Gordon Webster meets Hetty Kate

This album began with a phone call.

In 2012 Hetty Kate was living in Melbourne, deep in a music scene shaped by some of Australia's finest swing bands - Chris Tanner's Virus, The Shuffle Club, Joe Stephenson's Rockets, The Pearly Shells. A seasoned performer on the international circuit, she was also a favourite voice at lindy hop and blues events across the country. When New York pianist 'The King of Swing' Gordon Webster brought his band to headline a lindy weekend in Canberra, Hetty was flown there to sing. Something clicked. A few weeks later, she picked up the phone.

Gordon Webster needs little introduction to anyone who dances. A prolific performer with decades of experience and an instinctive understanding of what moves a room, he said yes. The lindy hop community - generous as ever - crowdfunded the project through Pozible, with Swing Patrol and Jumptown Swing coming on as sponsors. Hetty bought her ticket to New York.

Hetty arrived with a carefully chosen repertoire - rare songs she'd spent years collecting, the kind that rarely make it onto setlists. Gordon brought his arranging instincts and the best musicians in the city. Together, under the watchful eye of engineer Michael Perez-Cisneros in Brooklyn, they made something that has since found its way onto dancefloors all over the world.

Gordon is still in New York, still touring, still bringing his incredible energy to lindy hop events globally. Hetty has since relocated to Paris, where she continues to record and tour - her curiosity drawing her towards more modern arrangements on occasion, though always with the American Songbook close at hand.

This album was made for dancers. It still is.