Moppin' and Boppin' - JUST RELEASED!!!

The Campus Five's latest recording!

Another platter of superbly danceable, rare and unique small group swing gems. Starting again with the classic small group sounds of the Benny Goodman Sextet, the album begins with “Wholly Cats” and also features the Basie-Goodman composition “Gone with ‘What’ Wind.” The album also features tunes from lesser-known small groups of the 30’s and 40’s – Lionel Hampton’s “Royal Family”, Charlie Ventura’s “C.V. Jam”, and Sir Charles Thompson’s “Rhythm Itch.” Hilary sings on Peggy Lee’s "I Don’t Know Enough About You" and Anita O'Day’s "As Long As I Live" and “Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina”, as well as our versions of “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and “Swing, Brother, Swing.” Jim Ziegler lends his voice to Lionel Hampton’s "Judy". The title track, Fats Waller’s 1943 classic “Moppin’ and Boppin’” features vintage drumming master Josh Collazo. The Campus Five goes to town on our versions of "It Don’t Mean a Thing" (a one-take jam session) and "Bugle Call Rag" (inspired by the 1944 Jazz at the Philharmonic Version).

As on our previous records, the album was recorded by vintage-jazz extraordinaire Dick Hamilton at his studio, the Doing, using vintage RCA 44 microphones to capture the traditional sound of classic small group swing. "Moppin’ and Boppin’" features Los Angeles' best swing musicians, including Tenor Saxophonist and Clarinetist Albert Alva, Trumpeter and Vocalist Jim Ziegler, Pianist Christopher Dawson, Bassist Wally Hersom, and Vintage-Jazz drumming phoneme Josh Collazo.

Click HERE to hear SOUND SAMPLES and see the complete track list.

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Crazy Rhythm

The Campus Five's Second Album!

The band delivers again with a whole new album of rare and unqiue tunes, and always danceable. Starting with the classic small group sounds of the Benny Goodman Sextet's "Six Appeal" and the Artie Shaw Gramercy Five's "Hop, Skip and Jump," the album also features some of the lesser-known small groups of Harlem in the 40's - the Cootie Williams Sextet "Honeysuckle Rose", Illinois Jacquet's "Jacquet in the Box" and Hot Lips Page's "Bloodhound". Hilary swings Peggy Lee tunes "Somebody Loves Me" and "Why Don't You Do Right", and Anita O'Day/Gene Krupa tunes "Massachusetts", "Boog It" and "Drum Boogie", the latter featuring vintage drumer extraordinare Josh Collazo. Jim Ziegler lends his voice to Cootie Williams "Gotta Do Some War Work". The Campus Five really rips it out on our versions of "Crazy Rhythm" (inspired by tap dancer Gregory Hines) and "Dark Eyes" (inspired by the

The album was recorded by vintage-jazz extraordinaire Dick Hamilton at his studio, the Doing, using vintage RCA 44 microphones to capture the traditional sound of classic small group swing. "Crazy Rhythm" features Los Angeles' best swing musicians, including Tenor Saxophonist and Clarinetist Albert Alva, Trumpeter and Vocalist Jim Ziegler, Pianist Christopher Dawson, Bassist Jim Garafolo, and Vintage-Jazz drumming phoneme Josh Collazo.

Click HERE to hear SOUND SAMPLES and see the complete track list.

Click here to BUY NOW / Also available at CDBaby and onApple Itunes

Jammin' the Blues

The Campus Five's Debut!

"Jammin'..." has become a must-have album for swing dance instructors and DJ's world-wide!

The band covers several nonstandard swing tunes, such as Coleman Hawkins' "Stuffy", and the 1945 Benny Goodman Sextet Tune "Oomph Fa Fa," as well as several better known tunes like "Cottontail", "Flying Home", and "Lester Leaps In". Vocalist and Co-leader Hilary Alexander shines on 40's gems such as "Shoo Fly Pie," "Mister 5x5," and "Down the Road a Piece," while Leader and Guitarist Jonathan Stout burns on tracks such as Django Reinhardt's "Minor Swing," and Charlie Christian's "Seven Come Eleven." Jim Ziegler adds his vocals to arippin' version of "Diga Diga Doo" and joins Hilary on "Swingin' on Nothin'".Of course, the peak of album is reached with the title track, "Jammin' the Blues," which finds the band hitting on all cylinders.

The album was recorded by vintage-jazz extraordinaire Dick Hamilton at his studio, the Doing, using vintage RCA 44 microphones to capture the traditional sound of classic small group swing. "Jammin' the Blues" features Los Angeles' best swing musicians, including Tenor Saxophonist and Clarinetist Albert Alva, Trumpeter and Vocalist Jim Ziegler, Pianist Christopher Dawson, Bassist Jim Garafolo, and Vintage-Jazz drumming phoneme Josh Collazo.

BEST CLARINET (Albert Alva) and BEST BASS PLAYER (Jim Garafolo) - SWING AWARDS 2003

Click HERE to hear SOUND SAMPLES to see the complete track list.

Click here to BUY NOW / Also available at CDBaby and on Apple Itunes

Best of Modern Swing

The Campus Five's version of "Savoy Blip" was featured on this 15-track compliation put out by Hep-Cat Records in 2004:

Description from Hep Cat:
"It's the 21'st century and if you mention swing jazz most people only think about the greats from the 1930's and 40's, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman etc. They seldom consider that still today there are lots of bands recording swing music. This album is a collection of great swing jazz by bands that are playing and recording in this century. This is the album that we never found when searching for modern swing jazz. So here we bring it to you – Best of Modern Swing. The recordings are from 1997 and forward and is a small showcase of what great music you can find if you look hard enough."

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Jeremy Wakefield - Steel Guitar Caviar!

Jonathan recently played on this great record by our good friend (a sometime guest) Jeremy Wakefield!

Description from Raucous Records:
"Jeremy Wakefield's name is known from playing with such acts as the Lucky Stars, Wayne Hancock, Hot Club of Cowtown, Asleep at the Wheel, Bonebrake Syncopators, or for providing the steel guitar sound effects on the Spongebob & Squarepants show. Well, now this legendary and somewhat mysterious virtuoso musician has recorded his first solo instrumental album, and it's a killer. Featuring some of the best musicians in Los Angeles, including T.K. Smith, Russ Blake, Whit Smith and Jonathan Stout on guitars, D.J. Bonebrake on vibes, Carl 'Sonny' Leyland on Hammond organ, Joey Altruda and Jake Erwin on bass and Chris Sprague on drums, 'Steel Guitar Caviar' is the best country-jazz release of the decade. Jeremy's command of the steel guitar is impressive, and in fact the newly released 'Lap Steel Guitars' book rates Jeremy as one of the best players to ever play the non-pedal steel guitar. Buy this fantastic album and hear for yourself!"

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