4 3 2 1 Swing

Austrian producer of sample-oriented "electro swing," and winner of several Amadeus Austrian Music Awards.
During the '90s, Marcus Füreder DJ'd in nightclubs, which led to production and label operation. Under the name Plasma, he released the 2001 album Shadow Kingdom on his Bushido label. A few years later, the Austrian first used the new and more lasting alias Parov Stelar, the name credited with an impressive quantity of recordings released during the 2000s and 2010s, primarily on his Etage Noir label. His "electro swing" sound, enhanced with clever sampling, proved to be popular in the compilation and DJ-mix market, including Stéphane Pompougnac's Hôtel Costes series…

The long-awaited sequel to 2010's groundbreaking 4-CD set "Judy Garland Lost Tracks: 1929-1959," "Judy Garland Lost Tracks 2 - 1936-1967" features a whopping 40 new-to-CD tracks. In the years between the two releases many new, previously unreleased and/or thought-lost Garland recordings have been discovered. Also during that time, audio restoration software has advanced to the point that, as in the capable hands of audio engineer John H. Haley, "old" recordings can now sound better than ever thought possible.

1921-1923 (1994). Ethel Waters was one of the few singers from the early '20s whose early recordings are still quite listenable. This CD from the Classics label has her first 22 sides (many previously rare including five interesting instrumentals by Waters's band) and, although not on the same level as her performances from a few years later, the music is quite good for the time period. The sidemen are mostly obscure but include pianist Fletcher Henderson and cornetists Gus Aiken and Joe Smith with the highlights being "The New York Glide," "Down Home Blues," "There'll Be Some Changes Made" and "Midnight Blues"…

A bit more of a purist album than the usual collection of retro-swingers, All Aboard includes several jump blues (the best of which are "The Indigo Swing" and "Regular Joe") plus a good downtempo swinger, "(Today's the Day) I'm Glad I'm Not Dead," and an intriguing cover of Willie Dixon's "Violent Love" (previously done by bands ranging from Dr. Feelgood to Skankin' Pickle).

Glenn Miller tunes, unforgettable compositions and arrangement of other bandleaders of the forties likes Les Brown, Billy May, Cole Porter and Tommy Dorsey have been branded on this 'Evergreens IN Swings' CD.

Many improvisers would agree that having the feeling of the blues is a crucial part of jazz expression; however, the jazz and blues worlds don't interact nearly as often as they should. There are jazz musicians who will play Miles Davis' "All Blues" or Charlie Parker's "Parker's Mood" on a regular basis but wouldn't know John Lee Hooker from Little Milton; there are blues artists who are much more likely to work with a rock musician than a jazz musician. So it is a rare treat to hear a blues-oriented guitarist and a jazz-oriented guitarist co-leading a session, which is exactly what happens on More Conversations in Swing Guitar. This 2003 release is a sequel to bluesman Duke Robillard and jazzman Herb Ellis' 1999 encounter Conversations in Swing Guitar, and the CD proves that good things can happen when jazz and blues players interact. More Conversations in Swing Guitar is an album of very blues-minded instrumental jazz – it's hardly a carbon copy of Robillard's work with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, but the bluesman has no problem appearing in a jazz-oriented setting.

Vol. 1. One of the nice things about jazz is the cross-pollination of different players in multiple settings. No one would've thought of pairing swing violinist Stéphane Grappelli and bop pianist Oscar Peterson, for instance, but the match works very well. The pair have expanded into a quartet on this reissue with the aid of double bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummer Kenny Clarke. The set, recorded in 1973 in Paris, includes a handful of standards, from Pinkard/Tracey/Tauber's "Them There Eyes" to Rodgers & Hart's "Thou Swell." As one might guess, Grappelli is in his own element on upbeat, swinging pieces like "Makin' Whoopee" and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home." Peterson likewise joins in the spirit of these pieces, making them the most interesting interpretations on the album. Other material, like the lingering "Flamingo" and "My One and Only Love," are also enjoyable, but seem rather tepid in comparison…