Elizabeth Shapiro: Present Day Swing Is A Global Phenomenon
Elizabeth Shapiro, the founder, lead singer, and frontwoman of Lizzy and the Triggermen, was infatuated with Swing Era music and its glamorous artists while growing up. What she did not realize is how swing music has become a global phenomenon in present day circles. Serendipitously, she is relishing being a part of it.
She reveals, "I have always enjoyed listening to music from the Swing Era - but I had no idea that swing music was so alive and well in modern times until I was putting together my band."
"In search of an arranger," she recalls, "I went to hear a band play at a little dive bar in Burbank that hosted swing music every Monday. As I pulled up to what looked like a sports bar, I was shocked to find inside a room full of young people in vintage outfits dancing their hearts out to a super swinging band. It felt like being transported to another time."
"Turns out," she illuminates, "there is this whole vibrant scene of swing dancers, vintage enthusiasts, pinups, not just in Los Angeles but all over the world that I had no idea existed. As someone whose collected vintage clothing my entire life - it felt like finding my tribe!"
In retrospect, she ponders, "I created the band in a moment of what can only be described as blissful delusion, haha," she chuckles lightheartedly, citing, "I was warned by veteran musicians not to create a 10-piece band. It’s a logistical nightmare and there’s hardly any profit margin. And yet, I’m so incredibly glad I didn’t listen to their, admittedly sage, haha, advice," she imparts cheekily.
"I’m someone who likes to go big or go home," she describes. "The challenge of forming such a large band excited me, and there’s just no substitute for the sound of a big band. Fortunately for us, our size has actually worked in our favor much more than it has hindered us. We very quickly were catapulted from playing small speakeasies to headlining major theaters - like the Wiltern and the El Rey."
"As someone whose other career was screenwriting in Hollywood," she correlates, "I’m always imagining worlds. So, of course, when I created the band, I imagined the world around it: filled with film noir vixens, gangsters, illicit speakeasies and shadowy art deco streets. The Triggermen perfectly fit that aesthetic."
"I also loved that it had some edge to it," she adds. "Too often vintage music can be dismissed as sentimental and trite. I knew from the start I wanted the band to bring an edge of excitement the way I imagined it would have felt to be a nightclub singer in the ‘20s. I don’t want the music to feel safe and polite - but rather thrilling and bold."
She considers, "While the band started out as fixed players, it’s evolved to become a rotating roster of some of the most incredible jazz musicians around the country. I think of the band now as a collective."
"Having slightly different personnel each show," she examines, "helps us hear the music anew each time and keep us on our toes. In fact, on our album, Live at Joe’s Pub, half of the band from L.A. literally met the other half of the band from N.Y.C. at soundcheck!"
"With that said," she prefaces, "there are certain musicians who are fixtures in the band - like our Musical Director, Nate Ketner, an incredible reed player. Of course, there is also our arranger, Dan Barrett, who played lead trombone in Benny Goodman’s last orchestra."
Lizzy and the Triggermen's 2025 release Live at Joe's Pub was recorded during their live performances at Joe's Pub in Manhattan held in April 2024. It is their second outing, demonstrating their tightness as a swinging ensemble on stage
She revels in, "As the band’s reputation has grown amongst fellow musicians, I’ve been in awe of the legendary musicians who all want to be Triggermen! For instance, John Allred - who plays trombone on our album - is considered by many to be the best living trombone player. He’s such a legend I almost didn’t bother asking him if he would join us - but so glad I got up the courage to do so!"
"The songs on the album are just the songs we played from our two sets we performed at Joe’s Pub!" She explains, "Since it was our New York debut, I wanted to do a bold and eclectic mixture - from Broadway to Sidney Bechet to Britney Spears with a few operatic high notes sprinkled in for good measure."
Her rendering of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from the Broadway musical Gypsy is provocative, and her delivery of Britney Spears's pop tune "Baby One More Time," shows that pop songs can be reimagined with swing-imbued trimmings, revitalizing their luster.
"It’s important to mention that we had no intention of making an album that night," she singles out, "in fact, none of the musicians even knew they were being recorded. I think that’s why the band sounds so swinging and like we are having so much fun."
"At the last minute," she recollects, "I asked the venue to record the show since it’s such an iconic venue. I figured we might get a couple of promo videos out of it - but never suspected we’d get an album! Live albums are notoriously difficult. You need all of the stars to align: great band, great audience, great sound, great capture. If any one of those things isn’t there…the whole thing fails. Thankfully, all of the stars aligned this time."
Contrastly, the band's debut release Good Songs for Bad Times is a studio album, displaying a different dynamic in their performance.
Comparing the two recordings, she deems, "I’m definitely my happiest when I’m on stage, with my band, in front of an audience. I think that’s when I’m at my best as a performer, too. I can feed off of the energy of everyone and be super present. Of course, that’s also the risk of live shows. Sometimes the vibe just isn’t there - and I have to fake it, which is incredibly draining. Thankfully that’s a rare occurrence," she intones.
"Meanwhile, in the studio," she broaches, "I do all of my vocals in isolation - which I don’t love. There’s no energy to feed off of, so I have to instead create it all myself. With that said, I look at studio albums as a different creature than live shows. Studio tracks are the platonic ideal of a song. You can play with different things - like samples and innovative production - that we don’t incorporate into our live shows."
She highlights, "We are actually in the studio now working on our next album. I have to say that now having both a studio album and a live album under our belts, I feel freer with this next studio album. I don’t feel like I have anything to prove anymore - so can just embrace the creative process and just have fun. With that said, albums are arduous work that bring out my perfectionist side - so I’ll be glad when it’s all done!"
Elizabeth Shapiro learned early in life to dive deep into arduous work, as she reminisces, "I’ve been singing as long as I can remember. When I was only four and a half, I auditioned for my local community theater’s production of Annie by singing an old Tin Pan Alley tune…on one foot! What can I say? I’ve always had a flare for drama ;)."
She muses, "I grew up idolizing singers like Judy Garland, Maria Callas, Sarah Vaughan, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Ella Fitzgerald. In them I found not only voices that moved me, but women who unapologetically owned their power."
"In a world that constantly tells women to take up less space, be seen not heard," she remarks, "these women were a revelation to me. I also loved that their voices just got better with age. Early Ella is wonderful, and we actually do a version of 'When I Get Low, I Get High' that she recorded in her teens, but later Ella is divine."
She elucidates, "My vocal training was actually in opera! An unusual origin story for a jazz singer, but I’m so grateful for the training. It’s very taxing to sing for hours over a 9-piece band, but classical singing trains you to project over an orchestra in a way that doesn’t hurt your voice."
She remembers, "When I was a kid, I had this glorious 'dress up box' filled with fabulous vintage gowns. As my peers grew out of playing dress up…I never did."
"In creating the band, I never expected that our audiences would get equally dressed up," she prides. "In fact, often our fans are dressed better than I am! I love that we offer a space for people to show off their glamorous sides. I believe everyone has a superhero alter ego - but there are so few opportunities in modern life to get to show off that majestic side of yourself."
She observes, "Modern life is oppressively casual. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to slip on a pair of sweatpants after a long day, but I think people underestimate how important aesthetic beauty is to our soul."
"Now, I’m not talking about 'beauty' in the way social media portrays it," she clarifies, illustrating, "caking your face with makeup and squeezing into some unrealistic dress size. No shade of that makes you happy, but that’s not the aesthetic beauty I’m talking about."
Swing music and the atmosphere it creates make performers and audience members feel special, deserving of self-esteem. An entertaining ritual that engaged the plebeians during the time of Ancient Rome with street fairs, the proletariat in the early 20th century with musicals, and everyday folks today with a mixture of fairs, musicals and concerts. Evidence of the accessibility of swing music in modern times includes the annual Jazz Age Lawn Party held every summer on Governor's Island in New York City and the UK's annual SwingFest held at Belford ballroom in Balham, London.
"One of the many things that I love about swing music," she professes, "is how accessible it is. It’s visceral music that you can appreciate without having ever heard it before. Something either swings or it doesn’t - and people can instinctively feel that."
She shares, "Some of my favorite shows we’ve ever done have actually been for audiences who may have never been to a jazz show before. We actually had the honor of touring briefly with iconic rock band, Squeeze. At first I was worried how an audience - who had bought tickets for a rock concert - would react to an acoustic swing band. The night before our first show I had visions of boos and proverbial tomatoes being thrown. But instead - we got a standing ovation and calls for an encore! I think that’s a testament to how thrilling swing music can be!"
"I also love how subversive swing music is," she gleans. "On the surface it just seems like catchy dance music, which, of course, it is. But if you listen to the lyrics, you realize that there is an unflinching depth to what those composers were writing about that is shocking - and often speaks to the same issues we are still dealing with today. It was music born from hard times that both speaks to those times and provides the medicine to help us endure them."
"In terms of inspiration," she determines, "I am inspired by so much!"
"Even though our sound is vintage," she regards, "we are still a modern band whose job is to make music relevant to today. So I’m constantly trying to listen to as much as possible. And there are so many incredible artists making exciting music right now."
"I’m especially drawn to female artists." she points out, "I think pop music is having an exciting moment right now. Yebba, Raye, Lily Allen, Charli XCX are all powerhouses doing super interesting music that I find incredibly inspiring."
She recounts a fond memory, "We recently had a large group literally take a boat to come hear us in Seattle all because of our original, 'Outta Your League'! There’s nothing more rewarding as an artist than having your music resonate deeply with people."
"I also want to keep pushing myself as a vocalist and composer," she contemplates. "Our next album is set to be our most ambitious yet. It’s a concept album that is going to be all original music. I can’t wait for people to hear it!"
Perhaps one of the best kept secrets has been swing music is a global phenomenon, stimulating audiences in present day US and abroad. While mainstream radio has designated swing to their archives, younger generations are gravitating to the glamor and pomp the breed elicits. Lizzy and the Triggermen are giving audiences an outlet to be infatuated by swing music, and to partake in its enthusiasm, honesty and revelry. Perhaps the world is moving towards a new gilded age afterall.
Related Links:
https://lizzyandthetriggermen.com/home
https://open.spotify.com/album/7J5rAaGsFUZwY9pOia9bZX?si=6BeC1-MLSeqL1K4jQdBvEA&nd=1&dlsi=4a3aa154586b4618
https://jazz2love.blogspot.com/2025/11/new-release-live-at-joes-pub-from-lizzy.html
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