My old school readers would have died if they'd seen me reviewing this project ten years ago. But "old school" in this example would really be classified as "young'ns," because the creators of this collection are as older (and older) than our parents! That's right, Ralph Carmichael, that guy in the red polyester suit and white hair is finding his music being grabbed up by teenagers in search of that swingin' sound. This is truly an album reviewed in these pages that you can absolutely crank to your parents' delight! I think of entertainers like Tony Bennet, Andy Williams, Pat Boone, and Frank Sinatra. Essential Records has realized that, in the midst of this new swing craze, that they've got a beyond credible collection of material that needs to be heard. So, they've taken selections from previous recordings, like Brentwood Jazz Orchestra's Rock Of Ages, Dave Boyer's The Swing Sessions with The Ralph Carmichael Big Band, and Strike Up The Band with The Ralph Carmichael Big Band. While there's no electric instruments plugged in, these ancient old school guys sure show how it's done. In the vocabulary of early Heaven's Metal Magazine reviews, "It ain't metal, man!"
Other coverage for this album
The Lighthouse Unsorted 1999Reviewed by Alex KlagesOn the plus side of the recent ska explosion is the happy fact that it has revived the horn section, which was discarded from rock music roughly about the time that Nirvana, et. al. hit the rock scene full force. For those hooked on horns, it's really not that far a stretch from the peppy horn sections of ska to the smoother horns of swing - whether classic swing (e.g. Benny Goodman, Tommy…
