-Composer and Author-
Phil Swann
Phil Swann's career in the entertainment industry has spanned more than 40 years as a composer, author, playwright, performer, and producer.
BOOKS & PLAYS
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Cold War Copa (A Trip Callaway gig — Book One)
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A blonde bombshell floats face down in a swimming pool. Is it a love affair gone wrong? Or is something far more sinister afoot?
Cold War Copa is the first book in the Trip Callaway gig mystery series, a pulp fiction tale of Sin City during its Golden Age from author, playwright, and composer Phil Swann. Las Vegas in 1965. Gangsters, showgirls, the Rat Pack, cool is king, and everything swings. Especially Trip Callaway, a young, wise-cracking trumpet player working the Sands. But when people around him start getting knocked off, Trip is thrust into a dangerous maze of secrets, lies, murder, and Cold War intrigue, where nothing is how it seems and no one is who they say they are. Was it the mob? The boyfriend? The stripper? Or could the truth lie at a mysterious top secret location hidden deep in the Nevada desert nobody wants to talk about? All Trip knows for sure is, if he doesn’t figure it all out fast, he could be next on the killer’s hit parade.
Mekong Delta Blues (A Trip Callaway gig — Book Two)
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A ruthless Chinese crime syndicate has infiltrated Las Vegas. Heroin is on the rise in Sin City. So is murder. Sounds like a job for a trumpet player.
Las Vegas, 1965. Hot off the heels of his last adventure in Cold War Copa, Trip Callaway, the young, wise-cracking musician with dreams as big as the Hoover Dam, has reluctantly agreed to go undercover and do some light spying for the government—light spying, as in report on who’s hobnobbing with whom in the casinos along The Strip. But when Trip is asked to pose as a trumpet teacher to the thirteen-year-old step-son of a notorious crime boss, he quickly realizes he’s agreed to more than he bargained for. Killers, prostitutes, heroin addicts and, of course, a beautiful woman, lead Trip into a deadly game of cat and mouse where he’s not sure if he’s the cat or the mouse. And, if that’s not bad enough, the U.S. government has another surprise for him. From a ghost town in the Nevada desert, to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., to the jungles of Vietnam, Trip Callaway must stay alive, sort it all out, and keep that famous Callaway cool in the process.
Tinseltown Tango (A Trip Callaway gig — Book Three)
Lights, camera, Trip! Our intrepid hero goes Hollywood.
Los Angeles, 1966. Hot off the heels of his last adventure in Mekong Delta Blues, Trip Callaway, the young, wise-cracking musician with dreams as big as The Golden State itself, takes a break from his steady gig on the Vegas Strip, to do some easy undercover work in Hollywood for his secret agency benefactors—it’s Hollywood, how dangerous could it be? But as Trip soon discovers, The Dream Factory can also be a nightmare. A ruthless gangster, a dubious district attorney, a mysterious tango band, and a sexy singer from Argentina, who elevates the word diva to a whole new level, force Trip into a malaise of love, lies, revenge, and a twenty-five-year-old family secret that will change his life forever. For Trip Callaway, the Tinseltown Tango is a dance where one missteps could prove fatal.
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Ships & Salsa (A Trip Callaway gig - Book Four)
Trip takes a vacation!
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Miami Beach, 1966. Hot off the heels of his last adventure in Tinseltown Tango, Trip Callaway, the young, wise-cracking musician with dreams as big as the Atlantic Ocean, is forced to take a break from his steady gig on the Vegas Strip to soak up some rays and mojitos in the Sunshine State courtesy of Uncle Sam. The only caveat? Trip must lay low and stay out of trouble. Yeah, right.
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From the glitz and glam of the world famous Fontainebleau Hotel, to a notorious gambling ship anchored off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, to the launch pads of Cape Canaveral, Trip Callaway wades neck-deep into Cuban gangsters, salsa music, and a murder mystery with global consequences. A crime where whodunnit might not be nearly as important as why?
Stardust Shuffle (A Trip Callaway gig - Book five)
Fore!
Las Vegas, 1966. Hot off the heels of his last adventure in Ships & Salsa, musician Trip Callaway, sideman to the stars and part-time undercover spook, discovers he’s got a secret admirer. The problem is the secret admirer is lying dead in the morgue. Trip is ordered to stay cool and let the professionals handle it. Staying cool is no problem—as for the other part, not so much.
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From the glittering lights of the Las Vegas Strip, to the sprawling fairways of the legendary Stardust Country Club, Trip Callaway must scramble to learn the identity of the mysterious corpse, while at the same time prevent an assassination with international consequences. Hookers, hitmen, Washington insiders, and an unexpected complication to his personal life, conspire to thwart Trip’s mission at every turn. One thing’s for certain, if Trip doesn’t get to the bottom of what’s going on fast, he could end up in the tall grass…or six feet under it.
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The Mozart Conspiracy
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What could be so important about a piece of music that people are willing to kill for it?
Paris, 1778. The opening performance of the Concert Spirituel sets the scene for a chance meeting between Benjamin Franklin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Now, two humored and twenty-five years later, this fortuitous encounter propels a down-and-out piano player named David Webber into a maze of murder and deception.
The Mozart Conspiracy is a suspense-thriller painted against the backdrop of history's most renowned composer. International assassins, the Mafia and shadowy figures within the U.S. government collided in the hunt for what will prove to be the most explosive musical discovery ever made.
The Song of Eleusis
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Hit Nashville songwriter, Ben Lambros, lives a privileged and carefree life. That's until his estranged brother, President of the United States, Tom Lambros, is assassinated and it appears to everyone Ben is to blame. Overnight, Ben's perfect world comes crashing down and he's hurled into a traitorous maze of lies, deceit and hidden family secrets. With nothing left to lose, Ben sets out on a dangerous quest to find who really killed his brother. Along the way he encounters a mysterious old Greek who knows more than he’s telling; meets a beautiful archeologist on a quest of her own; and learns of a three thousand year old cult powerful enough to thrust entire nations to the brink of collapse.
From Nashville, Tennessee to Athens, Greece, Ben Lambros must stay one step ahead of forces who’ll stop at nothing to acquire a priceless and mysterious artifact: The Song of Eleusis – the oldest song ever written.
Neil Simon's Musical Fools
​A new musical comedy by Ron West, Phil Swann & Neil Simon
The year is 1893. After a harrowing journey, recent college graduate Leon Tolinchinsky arrives in Kulyenchikov, Ukraine, to tutor Sophia Zubritsky, 19. Her parents, Nickolai and Leyna, inform him the village is cursed, rendering every resident as dumb as a bag of rocks. Leon must educate Sofia in 24 hours or fall victim to the curse himself, though teaching her, her parents, or anyone else about anything is just about impossible. To complicate matters, Leon and Sofia fall in love, infuriating Count Gregor, her long time suitor. Leon risks everything to break the curse and rescue the village. A musical based on the Neil Simon play, Fools.
The People vs Friar Laurence, the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet
A new musical comedy by Ron West & Phil Swann
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A musical comedy spoof starring the Friar of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet! Friar Laurence is behind bars, charged for the ‘murder' of the lovers. As the trial progresses, mayhem and silliness abound with bits, songs, and scenes equal parts Vaudeville and Bard. A “load of laughs” (Chicago Sun Times, highly recommended), The People Vs. Friar Laurence: The Man who Killed Romeo and Juliet is sure to leave both Shakespeare scholars and low-brow humorists rolling in the aisles!
“Hysterical—West and Swann have shrouded the tale with witty story devices and a bright cloak of catchy songs that add to the ribald humor while moving the story along in the best traditions of musical theatre.” —Chicago Sun Time