World of Swing
This swing-era compilation was originally issued in a two-LP set in 1974 as a companion to Stanley Dance's bookThe World of Swing, with Dance selecting the tunes and lending the original records used in the production. Timed to coincide with a reissue of the book, this CD adds three more tracks to Dance's original selection, creating a 77-minute anthology that's as good an introduction to the swing era as a single CD is likely to be. Dance, who died in 1999, was the style's greatest advocate, and his emphasis is clearly on musical highlights and representative selections of bands that trulyswung, in one way or another. His operating procedure isn't simply "Golden Oldies," and the CD doesn't conflict with other anthologies: absent are the most popular smooth-dance bands of the era--the Dorseys andGlenn Miller--and figures likeBenny Goodmanaren't represented by their biggest hits.There are great small groups here, as well as big bands, like violinistStuff Smithdoing the requisite 1930s marijuana song andJohn Kirby's six-member orchestra playing some elegant blues. The big bands include the raw power ofErskine Hawkinsand the refinement ofBenny Carterand the Lunceford aggregation. The early '30s roots are represented byLuis RussellandDon Redman. The CD leaps into the 1960s for the combined power of theEllingtonandBasiebands and a modernist update withWoody Herman's take on aHorace Silvertune.--Stuart Broomer