Swinging time!
I've got my swing music CD playing on my Desk rig (much to the annoyance most likely of my room-mates) and enjoying the beats and frenetic energy from the likes of Squirrel Nut Zipper, Royal Crown Reveu, Flying Neutrinos, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and several other swing ensembles.
Most of these bands exploded in the 90s swing revival, a music event that didn't register here in the Philippines, sadly. Some are still playing today but I don't think their CDs (most often self-produced) won't likely be reaching the P.I. shores any time soon.
My affection for swing music, I guess, came from my liking of big bands from the 40s to the 60s having been exposed to the music of those years by my father and various uncles who, of course, lived through those years. I listened to Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Louis Armstrong and aside from these singers' voices, what registered in my brain was the accompanying music -- lots of horns and percussions with the occasional strings.
I've yet to time travel to collect music from those years, especially swing-like ensembles, my affinity with swing for the meantime is with the bands who revived the music in 90s starting with Brian Setzer's erstwhile Stray Cats. Albeit Stray Cats was rockabilly than swing, that however paved way into my introduction to the bands aforementioned in the paragraph above.
Here in the P.I., I'm not that aware of the swing music scene although a '99 article on the Philmusic site says that Ugoy-Ugoy (the act of swinging, in Filipino) is at the forefront of Philippine swing. I don't however know if this would still be the case. Some five or seven years ago, I managed to catch a jazz concert at Greenbelt Park sponsored by Lucerne which featured, a Filipino band do some swing tunes. The group's name escapes me now but it's something with "Monkeys" and as far as I recollect, they were a group of musicians from my alma mater, UP Diliman, most likely music majors. I think they were called "Brass Monkeys", not sure.
In the reggae album "Island Riddims" released in 2004 and featuring premier reggae artists in the Philippines, one track did have overtones of swing -- Island Joe's cleverly titled "Island Joe".
While looking over the 'net for news on swing music, it seems that Fete de la Musique is upon the Philippines again and this time around, they got two venues. The first happened at Ayala Center Cebu last June 18 where there seemed to be a lot of swinging music that happened. In Manila, the Fete will happen at The Fort - BGC this coming Saturday. Swing acts that are scheduled to perform include The Executives and Skarlet and AMP. Not sure though if I'll be going.
While I do not know how to dance swing, I do would like to one day sing swing. And probably gyrate swing-like on stage as well. I think the problem with that would be getting enough members to be able to form the ensemble. You will need at least three fellows for a decent enough horn section plus the norm for bands -- percs, guitars, and a bass player. And for a richer sound, you'll need someone on the keys.
If that happens, that'll be swell. I hope then I can swing it, music-wise.
