Big Band Treasures Live

You'll find some forgotten gems in this collection of expertly performed big band arrangements from the 1930s and 1940s. Pieces such as "Evenin'" and "Gypsy Without a Song" evoke the sweet melancholy of two decades laced with uncertainty. There are several familiar tunes, but listen carefully to the forgotten gems. If you like what you hear on this disc, check out the Ellington band from the 1930s for more of romantic melancholy and Lionel Hampton's crew in the 1940s for burning hot swing. Considering the trashed hopes and dreams of this decade, courtesy of Wall Street greed, we need the lift and lilt of a new soundtrack played by a big band for today.