Best of Big Bands Vol.1 - Classic Swing Music Album for Jazz Lovers, Dance Parties & Vintage Music Collectors

Though the "Swing Era" evolved between 1935 and 1945, the influence of swing continued well into the fifties and sixties, and in this collection of black and white film clips from the Universal Studios archives, many of the great names associated with swing are shown in undated concerts, probably (judging from their appearance) between 1945 and 1955. No narration interrupts the flow of music and film, just brief still photographs of the performers, along with their names, to mark the change from one group to another.The clips include complete performances by:*Tommy Dorsey (trombone) and his orchestra, doing "Opus One" and Boogie Boogie."*The Hi-Los (a quartet which started in 1953), singing "Rocking Chair," with their choreographed arm movements and precise harmonies.*Ray Anthony (trumpet) and his band, "Skip to My Lou."*Benny Carter (sax), "Harlequin Bounce" and "Congeroo," with a very young Nat King Cole soloing on piano, and the relatively "new" sound of congas and bongos being introduced.*Tony Pastor, singing and flirting with a 17-year-old Rosemary Clooney, then a slim brunette, in "Movie Tonight," in 1945, filmed as if the singers were actually in a theater.*Harry James and the Music Makers, playing a swinging "Charmaine" and "Trumpet Blues, in which five trumpets solo as if they were a single instrument.*Billie Holiday (with Count Basie), singing "God Bless the Child" very delicately, along with the surprising, upbeat "Now (Baby) or Never."*Charlie Barnet (sax), directing "Redskin Rhumba" and the wonderful "Pompton Turnpike," in which he plays soprano sax in a terrific duet with a muted trumpet.*Duke Ellington and his orchestra, featuring singer Kay Davis in "On a Turquoise Cloud," using her voice as a band instrument and accentuating the melody while wordlessly vocalizing, a haunting arrangement which peaks when she duets with a clarinet. "Frankie and Johnny" features a very young Duke in a free-wheeling piano solo, with "Tricky Sam" Nantor playing a growly, muted trombone.*The Blackburn Twins with Marion Colby, demonstrating the Blackburns' dancing prowess as Colby sings flirtatiously to "In a Dancing Mood," before ripping off the bottom half of her long skirt and tap-dancing with them.*Young Gene Krupa (drums) and his band, performing "Lover," with a powerful drum solo, and "Leave Us Leap," in which the camera records his technique from above.In the original film clips, little effort is made to make the visuals as "exciting" as the music. The formality of the orchestras in dress and posture emphasize that these were primarily dance bands, not concert showmen, with virtually all the movements choreographed so that particular band sections move together. The camera work is fairly static, and the only "interesting" shots we see are of the shadows of the trombones with the Dorsey orchestra, and the horn and reed sections moving in opposite directions with the James orchestra. Produced by George Paige in 1987, this collection offers a rare opportunity to see and hear these pioneering musicians in action and is an important historical compilation which deserves to be converted to DVD. n Mary Whipple