Traditional Big Band Recommendations and Personal Song Faves :
Count Basie: Splanky, 920 Special, Blues In Hoss’ Flat, Corner Pocket, Swingin the Blues
Benny Goodman (and Fletcher Henderson*): Down Count South Meeting, King Porter Stomp, A Smooth One, Scarecrow, Christopher Columbus, Big John’s Special, All the Cat’s Join In, Sugar Foot Stomp, Riffin, Don’t Be That Way
* I put Fletcher Henderson together because after he couldn’t sustain his big band anymore, he joined with Benny Goodman, and many of Goodman’s arrangements are Fletcher’s
Chick Webb: Who Ya Hunchin’?, Stompin at the Savoy, Lindy Hopper’s Delight, Let’s Get Together,
Cab Calloway: Hep to the Jive, The Jumpin’ Jive, 15 minute Intermission, Boogie, Airmail Stomp
Andy Kirk: Bearcut Shuffle, A Mellow Bit of Rhythm,Dunkin Doughnut, Mess-a-stomp, Wednesday Night Hop
Willie Bryant: Chimes at the Meeting, Rigamarole, A Vipers’ Moan, Is It True What They Say About Harlem, Liza
Jimmie Lunceford: For Dancers Only, Posin, Ain’t What You Do It’s the Way that You Do It, Lunceford Special, What is this thing called Swing, Shout Out
Lionel Hampton: Flying Home, Hey Bab-Ba-Re-Bob, Hot Mallets, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Ring Dem Bell
Harry James:Barn 12, Blues on a Count, Two-O’clock Jump, Moten Swing, Strictly Instruemental
Duke Ellington: Big Shoe, C Jam Blues, Cotton Tail, Harlem Airshaft, In a Mellow Tone, Mainstem, It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing, Rockin’ in Rhythm, Take the A Train, Seague in C, B Boston Sharp, (feat. Ella Fitzgerald) – Drop Me Off In Harlem and Blip Blip)
Contemporary Swing Artist Recommendations:
Bill Elliot Swing Orchestra, Jenny Lobel, Gunhild Carling, Jonathan Stout, Lavay Smith, Honeysuckle Rose
2 responses so far ↓
Pris // 5 September, 2008 at 11:51 am
Thanks for the recommendations, Sinclair! Where can I get the CDs for these artistes? Online or would Borders stock them?
jazzinc // 8 September, 2008 at 10:28 am
For the traditional artists, you can find some of their individual albums at any good music store. But for variety, I would recommend that you go to the last part of the the jazz section and look under swing music collections with various artists.
As for the contemporary artists, you can actually look up their upsite by typing in their names on search engines and you’ll get their websites, where you can order CDs from there, or they’ll refer you to Amazon.com.
Hope this helps!