MUSIC is the answer to staying young, according to the Nostalgia Swing Band whose members are mostly senior citizens!

The Ramsbottom-based band first tuned up in 1991 when five musicians got together in a Shuttleworth schoolroom with the idea of playing a few big band classics as a way to share their hobby. Nowadays the band has 15 permanent members plus guest musicians, and regularly play at events all over the region.

Compere Bert Burrows (69) said the band's policy - you might say philosophy - is not commercial: "Our aim is for each member to enjoy playing big band music, to enjoy socially the company of other musicians and to endeavour to improve each others' playing ability by friendly constructive discussion and encouragement," he said.

The players' skill and enthusiasm has proved a winning formula, however, as word spread, and the band were increasingly approached to perform across Lancashire. Recent gigs include playing at the Sports Personality of the Year at Elton Vale Sports Club, and the Fusilier Association Minden Ball in Rochdale. Band members meet for weekly rehearsals at the Royal British Legion Club in Central Street, Ramsbottom, but it is clearly a labour of love.

"Many of the members are veteran musicians - some semi-professional - and play for the sheer enjoyment. The band's success has been an added bonus!" said Bert, an accomplished saxophonist who had his own quartet for nine years.

The band is also proud to have jazz pianist Jimmy Holt as a member, who played with the award winning Jimmy Heyworth Orchestra in the 1950s. Tottington saxophonist Dennis Greenwood, a former builder, is Nostalgia's oldest member at 76, and also the only original member of the band who remains a regular member. But fellow founding members Denis Warburton and Ernie Westell do sometimes return to Ramsbottom to join in performances with the band they helped form, with trumpeter Ernie coming all the way from Anglesey. "He definitely gets the honours for long distance travelling for the band!" added Bert.

As swing music from the Forties and Fifties enjoys something of a revival, the band has expanded its repertoire to include numbers from music legends such as Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, as well as the old time ballroom music the band started with. Bert said that as long as people want to play, the band will carry on, and new members continue to join. And whilst many of the members are of pensionable age, it is obvious that age is irrelevant to the band's appeal - its latest recruit is 18-year-old saxophonist Charlotte Atack.

A love of music is clearly the common denominator, and Bert swears it is the secret of longevity! Any brass, woodwind or rhythm section musicians interested in the band, or for booking details, call Bert on 01706 822682.