What you have here is the world’s most famous Jazz/Big Band ‘king of swing’ Benny Goodman and other legendary Big Band leaders like Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey rubbing their boldand brassy, jitterbugging breaks and beats up against urban graffiti villains like Brooklyn’s Kool Kojak
Commandante, spy-chasing, cross-tempo duo Thunderball and the smooth, classic chill-out of the Worldwide
Groove Corporation. In a seamless conflation of styles and approaches ‘Big Band Remixed and Revisited’ just about manages to pull off a worthy reimagining of the period, neither letting the original records seize control of the mix nor allowing their modern counterparts the luxury of stealing them entirely. You still have all the Big Band flavour and attitude – the criss-crossing, dualing brass and rhythm sections, the
tumultuous pulse, the five-part brass harmonies, the rootsy, shuffling drums, the sheer, impressive size of it all, the energy, but it’s tucked, clipped and expanded by a joyous, wriggling bevvy of bossa, down-tempo, acid and
funky grooves tipped by the likes of meticulous DJs like K.C Santana and DJ Spooky plus producers like Chris Joss. Wah Wah guitars, Rhodes and Hammond riffs, scratchy tables, a few dub beats, a couple of Dixie licks, a round of cocktails, a carnival on the beach and a pile of old Bond movies – it’s all in there.
Those shorts, sandals and shades not doing the trick in the heatwave? Then this could well provide an adequate chiller.