CD Reviews
by Charmin' Dee
assisted by Natacha Beausoleil, Swing Bear and Benjamin Ricard plus members of the San Francisco, Ventura and Los Angeles swing scenes


The Swing Session
The Swing Session



Charmin' Dee

Ok peeps, I'm back with a new CD review and what a CD...I am warning you right off the bat, only good stuff making the review board in the next couple of months!!! Released a while back and having become a West Coast hit, this album has been way under represented on the East Coast! Read here underplayed, sold or whatever. On the arbitrary scale, well the playlist on the back of the album states "every cut a gem", we didn't disagree! While returning from the Monsters of Swing weekend and having listened to this band live 2 days in a row, we popped it in the convertible's CD deck all the way back to the airport. Now keep in mind there are 20 tracks on the CD, I had been DJing at Monsters and had both my CD holders with me AND there were 4 of us in the car...Yet no disagreements, no "can we listen to something else now please". Actually we even re-played our 2 favourite tracks that seemed to draw a certain consensus! The recording is very clear and they sound almost live on the album (I mean they are technically LIVE but I mean there are no applause or stomping feet but they sound just as good). Tempos are all over and this album could easily be bought by a non-swing dancer if it were more highly promoted, after all, they do cover a lot of VERY familiar tracks like "5 Months, 2 Weeks" and "Is you is". As far as the real hits on the album...well every cut IS indeed a gem but the diamonds are definitely their renditions of "Out West" (everytime I have played this track since people have asked me about it!), "Soft" and "BeMine".

Now to the subjective comments. This album is very accessible to anyone, as I mentioned it's fun, has familiar tracks on it even to the jazz neophyte and doesn't seem long. The instrumentation and arrangements are really a lot of fun, not always very predictible but always very musical...you won't be doing swing-out after swing-out to this music! Basically I can definitely say that these guys were very appreciated, not only by my party returning to LAX but also by the dancers that were at Monsters Friday and Saturday! Applause were always heard and always loud, the only mock criticisms I heard all weekend were: "I hear them all the time, they are THE band in San Francisco" or "They sound so much like their album!". I was of course dripping from sweat all night and Ben (from Quebec City) was slapping the floor with pleasure! People demanded an encore both on Friday and Saturday even though Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was up right after them (now keep in mind that there was a lineup of die hard BBVD fans at the door on Saturday night!). Personally as a DJ I often feel regret at not being able to play more than 2 tracks a night from this album.

A recommended buy? What review are you reading???

Go online and get it...You can also try Beatnick records (St-Denis and Des Pins) I've seen some good stuff there and they can order for you (thanxx Serge!). Otherwise e-mail Jewel Records. Click here to check out The Swing Session's website.

All the Best!
Dee.

If you have questions, comments, would like to join the next review panel or have your album reviewed, e-mail Dee!

Previous reviews...

THE 5-MARTINI RATING SYSTEM
Each song on the album is evaluated for each criteria and the total number of martinis is then divided by the number of songs to arrive at an average for the album. Up to five martinis are awarded to each song based on the following criteria:
Recording Quality Can you actually hear the music on the album? Is it well mastered, etc.
Skip/Snooze Potential Is this song a definite skip on the CD or are you prone to fall asleep during this song? Obviously the martini is given if this IS NOT THE CASE!!!
Danceability Since we swingers are dancers this is an important one. Whether it be Jive, ECS, Lindy who cares, as long as you can shake a limb!!!
Musicality It's a cover of a well known song that brings something new to the table; the band/vocalists are great; the material is original, be it with regards to composition, style, sound etc.
Hit Potential Is this song one that would at best find it's way to a home compilation CD or is it a definite HIT waiting to happen.