Drummer Gregg Field’s aptly titled The Art of Swing is an object lesson in listenable-danceable big band jazz, a not-to-be-missed classic that dancers, whatever their age, will be able to cut a rug to. Gregg Field, you ask? Well, for starters, he’s lifted bandstands with Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Mel Tormé, and during the 1990s, Frank Sinatra. In addition to being a first-call studio stalwart, in 1998, the L.A.-based drummer produced Monica Mancini, the acclaimed recording debut by his vocalist wife.
With a book of artfully crafted charts by Sammy Nestico, Field and his cast of Hollywood pros bring fresh life to the earthy terrain first staked out by Basie. In fact, it was when Field drummed for the Count back in 1981, that he first met Nestico on the date that produced Basie’s Grammy-winning A Warm Breeze. Here, Field, bassist Chuck Berghofer and pianist Pete Jolly help launch flights by saxophonists Pete Christlieb and Sal Lozano, trumpeters Snooky Young and Ron Stout, and trombonist Andy Martin. The band’s a killer. Muscular as well as agile, it embodies the essence of sophisticated swing. The Art of Swing? You bet!
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