Hawaiian Swing

Big Kahuna & the Copa Cat Pack | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 1999)
• Original Release Date: July 13, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Concord Records
• ASIN: B00000JLIT
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,700 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #48 in Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz > Retro Swing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cyclone of Swing, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hawaiian Swing (Audio CD)

Wow! Man! Whew! Oh does this band smoke! It creates a remarkably buoyant feeling. It's not really "Hawaiian Swing" though---rather it's the Hawaii that a 1961 Las Vegas Tiki Lounge would conjure up. The musicality and dynamics are stunning. My only tech complaint is that the sax section has an intonation problem often bedeviling sax sections (but not as bad as on George Gee's live CD). Count Basie never would have let that through. Big Kahuna is a fabulous vocalist---the best of any I've heard today (curiously, with a whiff of Jello Biafra). Of the crop of contemporary Swing dance bands, this band rockets to the top. How about relocating from SF to Maui, guys? Now that would be paradise.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS'LL MAKE YOU SMILE, February 2, 2002

By 

MOVIE MAVEN (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hawaiian Swing (Audio CD)

I first heard BIG KAHUNA and his COPA CAT PACK on the latest Rosemary Clooney album SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY. That album is a winner and it is easy to see why "the girl singer" loves working with this big band.

HAWAIIAN SWING is an album to cheer you when you're down; it's an album to play when you are cleaning the house; it's an album to listen to with friends at a party; it's an album to make you listen to songs you know and have heard your whole life (i.e. Benny Goodman's "Stompin' At The Savoy' or Dizzie Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia," etc.)and hear them as if for the first time. It's a big band sound with a 21st Century, Hawaiian twist.

The vocals are handled terrifically by The Big Kahuna and Linda Harmon. The entire band is comprised of saxes, trumpets, piano, trombones, bass and drums. It is a sound that will catch you off guard and make you smile...broadly. I have played this album, literally, dozens of times since buying it less than a month ago. The sound, as usual with Concord Jazz, is first rate.

It's hard to pick favorites on this dizzyingly fine CD, but I especially liked the gorgeous Johnny Mercer ballad, "I Remember You," Duke Ellington's "Love You Madly" and one of the wonderful original songs: Matt Catingub's (The Kahuna, himself)"After Hours." Catingub also plays alto sax, piano and arranges the various numbers!
And wait til you hear their version of Rosie's classic "Come On-A-My House" sung by Catingub with David Wells on tenor sax. Wow: What a great album. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Score one for the Big Kahuna!, January 4, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hawaiian Swing (Audio CD)

Yes, it's true. The saxes are out of tune on a couple of songs. I, for one, can live with that. This CD is awesome! The band can swing with the best of them (and I've compared this CD to Basie's band with Sinatra singing and the 1964 Woody Herman band). The band plays with an unmatched energy level and has all the right stuff, i.e., a drummer that plays with intensity, enthusiasm and technique; a lead trumpeter with a sound as big as a house (and great range); world class sax solos from Da Big Kahuna and David Wells; and to top it off, a nice recording thanks to the Skywalker Sound studio. As a follower of Matt's career from the early days (with Louie B.), I can say this is the best thing the "Baby BeBopper," I mean, "Da Big Kahuna" has ever done. And that is no small accomplishment!