List of Contemporary Bands that Play Music of the Golden Era!

[Yeps]

Is this the band?
http://tomcunningham.com/

Yep that's the one.

 

[John in Covina]

If the Hunks have broken up (even if only into smaller Hunks), that's too bad. I love their work. My favorites are Fingerbustin', the sax CD featuring Ronald Heitmaijer, and Kodachrome, the Ray Scott orchestral set.

I have the Fingerbustin' CD too! Another I like from Basta is "The Aces of Swing" with Robert Veen really good stuff.

 

[Feraud]

The Squirrel Nut Zippers are worth a listen.

 

[Yeps]

The Squirrel Nut Zippers are worth a listen.

I always liked the kinda latin/exotic groove they had.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Does Brian Setzer fit in here? Not swing, not 20s nor 30s nor 40s, but entertaining fusion of rock and roll and big band orchestration.

 

[John in Covina]

Does Brian Setzer fit in here? Not swing, not 20s nor 30s nor 40s, but entertaining fusion of rock and roll and big band orchestration.

Not across the board but he does have some songs that kinda ties in with the 50's theme and the rockabilly direction.

 

[Feraud]

The Stray Cats and Brian Setzer's later efforts definitely fall in this category.

 

[John in Covina]

The Stray Cats and Brian Setzer's later efforts definitely fall in this category.

Sounds promising then. Can you guys give some recommendations as to songs or albums to check out?

 

[Feraud]

Check out their early stuff, Stray Cats, Gonna Ball, Built for Speed, Rant and Rave.. Their music lead me to the classic rock and roll/rockabilly stuff. I saw the Stray Cats perform at The Ritz in NYC back in the 80s. It was fun!

 

[Wally_Hood]

Sounds promising then. Can you guys give some recommendations as to songs or albums to check out?

I have Guitar Slinger; especially fun is the Boogie Woogie Christmas cd. Christmas songs played in the big band-jump-rockabilly blendo-mix.

 

[Chas]

The Stolen Sweets in Portland, Ore.
Midnight Serenaders, also from Portland.
Combo Mahalo, from Austin, Tx.
Hopping Mad Orchestra, Vancouver B.C.
Sweet Hollywaiians, Osaka Japan
[video=youtube;Q3A_CAPo5nM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3A_CAPo5nM[/video]

Dal Richards Orchestra, Vancouver B.C. Dal has been leading bands since 1939, and at 92 shows no sign of quitting.
[video=youtube;m0EDTZFuup0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0EDTZFuup0[/video]

 

[John in Covina]

I haven't thought about Hawaiian Music in ages! Wiki notes that 1915-30 showed a growing trend for main landers enjoying it and the 1930-1960 period as the Golden Age of Hawaiian music.

 

[Zombie_61]

In addition to Squirrel Nut Zippers and the Brian Setzer Orchestra, I'd recommend Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, one of the forerunners of the swing revival movement in the late 80s and early 90s. They perform both original music and covers, but it's all based on 40s-50s swing music.

 

[Espee]

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys (rockabilly.) I have their CD "Turntable Matinee" and every song is original, but sounds like mid-1950s to early-1960s. I've seen them live a couple times... they do mix in a cover here and there-- "I Don't Care (Just as Long as You Love Me)" [Buck Owens] can be found on YouTube.
Based in Orange County (southern California) but tour Europe frequently.
www.bigsandy.net

 

[Espee]

Dean Mora............
.........yearly at the Ticket to the Twenties summer event in La Puente.

La Puente has a nicer sound to it, but that takes place over the line in "City of Industry" (Workman Temple Homestead Museum, homesteadmuseum.org)

 

[Espee]

The Bonebrake Syncopators, featuring D.J. Bonebrake on vibes, play jazz, be-bop, and western swing. I saw them at McCabe's in Santa Monica. To my ear, it was songs of the 20s and 30s, played in a 40s style. They are about to make their first appearance at the Cicada Club in L.A.
djbonebrakemusic.com

 

[Chas]

OK, I'm gonna nitpick.

I don't consider Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Squirrel Nut Zippers or Brian Setzer "authentic" golden age style bands. Don't get me wrong - they're good musicians and entertainers. They are, however, swing revival or jazz-influenced musicians. Not authentic the same way Mora's Modern Rhythmists or Vince Giordano is.

 

[John in Covina]

La Puente has a nicer sound to it, but that takes place over the line in "City of Industry" (Workman Temple Homestead Museum, homesteadmuseum.org)

Your right. I was dashing that off the top of my head and was thinking La Puente.

 

[John in Covina]

That's one of the things I was thinking when i started the thread was what type of consensus we would have as to Authentic. I can hear the modern influence as to rock or what I hear as the Las Vegas sound which is later. Not that it is bad music it can be fun and cool but I had in mind more of the "just like they did it back then" sound.

There is a shift and I believe it has to do with reflecting what direction jazz went in, so you will hear the later Big Band music that sounds more like Doc Sevrensen and the Tonight Show Orchestra than say maybe Swing in an earlier incarnation of Glen Miller or Bennie Goodman.

 

[Zombie_61]

OK, I'm gonna nitpick.

I don't consider Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Squirrel Nut Zippers or Brian Setzer "authentic" golden age style bands. Don't get me wrong - they're good musicians and entertainers. They are, however, swing revival or jazz-influenced musicians. Not authentic the same way Mora's Modern Rhythmists or Vince Giordano is.

I'd say that's a fair assessment; it's probably more accurate to say Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Squirrel Nut Zippers, and The Brian Setzer Orchestra are influenced by the big band/swing music of the 40s and 50s. When I want to hear the real deal I listen to the 30s-40s station on XM radio.