Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?

by The Chenille Sisters

Overview

Unlike such folk-circuit peers as the Roches and the 4 Bitchin' Babes, the Chenille Sisters have always shown an affinity for pre-1950 American popular music, calling upon such predecessors as the Boswell Sisters and the Andrews Sisters to form their style and including songs from the interwar period in their repertoire. They used pianist/bandleader James Dapogny and a small jazz group on their version of the 1944 song "Low Gravy" on At Home with the Chenille Sisters (repeated here) and brought the same musicians back for "Hummin' to Myself" and the title song from Mama, I Wanna Make Rhythm. So, it's no surprise that they should team up with Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band for a full-length album of material from the 1924-1944 era of jazz and swing. Unfortunately, while they clearly enjoy this music, they don't really have much of a feel for it. Or maybe they are content to try to recreate arrangements without digging in and performing with conviction. When Connee Boswell sang "Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)" with Bing Crosby, it was a tour de force of rhythmic vocal interplay; to the Chenille Sisters, it's just a nice song. And that's they way they seem to see all these tunes. Where their predecessors brought a sense of enthusiasm to this music, the Chenille Sisters are content to perform competently. At its best, swing can be, as it was often called, hot, but this trio is deliberately cool. It's as if they are trying to show listeners what the Boswell Sisters' and Andrews Sisters' repertoires would sound like as sung by a '50s act like the McGuire Sisters. Dapogny's band does break through here and there for some good soloing, particularly on "Bye Bye Blues," which it has all to itself. But then the homogenized singers return, and all the excitement goes out of the music. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/14/1993
Label:	Red House Records
UPC:	0033651005025
Rank:	2727

Tracks

1. I Want to Be Happy
2. Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)
3. Sentimental Journey
4. Goody Goody
5. Tell Me, Tell Me Baby
6. Bye Bye Blues
7. At the Codfish Ball
8. The House Is Haunted (By the Echo of Your Last Goodbye)
9. Button up Your Overcoat
10. Rum and Coca-Cola
11. Low Gravy
12. Little White Lies
13. Nagasaki

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Chenille Sisters   Primary Artist
James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band   Primary Artist
Russ Whitman   Sax (Baritone),Clarinet,Sax (Tenor)
James Dapogny   Piano
Wayne Jones   Drums
Jon-Erik Kellso   Cornet,Trumpet
Grace Morand   Vocals
Kim Cusak   Clarinet,Percussion,Sax (Alto)
Connie Huber   Vocals
Cheryl Dawdy   Vocals
Mike Karoub   Bass
David Sager   Trombone
Rod McDonald   Guitar

Technical Credits

Joe Thomas   Composer
Paul Baron   Composer
Sidney Mitchell   Composer
Bernie Hanighen   Composer
Chauncey Gray   Composer
Billy Rose   Composer
James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band   Performer
Claude Hopkins   Composer
James Dapogny   Leader,Mixing,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Vocal Arrangement
Basil Adlam   Composer
Mort Dixon   Composer
Walter Donaldson   Composer
Lew Brown   Composer
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Jeri Sullivan   Composer
Ray Henderson   Composer
Morey Amsterdam   Composer
Les Brown   Composer
David Bennett   Composer
Will Spencer   Mixing,Engineer
Bud Green   Composer
Buddy DeSylva   Composer
Bert Lown   Composer
Vincent Youmans   Composer
The Chenille Sisters   Producer,Transcription,Vocal Arrangement
Grace Morand   Mixing,Arranger
Linda Beauvais   Design
Peter Yates   Photography
Steve Fisher   Mixing
Connie Huber   Mixing,Arranger
Irving Caesar   Composer
Cheryl Dawdy   Mixing,Arranger
Ben Homer   Composer
Frederick Hamm   Composer
Matty Malneck   Composer
Lew Pollack   Composer
Harry Warren   Composer