Customer Reviews

More Live Echoes of the Swinging Bands

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This album, like its predecessor "Live Echoes of the Swinging Bands," is an excellent, high fidelity compilation of swing big band performances. Each of the musicians was a stellar sideman during the Big Band Era; they came from the ranks of the great bands of Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Cab Calloway and Woody Herman, to name just a few. In this album, and in the other Big 18 album, (both recorded in 1958) they are united in perhaps the best "re-creation" effort of all times. While many sought to re-create the swing era performances during the '50's and '60's, few did it with such superior quality. The song's themselves are classics of the big band era, but not the usual material heard on so many re-creation albums. These have a fresh, enthusiastic quality. It's so good I bought a second copy of the CD. This stuff really swings!

This is a terrific album performed by some of the greatest swing-era/mainstream jazz musicians playing in NYC in the mid-fifties, including Buck Clayton, Charlie Shavers, Lawrence Brown, Dickie Wells, Boomie Richman, Ernie Caceres, Johnny Guarnieri, among others. Every tune gets magnificent treatment, though to my ears "Skyliner" is especially fantastic. They just don't make 'em like this anymore, even when they try. Highly recommended.

Just a short note....this CD is even better than the first of the series. I'm simply amazed at how good these musicians are compared to the recent groups of the neo-swing movement. Only two of the tracks are not danceable in my opinion but even those are amazing! Buy it!