Chris Chandler and his six-piece band, The SwingKats, have been invited to perform at the 300-year anniversary celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 22-28, 2003. Born in Savannah, now residing at Tybee Island, Georgia, Chandler has been playing piano and composing since childhood. An ASCAP Award recipient in 2001 for his composition ”Piano Roll Rag”, Chandler has recorded five CD’s and composed hundreds of songs in many musical styles ranging from Ragtime and Ballad to Popular, Country and Rock.

The SwingKats, based in Atlanta, play for corporate and private events in the southeast - including Highlands, St. Simons, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Richmond, Sea Island, Hilton Head and in the southwest in Houston and Galveston. Locally he can be seen playing at DJ’s Piano Bar on Tybee and in historic Savannah at the Mulberry Inn and Suzabelle's.

Chris Chandler Tours Russia!

The SwingKats will be performing in St. Petersburg for the first time on July 23. Jumping a midnight express train to Moscow, they play two performances near the Kremlin, and then return to St. Petersburg for the big celebration weekend. The SwingKats will be the featured Jazz Band and perform at the Philharmonic Hall and then, the next day stage an outdoor performance in the square.

The band includes one of the best European tenor saxophone players of the 1990’s, Nikolia Panov. He has performed in the US, India and Europe as a soloist, composer and arranger. Driving the SwingKats rhythm is the drummer/percussionist Larry Duff. Larry has toured with Quincy Jones, David Sandborn, Andre’ Crouch, Jimmy Smith, and James Taylor.

	Contact: Chris Chandler Risandler Publishing Company 17-6th Avenue Tybee Island, GA 31328 USA (912) 786-0474 Email: risand@mindspring.com Web: www.southerncharmandswing.com
A new Christmas CD, “Gift of Love”, including four new original Christmas songs, will be released this Yuletide season. Two of the songs already received radio play time last season in Texas, New York, and overseas in Ireland and Denmark

Recording on the independent label Playing Dude Records

and Published by Risandler Publishing Company, the following CDs are available:

Southern Charm and Swing – Big Band tribute to Johnny Mercer

Lover’s Holiday – Eclectic mix of Movie Scores and Popular songs

88Keys and the SwingKats – Retro swing style with “Memphis Style’ horn arrangement

Change the Smile on Mona Lisa – Country and Western Ballads

Gift of Love – Collection of Christmas songs