Swing revival
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The Swing Revival was cultural phenomenon of the 1990s and early 2000s which featured renewed popular interest in music in the style of the swing period of the 1930s and 1940s. Most of the popular groups of this genre had a basic rock and roll instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums with an additional three to four instrument horn section. The most popular wind instrumentation featured a trumpet, saxophone, and trombone. Bands with this instrumentation include Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. The Brian Setzer Orchestra was exceptional in that its instrumentation was closer to that of the original Swing Era with 13 wind instruments in addition to the guitar/bass/drums combo. The style of Louis Prima was especially influential on the style of the Swing Revival. The Brian Setzer Orchestra recorded covers of several of Prima's pieces.
Bands of the period tended more toward the sweet style (highly rehearsed) than the hot style (more improvisational, with focus on instrumentalist virtuosity).
Many consider the Swing Revival to now be dead. It is at least on the decline. Several performers are still recording and touring for a cache of fans who are genuinely interested in the music, though the genre is out of the national spotlight.
Performers
- Secondary
- *Atomic Fireballs
- *Big Rude Jake
- *The Mighty Blue Kings
- *Royal Crown Revue
- *Katharine Whalen
- Tertiary
- *Andrew Bird
- *Blue Plate Special
- *Dem Brooklyn Bums
- *Dr. Zoot
- *8 1/2 Souvenirs
- *Hipster Daddy-O and the Handgrenades
- *Indigo Swing
- *The Instigators
- *Jump N Jive
- *Lee Press-on and the Nails
- *New Morty Show
- *Nightcaps
- *Pandemonia Orchestra
- *Red & the Red Hots
- *Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers
- *The Zoots & the Swinging Suits
- Other
- *Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra
- *The Deluxtone Rockets
- *The Don Miller Orchestra
- *Steve Lucky & Rhumba Bums
- *The W's
Cultural effects
The Swing Revival was visible in more than just music. Swing dancing returned as a popular dance form, accompanying the music. Films such as Swingers and the earlier Swing Kids increased interest in the Swinging lifestyle. Gap featured Louis Prima's "Jump, Jive and Wail" in one of their advertising campaigns. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy made a notable appearance at the Superbowl Halftime Show in 1999. Some have also conjectured that the Swing Revival is at least partly responsible for the reinvigoration of the hipster movement, many of whose members were also involved in and cross-influenced by the Swing Revival scene. Paradoxically, this new generation of hipsters seems to have lost much of the musical association with jazz of their predecessors.On the "Beyond Blunderdome" episode of The Simpsons, Mel Gibson makes a reference to the movement with the comment "I blame the Internet, and the return of swing music."
Marilyn Manson also experimented with neo-swing on his 2003 album The Golden Age of Grotesque.
See also
External links
- [AMG Retro Swing Site] (registration required)
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