It's Swing Revival Week!
 

No Reply: Man on the Roof and Pixie Dixie.

I love jazz and swing, and I'm really glad to see an increased amount of that going around... 2 really weird bands come to mind when I think of modern swing: Caravan Palace (techno-gypsy-jazz-scat) and Movits (Sweedish-pop-jazz). Check 'em out :)

Well here are the obvious ones I remember from the time:


Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies.

Kinda sounds like its being sung by Nathan Lane but this was the "Smells like Teen Spirit" of the swing revival.



Mr. Pin-Stripped Suit - Big Bad Voodoo Daddies

Highly undervalued because, iirc, they came in at the final stages of the revival. Damn good song though.



Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hell

The pre-cursors to the revival though these NC-born D-bags refused to associate themselves with swing, claimed they were Blues-Jazz, and never went to any of the "Swing Shows" where other swing acts played. This song still has value though, I really love the horns (but I'm a sucker for Horns).

I apologize about this video, it seems to be the only one thats the actual song. I have no idea what the paper-crumpling/crab-claws sound is but you get the gist.

I think of a lot of swing revival as hopelessly hip and cool for the sake of being hip and cool which kinda makes it uncool. Cherry Poppin' Daddies are a bit like that. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are genuinely cool, polished and accomplished, but of those three, Squirrel Nut Zippers is my favourite band. They seemed almost more like an artists collective who made what they did their lifestyle and not just an act.

Hell may be the most popular, but far from their most shining moments (imo). Evening at Lafittes is one of my favourite songs by them.

Great suggestion. Im love this track.

Glad you like it! It's from Perennial Favorites which is, in my opinion, definetly the Squirrel Nut Zippers album to get for anyone who wants to check them out :)

Which reminds me, this is absolutely brilliant:

Good call! That is easily one of my top ten favorite videos.

I love Squirrel Nut Zippers. Some of the other swing bands from that time were good but I always thought of Squirrel Nut Zippers stood out from the crowd as the most creative and also the most true to the roots of the music they played—no easy feat. They were also phenomenal live.

Ghost of Stephen Foster was an absolute favourite with me when I first got into the album which was about a couple of years or so after it's release. Today, the songs I like the most are the songs where Katharine Whalen sings (on Perennial Favorits, particularly Low Down Man, Evening at Lafitte's, My Drag). I love the sound of her Billie Holidayesque voice!

Interestingly, Low Down Man which I rate so highly was a song I would skip when I was a teenager :p:



It's no longer swing jazz, though!

I initially only really listened to The Ghost Of Stephen Foster, to be perfectly honest; but then I started enjoying Pallin' With Al and My Drag and it's been progressing since then. I'm glad you mentioned Evening at Lafitte's, I had a listen on the tube today and thought it was brilliant. I'd never really noticed it before, when I'd just put the album on to get the "Roaring Twenties feeling", hehe.

I actually read the whole of The Great Gatsby with Perennial Favorites on, I believe. It was grand!

Edit: This performance of Hell blows away the version on Hot, by the way. I once listened to it and couldn't find it for ages! Glad it's back on youtube!