Dancing on a Blue Moon - Even the Chickens are Dancing
The Swing Legacy – Even the
Chickens are Dancing
2006 Mephistopheles Records
The Band:
“The Swing Legacy, a
professionally active aggregation of Boston free-lance musicians, aims to present and
perpetuate the repertoire, the polish, and the energy of the renowned black bands of the
swing era (1934-1945)” --- CD Liner Notes
This is the second offering from The
Swing Legacy. The band comes out
swingin’ and has a much better offering of tempos for the dancer. Whereas their last album, as solid as the
musicianship was, was much better suited to
Balboa, this album has lots of gems much more suitable for lindy hoppers.
They kept the top-notch musicianship,
mixed in some great tempos, popular swing tunes and some lesser known tunes and came up
with a CD that should be in every dancer’s library.
I especially like Keeping Out of
Mischief Now and Kansas City Boogie Woogie.
There are also some nice versions of Happy Go Lucky Local, which I
thought took a little to get goin’ but once it did it was lots of fun, Corner
Pocket (Until I Met You), and Fish for Supper.
They also did a pretty good version of On Revival Day but I’m so
engrained to hearing Lavern Baker’s version that anything else just doesn’t
sound right.
The band did keep some numbers that
cook, including ‘Swonderful,The Little Goose and the aforementioned Kansas
City Boogie Woogie.
This is a fun CD that has many great,
danceable songs just made for lindy hoppers. I
definitely how no problems telling you this one should be in your library…despite the
version of Sesame Street. Go out and
buy it.
Bottom Line: To buy or not to buy….. BUY! Here’s how: www.swinglegacy.com
Dancing on a Blue Moon
Swing Legacy
Dancing on a Blue Moon
1999 Mephistopheles Records
Swing Legacy is:
Henry
Francis – piano; Carol Akerson – vocals; Todd Baker – bass; Steve Giunta
– drums; Mike Peipman – trumpet; Dave Chapman – alto sax, clarinet; Ted
Casher – tenor sax, clarinet; Billy Novick – guest soloist, alto sax, clarinet
This CD has some great tunes on it. It also
has stuff, as a dancer, you may find turn you off. The
musicianship of the band is not in question as much as the selection of songs chosen for a
CD titled Dancing on a Blue Moon. It
would imply, especially with the lindy hopper logo, that this CD would lend itself to
plenty of dancing.
There are some really great versions
of familiar songs including I’m Walking (made famous by Fats Domino) and Flying
Home, a Lionel Hampton gem. Lesser known
songs like Super Chief and Taxi War Dance are also swingin’ tunes that
get you goin’. Lastly, the original by
Henry Francis, Hoof It is a fun dance tune. One
thing about all these songs: they’re
FAST! They are all over 200 beats per minute
[bpm].
The band excels when the tempos are
over 200 bpm but their choices under 200 don’t have the same energy. One exception is their version of Things
Ain’t What They Used to Be, which swings at 119 bpm. All the other tunes under 200 bpm leave me
wondering if the CD is a good buy.
That brings me to their last tune on
the CD, Undecided. It’s another
gem over 200 bpm but more importantly, it is exactly what I feel after listening to this
CD.
Bottom Line: To buy or not to buy….. Don’t Buy, unless you love to Bal or Shag! If you do, here’s how: