Have you been having trouble this week, adjusting to Daylight Saving Time ending? It just feels so weird to be coming home from work with the sun already down, and I suspect this weekend it will be even more obvious that the days are getting shorter. So with the weekend upon us, shall we have some fun? I thought so, and there ain't nothing like jump blues from a big band to bring a smile to your face and a bounce to your step. The Brian Setzer Orchestra performed this song in front of an audience of 150,000 people during their headlining set at the Montreal Jazz Festival, that's 300,000 arms waving in the air. There might have been a hundred and fifty band members on stage, only kidding, but Brian does travel with quite the crew. And spiffy dressers, too. We are talking leopard print tuxedos, or should I say dinner suits? Slick sequin dresses, great hair, and I am sure everyone's shoes are divine.
Brian Setzer has mined the roots landscape since his days with the Stray Cats, along with Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker, reviving rockabilly in the 80s and beyond. The trio still tours from time to time, too, so be on the lookout for that. The most recent album is a Brian Setzer Orchestra issue, "Christmas Comes Alive!" The CD is a collection of 15 holiday tracks performed live in concert as only the Brian Setzer Orchestra can do it. And the BSO have a couple of New Years' dates in California, in case you want to see them in person.
Today's song was a 1956 hit for Louis Prima, and has been in the BSO repertoire since 1998, when it earned a GRAMMY® Award for Best Pop Performance. This version features a stinging Gretsch guitar solo by Setzer, high-energy bursts from his cranking horn section and his energetic backup singers. "Jump, Jive, an' Wail" from the Brian Setzer Orchestra's DVD and CD It's Gonna Rock...'Cause That's What I Do.
- Jessie Scott
