Director / Trumpet / Flugelhorn: Warren Balfour has degrees from Los Angeles City College, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Long Beach and has received his Doctorate from the Univ. of Northern Colorado. He is an adjudicator and clinician at major music festivals throughout the western states, a position he's held with the Southern California Band and Orchestra Association for over 30 years. He also maintains a Professor Emeritus position at Cuesta College, after 31 years in the Performing Arts Department. While at Cuesta, he directed 10 major tours spotlighting the Cuesta College music groups.  They  performed   throughout Europe, including  the North Sea Jazz Festival  and  the Montreux Jazz Fesitval. Warren formed the Royal Garden Swing Orchestra in 1985 to perform at the Santa Ynez Winery Sunday Jazz Series. They've been going strong ever since!
 
Trumpet / Flugelhorn: Mitch Latting  has performed with The Temptations, Red Skelton, The Four Freshmen, Marvin Hamlish, Bobby Shew and Matt Catingub, to name a few, but he says he is most honored to be a charter member of the Royal Garden Swing Orchestra. Mitch has also played lead trumpet for the Manhattan Transfer and since 1979 has been with the San Luis Jazz Band as band leader, trumpet player and vocalist. He's been on seven tours to the Montreux Jazz Festival in  Switzerland with  Dr. Balfour and the Cuesta College music groups. The greatest musical influences in Mitch's life have been his parents, Frank Sinatra and the amazing Maynard Ferguson.

Trombone: Craig McNichols was born in Wyoming to a family that was part of the Irish immigration wave in the early 1960's.  Craig's lifelong connection with the trombone started in the 4th grade when he was the only student fascinated by its "strange" appearance. By the mid-1980's he had arrived in San Lus Obispo, studying and performing music at Cuesta College. In 1989, he graduated from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, receiving a Minor in Music and a B.S. in International Business.  Like the others in Royal Garden Swing Orchestra, he is a fixture in the Central Coast music scene, performing in such bands as: Cuesta Jazz, No Deadwood, Noodles, SLO Mambo, GOZA, Salson and Gruvething.  Along with playing in bands, he is  a  songwriter  and will sing whenever he can talk a Band Director into "lettin' the trombone player sing".