4 3 2 1 Swing

Caravan Palace, Mr. Scruff, Tape Five, Club Des Belugas, Lazlo, In-Grid, Swing Republic and many more.

Bart&Baker will release their first ever Remix collection, simply titled Bart&Baker Remixed. Fuelled with killer versions taken from their first EPs, it contains brand new remixes from the likes of KeX, DJ Mibor and Skeewiff, as well as the brand new track, a glorious cover of a Ray Charles “Swingnova” classic from the sixties. The German-Israeli singer Maya Saban and her Band are Jewdyssee. They have devoted themselves to revitalising the pearls of Jewish/Yiddish culture bringing back to life what was once considered to be virtually extinct.

George Barnes and Carl Kress often teamed up to play guitar duets from 1962-65, although they made relatively few recordings. "Guitars Anyone?" was their last meeting on record, and it finds the pair in high spirits on a dozen selections. The second part of this CD features Barnes' Second Quartet with Dick Hyman, Hank Jones, Milt Hinton, Jo Jones and others.

A descendent of the great literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, grandson of the famous classical pianist Valia Belinsky and the gypsy violinist Stephan Brotescou, Frederic Belinsky was born on August 25th, 1974. He began to study guitar at the age of 9 in the Russian Conservatory of Paris, then that of Boulogne, and graduated with a silver prize in 1997 from the National Conservatory of Paris. During his 15 years of classical guitar, he has not limited himself to this style of music, but also turns to jazz under the influence of the greatest jazz musicians including Django Reinhardt, Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow. But his music preferences are not limited by the style of Django Reinhardt. Frederic, captivated by the musicality and infinite possibilities of improvisation, also interprets American standards, and his own variations of Russian Songs creating a new musical style - the Swing Slave.

For over 20 years, Echoes of Swing have been an essential go-to band for lovers of classic jazz. They show quite how many sides there are to it, and do so in a way that is always consummately fresh. The quartet of Bernd Lhotzky (piano), Colin T. Dawson (trumpet), Chris Hopkins (alto saxophone) and Oliver Mewes (drums) breathe new life into the canon of the Jazz Age with their skill as players, their fine arrangements – and with a lot of humour. The band play their own compositions too. And each of their albums is built around a theme: after "Blue Pepper", "Dancing", "Travelin'" and the "Tribute to Bix Beiderbecke", their new album "Winter Days at Schloss Elmau" is a winter walk, but with a swing to it. The new album continues in the line of superb recordings that ACT has made in the large concert hall at Schloss Elmau. Indeed, where would one find more inspiration for a winter album than in this unique location with its breathtaking views of the Bavarian Alps?

By the time the neo-swing craze hits its peak, this compilation will be looked upon as a sensational collection of the swing pioneers. With the likes of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and the Royal Crown Revue, Swing This, Baby! is 48 minutes of the kind of upbeat and frenzied dance music that propelled the big-band sound back into mainstream society. The charm of the album, though, is not solely due to the more established names it boasts. While other collections might have loaded the palette with those well-known names, Swing This, Baby limits each of 15 bands to one song apiece.

Swing This, Baby!, Vol. 3 from Beyond is another decent collection featuring '90s and new millennium swing revivalists, with solid tracks from artists such as the New Morty Show, Wolfgang Parker, Hipster Daddy-O & the Handgrenades, the Flying Neutrinos, and more.