The first time I ever really paid attention to or appreciated big band and/or swing music was when I appeared in a play set during WW2. I was playing the role of a soldier and at various points I would pop up on stage for a letter home to be read out loud. The penultimate scene took place at a dance to the sounds of the Glenn Miller Orchestra's classic song "Jukebox Saturday Night" after my character had returned from Europe.
Although throughout the play we had used bits and pieces of swing music to act as transitions between scenes or as background to events, in this scene the music became as much a character on stage as the actors. While "Jukebox Saturday Night" is upbeat and high tempo, making it great to dance to, there's also something about it that gives it an air of desperation - have fun now because who knows when (or if) the hell you'll get another chance.
However, I've never really sat down and listened to any big band or swing recordings. While part of that reluctance is based on a dislike generated by listening to the slick orchestrations of music that oozes out of Las Vegas like so much slime, the real reason is there's only so much time in a day and only so much music I can listen to at once. If it comes down to a choice between Willy DeVille and the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the former will win out ten times out of ten.
Therefore the likelihood of me having picked up a copy of the John Burnett Swing Orchestra's latest release, West Of State Street/East Of Harlem, on Delmark Records on my own were slim to none. So it's a good thing the folks at Delmark persist in sending me albums I wouldn't normally buy, otherwise I would have missed out on a really good CD.
At twenty or so pieces the John Burnett Swing Orchestra isn't the biggest of big bands, but that doesn't prevent their sound from being as potent, or even stronger, than some bands I've listened to with over twice their numbers. Even better is the fact that they don't confuse power with volume. Instead of trying to blast an audience out of their seats, they up the emotional intensity of their playing to match the mood of the music. Now, of course, you can't have a band with something like five trumpets, four trombones, four saxophones, piano, bass, guitar and drums without making a little noise, but that's where the orchestra leader comes in.
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