New Album from Glenn Crytzer's Savoy Seven

[glenncrytzer]

Hi DJs!

The fellas in the Savoy Seven and I are working on a new record of all original swing music composed by me. The album will have 18 original tunes and I'll be joined on it by Mike Davis, Dan Levinson, Evan Arntzen, Dalton Ridenhour, Andrew Hall, and Kevin Dorn.

We've currently got a kickstarter up and running to support the costs of making the record. I hope you'll check it out and become one of our sponsors! http://kickstarter.SavoySeven.com

Thanks!
Glenn

[trev]

Backed!

[trev]

This album is available as of next week, and it's good – Very good!

The band has an authentic 30s small group sound, and their originals have all the right characteristics of great tracks for swing dancing.

I initially complained that they had deliberately 'faked" an old "low-fi" sound in an attempt to imitate an old recording, but Glenn has assured me that their recording techniques were well considered on artistic grounds. You can read his lengthy and interesting summary here:

http://glenncrytzer.tumblr.com/post/115871911477/low-fi

I still wish that there was more of a hi-fi sound, purely from a DJing effectiveness point of view, but damn, these tunes are so good that I don't think it matters. Go out and DJ these to death!

And thanks Glenn!

[JesseMiner]

Don't forget the most important information, links to purchase the album (and the bonus tracks).

Jesse

[trev]

I would love to get other DJs opinions on this album. I DJed a few tracks last week and I have some thoughts...

[straycat]

Myself, I love it, and I'm looking forward to DJing from it.

I think that Glenn's output just keeps getting better and better - the fact that he chose to record a whole album of original swing music is incredibly ambitious enough - as soon as I saw that, I had to back it - and he's pulled it off in spades.

I don't think there's anything on the album I wouldn't DJ - particular favourites are Uptown Jump, Road to Tallahassee, Glenn's Idea & Savoy Special - but they're all great.

A couple of key things that stand out in my book - I'm often disappointed in CDs bought from bands, because they can sound pretty flat compared to the live band - I think I've seen a post from Glenn somewhere talking about this kind of phenomenon. While I've not seen Glenn's outfit play live - so can't compare to that, these recordings are vibrant - they feel exciting.

And they're fun - there's a lot of variety and texture to every single track - there's a lot for dancers to get their teeth into and have fun with. A nice range of tempos across the album as well, which never hurts.

So - while I've so far only put a couple of them to the test, I consider it an absolute must-have album.

More please Glenn!
[edit] slight revision, having been listening to it all again while posting - I probably wouldn't play Could This be Love? or Good Night, Good Luck - as they don't feel as fun as the rest (still good though) - and I'm adding Missouri Loves Company to the list of favourites. If only for the ending...

[CountBasi]

Trev (and whoever else) - you can read my review of it here:
http://happyfeetjazz.com/


straycat - glad you're going to be spreading the love in the UK. Agree with everything you've written just about - the honest % of tracks on it I'd DJ is the highest I can remember in a release of its length..

I'm going to be DJing from it at the Lindy Exchange in Portland this weekend needless to say. But I said it anyway.

[Jose Tello]

Just chiming in after hearing most of the album (about halfway through). Does anyone else feel like the quality of the recordings sounds...distant? It's not "bad" quality, but it sounds relatively quiet compared to a lot of other Jazz I've purchased on Bandcamp.

[trev]

I'm quite conflicted about it.

The music is great, the effort and passion put in is outstanding - but, the sound is quite poor. I get what they were trying to do, but I think it falls short.

I DJed a new Crytzer track back to back with some 40s Lionel Hampton and the Hampton had better fidelity! Surprisingly to me the Crytzer track was not that well received from the dancers and I think the missing fullness of the sound may have been a factor. So now I'm hesitant to give it more of a play unless i'm putting it along side a lot of other flat stuff.

Anyone else had this experience?

[straycat]

I don't have any problems with the sound quality, but I suppose I'm not really the world's greatest audiophile. Certainly I have albums with better sound, especially some of the modern albums from the likes of Campus 5, but I'm in no way disappointed by Uptown Jump.

Maybe my opinion will change as I DJ more of it, but - time will tell, I suppose.

Out of interest, which track did you try?

[trev]

I played Not Far to Fargo and Yes, I'm In The Doghouse Now!

[straycat]

Tried Not Far to Fargo and Glen's Idea last night.

Fargo... didn't work so well, but I misjudged that a little anyway - it wasn't quite the moment for it.

Glen's Idea went down a treat.

[Jose Tello]

Had a fellow DJ in my scene play most (if not all) of the album in the past week. There were mixed reactions.
He agreed there's something significantly different in the sound quality compared to most other music he DJ'ed.

Anyway, I like some of the compositions though