Retro Swing

If you like swinging big-band blues, this is a no-lose proposition. The eight-member backup outfit consists of jazz veterans who have played with giants like Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton, and Duke Ellington; lead singer Smith, a kid by comparison, only sounds as if she lived through the...

Longtime Toasters fans were disgruntled in 1999 when trumpeter Brian Sledge aka Lord Sledge left the group to devote full-time attention to his side band the Yallopin' Hounds. While dubbed swing revival, the Hounds' music leans closer to Jazz Messengers' style of late-'50s...

The current swing revival, a very healthy development that has given younger dancers an opportunity to jitterbug to four/four music has, ironically, resulted in quite a bit of erratic music. Some of the so-called swing bands are really just playing ockabilly, '50s pop, or mere imitations...

Recorded on vintage equipment in single takes, Nick Curran keeps things simple and swinging on his solo debut. Having played ockabilly with Kim Lenz set Curran's retro-twang cred in stone and the long-time lues aficionado strikes out on his own with the revelatory Fixin' Your Head....

If Fixin' Your Head's grainy, vintage sound turned a lot of heads, Nitelife Boogie will certainly put more than a few lues fiends into neck braces. Utilizing vintage recording equipment and a live performance aesthetic, guitarist/singer Nick Curran reinterprets jump lues classics...

Fevered anticipation surrounded the recording of roots music phenomenon Nick Curran's third album and debut for Blind Pig Records. Attaching himself to such a pinnacle of mainstream lues as Blind Pig seemed at first a mixed blessing. While it affords the ex- ockabilly twanger greater...

As its name implies, Austin, TX-based retro trio Hot Club of Cowtown attempts to be a cross between Django Reinhardt's Quintet of the Hot Club of France and Bob Wills' Texas Playboys, playing stripped-down Western swing in an acoustic jazz style using just violin, guitar, and bass. On...

The Frank & Joe Show is actually a partnership between Django Reinhardt-influenced guitarist Frank Vignola (who often overdubs a rhythm line behind his lead) and phenomenal percussionist Joe Ascione. Their eclectic CD primarily emphasizes music from the swing era, though there are a few...

Nick Curran's second album for Blind Pig Records features more of the retro-R&B that helped nab him the 2004 W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut. Once again, guitarist/vocalist Curran, drummer Damien Llanes, and bassist Preston Hubbard deliver an impressive old-school lues album...

George Gee's ig band benefited from the etro-swing movement of the 1990s, playing for dancers in New York and carving out a niche for themselves. For this particular project, they primarily perform arrangements by Frank Foster, who was present to lead them through their first studio (as...

The Frank & Joe Show's second CD continues in the same vein as their debut recording. Frank Vignola, a superb Django Reinhardt-inspired guitarist, and drummer Joe Ascione, a monster percussionist who plays a subtler role in this group than typical outings, once again explore a wide...

For their first album in four years, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy realized they needed to switch gears since the freak, late-'90s ig band craze had become about as hot as yesterday's scrambled eggs. Thankfully, a trip down to New Orleans to play Jazzfest (recounted in this album's title...

To a certain extent, etro-swing is always at its best in a live setting, whether it's in a packed club or a concert hall. There it's possible to get swept in the energy of a performance, feeding off the performance of the band and the vibe of the crowd. During the live show, it's...

"You gotta have a gimmick," said a wise old stage mother -- and Matt Catingub (aka Big Kahuna and youngest son of the late singer Mavis Rivers) has chosen his home-state Hawaii as the calling card for yet another new swing band. If you close your eyes, though, Hawaii is hardly in...

The 1990s Swing revival has been a mixed blessing for jazz fans; a lot of the practitioners talk the talk, walk the walk and wear the uniforms, but simply don't cut it as songwriters or performers because they rely too heavily on rock and omit any classic material from the genre. In spite...

On their third album, Hot Club of Cowtown expanded their lineup to three with the addition of Matt Weiner on bass and vocals. It's such an accomplished blend of Western swing, bluegrass, and Django Reinhardt-styled jazz that it comes as no surprise to read that they'd already been...

It Might as Well Be Swing features some of the biggest swing hits from Glenn Miller, Lawrence Welk, Pete Fountain, and Myron Floren. 22 classics are included, like Miller's "Tuxedo Junction," "Sun Valley Jump," and

George Gee leads a solid, second-level ig band in the New York area that was helped along by the popularity of etro-swing in the mid- to late '90s. At this live concert, Gee's orchestra, along with Count Basie's orchestra, helped celebrate the 85th birthday of famous dancer...