Swing (1999)

The group’s second album from 1997 contains 16 tracks, inc. 3 originals done in the style of Django Reinhardt, the Quintet of the Hot Club of France & gool ‘ol American jazz – the group is comprised of 3 guitars, violin & bass. Recorded at David Lange Studios, Edgewood, Washington. Includes liner notes by Jim Hilmar. Personnel includes: Stephanie Porter (vocals); Neil Anderson, Dudley Hill, Shelley Park (guitar); Michael Gray (violin); Pope Firman (bass).

Louis Jordan - At The Swing Cat's Ball (1999) {MCA Records MCAD-12044 rec 1938-1954}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 274 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 130 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 54 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1938-54, 1999 MCA Records | MCAD-12044
Jazz / Swing / Jump Blues / Jive

Perhaps the most renowned performer from the '40's Jump, Jive and Swing Era, Jordan created a style and songbook that continues to be influential, and he's acknowledged by artists from B.B. King to Brian Setzer. The #1 Black hit-maker of the '40's, Jordan is in every Hall of Fame imaginable. The 1st full-length, in-depth compilation to focus on Jordan's most swinging music features 12 tracks making their U.S. CD debut.

Sister Swing is a fresh, exciting trio of singers which has captured the Big Band Swing era and brought it to the 21st century. Heavily influenced by groups like the Andrews Sisters, the Boswell Sisters, and Manhattan Transfer, Sister Swing brings a new sound to an old style. The three ladies, Leigh Hannah, Valerie Marston and Paula Chafey-Merrill, genuinely have a good time on stage and that transcends to their audience. An evening with Sister Swing will take you back in time to an era of glamour, romance and innocence.

Django Reinhardt - The Complete Django Reinhardt and Quintet of the Hot Club of France Swing/HMV Sessions 1936-1948 (1999) {6CD Mosaic MD6-190}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.08 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 837 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 216 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1936-1948, 1999 Mosaic Records / EMI-Capitol | MD6-190
Jazz / Continental Jazz / Swing / Gypsy / Guitar

This is the Reinhardt mother lode – a six-disc collection of the Gypsy legend's oeuvre stretching from just before to just after World War II. Disc one includes several infectious cuts with vocalist Freddy Taylor, beginning with Stuff Smith's "I'se a Muggin'." Disc six closes with one of Reinhardt and Grappelli's last recording sessions together, which included an unusually dark reading of "Oh Lady Be Good" and a revisitation of the obscure "Bricktop" (the first version appears on disc two). In between are well over 100 marvelous tracks, with sound quality up to Mosaic's (and Michael Cuscuna's) impeccable standards. The booklet contains a learned essay and annotation by Mike Peters, as well as an impressive gallery of photographs, concert posters, and news clippings. Extraordinary, and for Reinhardt's most devoted fans, entirely worth the investment.

The Atomic Fireballs were formed in Detroit in 1996 by John Bunkley and James Bostek. The two of them met when Bostek's wife was working with Bunkley and introduced them. Although the group plays their own brand of high-energy swing music, they list their influences to be as far ranging as Louis Jordan and Black Flag. The lineup of the group is Bostek on trumpet, Bunkley on vocals, Tony Buccilli playing trombone, Duke Kingins on guitar, Shawn Scaggs on double bass, Eric Schabo wailing tenor sax, and Randy Sly on piano. Their first album was the self-released Birth of the Swerve (1998). The album was good enough to garner the interest of major labels. That meant that the follow-up, 1999's Torch This Place, was not an independent release but rather on Atlantic.

This is a not very challenging, but thoroughly charming, summit meeting between a blues guitar master and a jazz guitar legend. Taking four classic swing tunes ("Just Squeeze Me," "Avalon," "Stuffy," and, inevitably, "Flyin' Home"), two Robillard originals, and a jointly composed slow blues, and helped out by bassist Marty Ballou and drummer Marty Richards, Duke Robillard and Herb Ellis deliver a 48-minute swing guitar master class, Conversations in Swing Guitar. Ellis comes from jazz and Robillard from the blues, so their approaches are just distinct enough to keep things interesting; although both play with a clean, fat jazz tone and no one ever really hauls off and shreds, Robillard tends towards bent notes and funky chordal things while Ellis thinks a bit more in terms of long lines and florid ornamentation. Every so often you might find yourself wishing that the edges were just a bit rougher, but both of these guys are clearly having a great old time, and you will too.