Can a Mandolin Swing?

Music has always been a part of my life in one way or another. I started with the clarinet in middle school, moved to drums in high school, then bass. It wasn't until I started playing mandolin in 2003 that I found my true voice in music. Now music is a passion rather than a hobby. I started off my mandolin education playing mostly bluegrass and even played in the Dill Family Band. About a year into my playing mandolin I found www.jazzmando.com, a site that is used to promote the mandolin as a legitimate jazz instrument. Curiousity finally got the best of me and I started learning jazz. At first I was just dabbling, afraid I guess that it would be too much for me to understand, as it started unfolding for me a new world of possibilities for the mandolin started to emerge. After about a year of walking the fence I finally plunged into jazz, bought some fake books and started learning how to play melodies while chording to play solo jazz numbers. After a year of learning, with more to come, I'm ready to take my jazz playing out to let others hear what the mandolin can really do.