Swing Shift

Swing Shift

Editorial Reviews
<"b00000k0u17499"> Amazon.com
Judging by the first few tracks on Count Basie Orchestra's Swing Shift--the rollicking "Burnin'," "Easy Go," and "Four for Basie"--the band is trying to cash in on the swing revival that sawBig Bad Voodoo Daddy play at the 1999 Super Bowl halftime show and Brian Setzer miraculously extend his career. And why not? The CBO is, after all, the real deal, the big band that can be credited with defining the classic swing rhythm in Kansas City in the 1930's--remember, the Orchestra has been steadily touring and recording since Basie's death in 1984. But while the disc is indeed an exhilarating set of big band swing, peppered with impossibly tight horn arrangements and scorching solos from standouts like saxophonists Brad Leali and Kenny Hing and trumpeter Bobby Ojeda, it's also a lot more than that. Swing Shift is at once a classic swing album and a thoroughly modern big-band jazz record, with 11 new compositions and three classics showcasing brand new arrangements. Of course, everything here is impeccably done in the swinging Basie style, making Swing Shift an ideal disc both for older fans already hooked on the Orchestra's sound and for swing newcomers curious about the music's origins. --Ezra Gale

<"b00000k0u15516"> From Jazziz
The swing "revival" of recent years has produced some jarring generation-gap moments. Khaki-clad kids approach big-band leaders after a long set of '40s big-band classics to query, in all sincerity, "Do you guys play any swing?" Dance-party DJs entertain pleas to "Play some of that new music - you know, that swing." Young hipsters whose zoot-suit pockets are deeper than their knowledge of tradition have an ear-opening revelation in store if they take the neo-swing bait this album's cover offers.... read more