Browsing Tag

Swing Jazz

Alex Abramovitz and His Swing’n Kansas City Jazz Band Brought High-Energy Kansas City Jazz Worldwide on Jumpin’ on Grand

Posted on 29 May 2026

Alex Abramovitz and His Swing’n Kansas City Jazz Band reminded us what live music was made for with Jumpin’ on Grand, a high-energy Kansas City jazz piece performed live at the Black Dolphin. Bringing the true Kansas City big band experience worldwide, Alex Abramovitz keeps his tempos timelessly reverent to the traditions created on the streets his sound now resounds across.

The swinging, kinetic bursts of high energy are composed to ensure that no one is left at the edge of their seat when there is a dancefloor to take to instead. There is an infectious zeal to the way the rhythms are rendered, as though the musicians’ enthusiasm is just as essential as pitch, timing, and technical precision. That looseness gives the track its life-force, making Jumpin’ on Grand feel celebratory and communal.

Founded in 2008, the band has grown through long-standing Kansas City residencies, including The Phoenix, Johnnie’s Jazz Bar-Mainstreet, and their weekly Black Dolphin show. Their sound pays deep homage to the golden-age lineage of Count Basie, Jay McShann, Andy Kirk’s Clouds of Joy, and Harlan Leonard’s Rockets, while carrying its own seven-piece identity into the present.

Jumpin’ on Grand was officially released on May 29^th and is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ben Barnett’s ‘LeeRoy’ Poured Big Band Jazz Sophistication Into Ruin Without Spilling a Drop

Posted on 5 June 2025

New Beginnings by The Ruinous Quartet

With a level of class that refuses to dim under modern spotlights, LeeRoy by The Ruinous Quartet arrives with all the cool confidence of a veteran ensemble that knows precisely when to push and when to hold. The seasoned trombonist Ben Barnett, who has etched his legacy into the walls of New York’s most hallowed jazz institutions, leads with precision, panache, and an unteachable knack for arranging chaos into sophistication.

Having graduated with honours from both Purchase College and Hofstra University, with a Grammy nomination to his name and stage time shared with the likes of Barry Harris, Arturo O’Farrill, and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Barnett’s pedigree ensures LeeRoy is more than a nod to tradition. It is a fully animated, genre-scorching demonstration of where big band jazz can go when the right musicians are behind the wheel.

The keys sparkle with enough vivacity to summon a silver age of swing into the present day, while the percussion flickers with a contained urgency that threatens to tip the track into riotous abandon. The Ruinous Quartet live up to their name without ever losing sight of sheer elegance. The blistering drum solo carves a break in the structure sharp enough to shatter glass, yet the whole composition holds its shape with effortless poise.

The sheen of classic jazz may wrap LeeRoy in a satin glove, but the pulse underneath is pure electricity.

LeeRoy is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shake, Rattle and Roll Away the Blues with Mark Nunis’ Riotously Euphoric Jazz Infusion, I Don’t Mind It

Posted on 20 January 2023

Alrighty Then! by Mark Nunis

Melbourne songwriter Mark Nunis eked soul out of the ivories in his jazzy instrumental amalgam of blues, gospel, and New Orleans RnB in the standout single, I Don’t Mind It, taken from his solo album Alrighty Then!

With glitzy glissandos by the smorgasbord, smoky horn stabs, the percussive shake rattles and rolls, all topped off by the shimmering organ timbre, few will be immune to the vibrantly cultured euphoria in I Don’t Mind It.

The accoladed and accomplished multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer has toured the world with his superlatively sophisticated pianist skills and smooth vocals, which sadly you won’t get to hear on his new 9-track album. But when the instrumentals are as riotously enlivening as the ones barely sonically caged on his LP, words can go unspoken at no detriment to the multi-sensory experience that unfolds under the duress of his unparalleled artistic reverence.

I Don’t Mind It is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp. If you want to treat your sonic tastebuds to the LP, it will be available to stream in full from January 20th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Marvin Muoneke offers deep rounded resonance with “How About You”

Posted on 19 September 2020

‘How About You’ starts simply enough, a few measures of descending piano riff and Muonoke’s vocal before the full-on ‘brushes and hi-hats’ rhythm section kick, and we’re treated to the rich pleasure of Muoneke’s outstanding vocal.

This is full, old-school combo swing-time jazz a la Gershwin, Basie, or Woody Herman, or the best of West End show-tunes, the piano riffing alongside upright bass and a perfectly phrased trumpet interlude, Muoneke’s voice deep, rounded, and resonant throughout. The timbre and tone of his mellow baritone a perfect counterpoint to the band beneath; Muoneke describes himself as ‘the young man with the old soul’, and on ‘How About You’ he’s not wrong, the song instantly transporting us back to a 1940’s pre-Bebop era of smoky jazz clubs, expressive, strong, and vibrant, Muoneke’s lyrics a canny mix of old school (‘Lady Ella’s voice’) and new (‘Some roti curry goat, rice, and peas’), self-aware but never jarring or incongruous.

A masterclass of swing, Muoneke’s debut album is available to pre-save via his Facebook page.

Review by Alex Holmes