Swing revival

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Swing Revival
Stylistic origins: Big Band, Swing,

Jump Blues

Cultural origins: 1920s - 1950s; 1990s
Typical instruments: clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Mainstream popularity: 1990s, 2000s

The Swing Revival was a 1990s and early 2000s-era period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music from the 1930s and 1940s as exemplified by Louis Prima. Influential swing revival groups included Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies,Squirrel Nut Zippers, and The Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Contents

[edit] History

Most swing revival bands were based around a rock and roll rhythm section of electric guitar, double bass, and drum kit, with a three or four instrument horn section, which usually consisted of trumpet, saxophone, and trombone. One of the revival bands, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, used a much larger horn section, with thirteen wind instruments, which more closely matched the size of the groups during the swing era in the 1930s.

Much of the swing revival drew on the style popularized by Louis Prima called jump blues. This use of the term "swing" is based more on orchestration and dance than strictly on musical style. The swing music in the 1930s and 1940s was part of the Big Band era, led by Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman. However, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a newer style, known at the time as jump blues, became popular in African-American nightclubs as played by such musicians as Cab Calloway, Big Joe Turner, Lowell Fulson, Louis Jordan, and Louis Prima.

Swing revival bands focused on the highly rehearsed and arranged sweet style rather than the hot style, which was more improvisational, and which focused on instrumentalist virtuosity.

[edit] Cultural effects

The swing revival was also associated with a revival of interest in swing dancing. Films such as Swingers and the earlier Swing Kids increased interest in the Swinging lifestyle, as did 1999's retro-friendly Blast from the Past which featured Brendan Fraser swing dancing to a performance of the Flying Neutrinos' "Mr. Zoot Suit." Gap featured Louis Prima's "Jump, Jive and Wail" in their 1998 advertising spot "Khakis Swing" directed by Matthew Rolston.[1][2] Big Bad Voodoo Daddy appeared at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 1999.

On the "Beyond Blunderdome" episode of The Simpsons, Mel Gibson's cartoon character makes a reference to the movement when Homer asks, "What happened to the good old days, Mel? When you could root for the guy with the flame-thrower or an acid-spraying gun of some kind?" Mel responds, "I blame the Internet, and the return of swing music."

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, radio stations include mentions of the swing revival, most notably during an interview with Epsilon Tract founder Chris Formage.

Marilyn Manson has also experimented with neo-swing on his 2003 album The Golden Age of Grotesque.

In 2007, Christina Aguilera gave the genre a little revival by releasing a single, "Candyman", which became successful throughout the world. It peaked #25 in U.S., #17 in the United Kingdom and most prominently #2 in Australia.

[edit] 1990s and 2000s-era performers

[edit] References

  1. ^ Khakis Swing! ad at swing-music.com
  2. ^ Milkowski, Bill (2001). Swing It: An Annotated History of Jive, Bob Nikard, ed., and Alison Hagge, ed., New York, New York: Billboard Books, 243-244. ISBN 0-8230-7671-7. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

es:Neoswing

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Swing_revival"
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