made the difficult decision to go “solo” in the summer of 2005 with "the remix project". The sound is still all about live electronica but with complete freedom of style and musical collaboration. The new set includes house, trip hop, electro funk, soul, acid jazz and drum& bass.
Mo has literally remixed every track that he and Dawn wrote for UJN as well as some tracks from the original Vargas Swing EP and lots of new material. Ever busy writing and remixing tracks, mo & dawn look forward to hitting the road in 2006 with their new sounds.
Mo & dawn: the remix project vol. 1 will be released in September 2006 and will eventually be available on CD baby. The newest version of Vargas now features everything mo & dawn from Latin to to R & B to live electronica.
Go to myspace.com/moanddawn to hear excerpts from the new CD. See moanddawn.com for more information.