Customer Reviews

Blue Saracens

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The Blue Saracens are one of the top bands in NYC and they are a favorite of listeners and dancers alike. They add their own touch and unique sound to several classics. Their originals swing just as hard as the classics they cover.

This is one album that swing fans young and old can appreciate.

There are only a few swing bands these days who sound anything like the original swingers or who can perform a cover song with any justice. The Blue Saracens are one of these bands. The songs on here are crisp and clean and Nicole Frydman's powerful vocals are simply astounding. What I find refreshing is that the 12 selections offer a range of tempos instead of choosing to stick with a medium beat throughout the album. If you're tired of neo-swing bands that sound too much like rock bands, you're best bet is to get your hands on a copy of this CD. You won't regret it.

The Blue Saracens are consummate jazz musicians who adhere to the wonderful tradition of 1940s swing -- without the irony and campiness of other, more popular current swing bands. This is great music, pure and simple, no excuses given to our lazy 1990s ears soiled by years of musical mediocrity. Their covers sizzle with the same power they must have had back in the golden age ("St. James Infirmary" and "Drumboogie"), and their adaptations of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" and "Tannhauser" into swinging arrangements sound like they could have been charted by Fletcher Henderson. My only complaint: if they could just add six more musicians and become a true big band, they'd be ruling the swing world (or at least be one of the crown princes of big bands).