Swing Mezzo: Ancestral Reclamation through Jazz, Poetry, and Projection

Swing Mezzo is a community-rooted, artist-led performance reclaiming the legacy of Doris Rheubottom, a Swing-era vocalist erased by racism and sexism who lived in Philadelphia for over 30 years. Though featured in Black newspapers and the film Smash Your Baggage, she and her peers remain absent from jazz histories. This project transforms archival fragments into visual-poetic performance, weaving projections of press clippings, playbills, and photographs with live poetry, jazz, and ritual. The result is both art and communal intervention. For over 40 years, her grave went unmarked, but Doris Rheubottom still wants to sing. Her grave is now marked; now it’s time to celebrate her and her voice.

Project supported by The Velocity Fund, the Puffin Foundation, and the Leeway Transformation Award

Featuring contributions from Kendrah Butler-Waters, Stephanie Cole, Hiwot Adilow, Karen Smith, and blew kind