The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Brian Setzer Orchestra (sometimes going by the acronym BSO) is a swing and jump blues
band formed in 1990 by Stray Cats
frontman Brian Setzer
. The group had success covering Louis Prima
's "Jump Jive an' Wail", which appeared on Prima's 1957 album The Wildest!
. The BSO's follow up single was "Gettin' In the Mood."
. In 1990, Setzer organized the orchestra, styled as a big band which included full sections of trumpet
, trombone
and saxophone
players, and a rhythm section with Setzer on guitar and vocals, plus piano, string bass and drums. The orchestra began playing clubs in and around Los Angeles
, and was eventually signed to Hollywood Records
.
After the release of its first two albums in 1994 and 1996, the group achieved national acclaim during the Swing Revival
of the mid-1990s, which saw other similar acts such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
and Squirrel Nut Zippers
come to prominence. There had also been a change of labels, to Interscope Records
. The band also had a slight change in orchestration, dropping the piano player. The arrangements on The Dirty Boogie
(1998), a mix of Setzer-penned originals and covers of swing standards, had a much harder edge than the previous two albums. Setzer's cover of "Jump Jive an' Wail" was often mistaken for the original Louis Prima version which was featured in a commercial for The Gap
, after which the band soon found unprecedented demand. The orchestra then embarked on several U.S. and world tours.
The follow-up album to The Dirty Boogie was Vavoom! which did not see the same success that its predecessor did, as the Swing Revival was dying out. However, the BSO did bounce back in the early 2000s with two albums of Christmas music and several supporting tours. The orchestra added two backing vocalists, one of whom, Julie Reiten, eventually became Mrs. Brian Setzer.
Inspired by the use of Frank Comstock's arrangement of "The Nutcracker Suite
" on one of the Christmas albums, Setzer lured Comstock out of retirement to create arrangements for Setzer's 2007 album, Wolfgang's Big Night Out
.
The orchestra cancelled its 2008 Christmas tour but went back on the road in 2009.
In 2009, the orchestra released a new album titled Songs from Lonely Avenue
. This is the first album to feature all original songs written by Brian Setzer. Frank Comstock also worked on horn and string arrangements for the album. The song "Mr. Surfer Goes Jazzin'" has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category, earning Setzer his 9th Grammy nomination.
using just this trio, in the manner of the Stray Cats
.
The woodwind and brass players have had some turnover during the years but some of the more prominent members include bass trombonist Robbie Hioki, sax player Vincent Trombetta, and trumpeter Kevin Richardson
.
The two female backup singers are referred to as the Vixens.
of the 1990s which still maintains a high level of popularity. The BSO is commonly seen during the December holidays covering Christmas songs and often play the Rockefeller Center
tree lighting ceremony. Additionally, Setzer tunes have been used in commercials, such as "The Man With The Magic Touch" appearing in commercials for Nikon
cameras, and "There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" touting Massachusetts
tourism.
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
band formed in 1990 by Stray Cats
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...
frontman Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
. The group had success covering Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
's "Jump Jive an' Wail", which appeared on Prima's 1957 album The Wildest!
The Wildest!
The Wildest! is an album by Louis Prima, first released in 1957. It features singer Keely Smith with saxophonist Sam Butera and the Witnesses. It is considered an innovative mixture of early rock and roll, jump blues and jazz as well as eccentric humor....
. The BSO's follow up single was "Gettin' In the Mood."
History
Setzer, who had grown up playing the baritone horn in school, often envisioned a rock guitar fronting a big bandBig band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
. In 1990, Setzer organized the orchestra, styled as a big band which included full sections of trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
and saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
players, and a rhythm section with Setzer on guitar and vocals, plus piano, string bass and drums. The orchestra began playing clubs in and around Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, and was eventually signed to Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...
.
After the release of its first two albums in 1994 and 1996, the group achieved national acclaim during the Swing Revival
Swing Revival
The Swing Revival was a late 1990s and early 2000s period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music and dance from the 1930s and 1940s as exemplified by Louis Prima, often mixed with a more contemporary rock, rockabilly or ska sound, known also as neo-swing or retro...
of the mid-1990s, which saw other similar acts such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a contemporary swing revival band from southern California. Their notable singles include "Go Daddy-O", "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight ", and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit". The band played the Super Bowl XXXIII half-time show in 1999.The band was originally formed in Ventura,...
and Squirrel Nut Zippers
Squirrel Nut Zippers
The Squirrel Nut Zippers are a band formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by James "Jimbo" Mathus , Katharine Whalen , Chris Phillips on drums, Don Raleigh on bass and sideman Ken Mosher....
come to prominence. There had also been a change of labels, to Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
. The band also had a slight change in orchestration, dropping the piano player. The arrangements on The Dirty Boogie
The Dirty Boogie
The Dirty Boogie is the third album from the swing band The Brian Setzer Orchestra. The album is considered as the breakthrough for the band, with their first single being a cover of Louis Prima's "Jump Jive an' Wail", which Prima had made popular in 1956 and included in his album The Wildest!...
(1998), a mix of Setzer-penned originals and covers of swing standards, had a much harder edge than the previous two albums. Setzer's cover of "Jump Jive an' Wail" was often mistaken for the original Louis Prima version which was featured in a commercial for The Gap
Gap (clothing retailer)
The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...
, after which the band soon found unprecedented demand. The orchestra then embarked on several U.S. and world tours.
The follow-up album to The Dirty Boogie was Vavoom! which did not see the same success that its predecessor did, as the Swing Revival was dying out. However, the BSO did bounce back in the early 2000s with two albums of Christmas music and several supporting tours. The orchestra added two backing vocalists, one of whom, Julie Reiten, eventually became Mrs. Brian Setzer.
Inspired by the use of Frank Comstock's arrangement of "The Nutcracker Suite
The Nutcracker Suite
The Nutcracker Suite is a recording by American guitarist Tim Sparks, released in 1993. It consists of both an adaptation for acoustic guitar of Tchaikovsky's suite from his ballet The Nutcracker and the Balkan Dreams Suite, a suite of songs based on melodies and ideas of Bela Bartok...
" on one of the Christmas albums, Setzer lured Comstock out of retirement to create arrangements for Setzer's 2007 album, Wolfgang's Big Night Out
Wolfgang's Big Night Out
Wolfgang's Big Night Out is the seventh studio album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released on September 25, 2007 on Surfdog Records. It is a collection of rockabilly and swing versions of classical compositions...
.
The orchestra cancelled its 2008 Christmas tour but went back on the road in 2009.
In 2009, the orchestra released a new album titled Songs from Lonely Avenue
Songs from Lonely Avenue
Songs From Lonely Avenue is the eighth studio album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released in 2009. This is the first album to feature all original songs written by Brian Setzer.-Track listing:# "Trouble Train"...
. This is the first album to feature all original songs written by Brian Setzer. Frank Comstock also worked on horn and string arrangements for the album. The song "Mr. Surfer Goes Jazzin'" has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category, earning Setzer his 9th Grammy nomination.
Orchestra Members
Besides Setzer, the rhythm section is anchored by drummer Tony Pia and bassist Johnny Hatton. During live concert performances, Setzer will often dismiss the horn players and play a set of rockabillyRockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
using just this trio, in the manner of the Stray Cats
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...
.
The woodwind and brass players have had some turnover during the years but some of the more prominent members include bass trombonist Robbie Hioki, sax player Vincent Trombetta, and trumpeter Kevin Richardson
Kevin Richardson
Kevin Richardson is the name of:* Kevin Richardson , American football player* Kevin Richardson , American baseball player* Kevin Richardson , English footballer...
.
The two female backup singers are referred to as the Vixens.
Current members
- Brian SetzerBrian SetzerBrian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
(guitar, vocals) - Tim Messina (tenor sax, clarinet)
- Eric Morones (alto sax, clarinet, flute)
- Matt Zebley (alto sax, clarinet, flute)
- Jim Youngstrom (tenor sax, bass clarinet)
- Charlie Peterson (baritone sax, clarinet)
- Steve Reid (trumpet)
- Jamie Hovorka (trumpet)
- Sean Billings (trumpet)
- Brian Scanlon (trumpet)
- Kevin Norton (trumpet)
- Jason Thor (trombone)
- Jeremy Levy (trombone)
- Kerry Loeschen (trombone)
- Robbie Hioki (bass trombone)
- Francisco Torres (trombone)
- Johnny Hatton (bass)
- Tony Pia (drums, percussion)
- Julie Reiten (vocals)
- Janick Lafreniere (piano)
- Leslie Spencer (vocals)
Former Members
- Bernie Dresel (drums, percussion)
- Mark Winchester (bass)
- Joie Shettler (vocals)
- Beth Curry (vocals)
- Kye PalmerKye PalmerKye Palmer is a trumpet player who is a Los Angeles studio musician, most notable as a former member of the Tonight Show Band from 2006 to 2009. On April 10, 2006, Kye Palmer replaced Lee Thornburg in the Tonight Show Band and was there for the last part of Kevin Eubanks tenure with the Tonight Show...
(trumpet) - Willie Murillo (trumpet)
- Claude Cailliet (trombone)
The BSO Today
The orchestra is one of the only acts from the Swing RevivalSwing Revival
The Swing Revival was a late 1990s and early 2000s period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music and dance from the 1930s and 1940s as exemplified by Louis Prima, often mixed with a more contemporary rock, rockabilly or ska sound, known also as neo-swing or retro...
of the 1990s which still maintains a high level of popularity. The BSO is commonly seen during the December holidays covering Christmas songs and often play the Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
tree lighting ceremony. Additionally, Setzer tunes have been used in commercials, such as "The Man With The Magic Touch" appearing in commercials for Nikon
Nikon
, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
cameras, and "There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" touting Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
tourism.
Brian Setzer Orchestra
- Summer Tour '97
- The Dirty Boogie Summer Tour '98
- The Dirty Boogie Fall Tour '98
- Let's Live It Up World 1999 Tour
- Here I Go Again Draggin' 16 Guys Around The World Tour
- Japan Tour 2002
- Japan Tour 2003
- Winter Christmas Tour 2003
- Japan Tour 2004
- Winter Christmas Tour 2005
- Winter Christmas Tour 2006
- Winter Christmas Tour 2007
- Japan Tour 2009
- Winter Christmas Tour 2009
Studio albums
- The Brian Setzer OrchestraThe Brian Setzer Orchestra (album)The Brian Setzer Orchestra is the first studio album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released on 1994. - Track listing :# "Lady Luck"# "Ball And Chain"# "Sittin' On It All The Time"# "Good Rockin' Daddy"...
(1994) - Guitar SlingerGuitar SlingerGuitar Slinger is The Brian Setzer Orchestra's second album.-Track listing:# "The House Is Rockin'" – 3:02# "Hoodoo Voodoo Doll" – 3:39# "Town Without Pity" – 4:04...
(1996) - The Dirty BoogieThe Dirty BoogieThe Dirty Boogie is the third album from the swing band The Brian Setzer Orchestra. The album is considered as the breakthrough for the band, with their first single being a cover of Louis Prima's "Jump Jive an' Wail", which Prima had made popular in 1956 and included in his album The Wildest!...
(1998) - Vavoom!Vavoom!-Track listing:All tracks composed by Brian Setzer; except where indicated# "Pennsylvania 6-5000" # "Jumpin' East of Java"# "Americano" # "If You Can't Rock Me"...
(2000) - Boogie Woogie ChristmasBoogie Woogie ChristmasBoogie Woogie Christmas is a 2002 Christmas album recorded by the Brian Setzer Orchestra.-Original:#Jingle Bells - 2:22#Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - 3:02#Winter Wonderland - 2:40#Blue Christmas - 2:48#Santa Claus Is Back In Town - 3:48...
(2002) - Dig That Crazy ChristmasDig That Crazy ChristmasDig That Crazy Christmas is an album by The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Released in 2005 on Surfdog Records, it's a collection of holiday songs performed in big band swing style. Although most of the songs have been previously recorded by other artists, it includes two originals written by Setzer...
(2005) - Wolfgang's Big Night OutWolfgang's Big Night OutWolfgang's Big Night Out is the seventh studio album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released on September 25, 2007 on Surfdog Records. It is a collection of rockabilly and swing versions of classical compositions...
(2007) - Songs from Lonely AvenueSongs from Lonely AvenueSongs From Lonely Avenue is the eighth studio album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released in 2009. This is the first album to feature all original songs written by Brian Setzer.-Track listing:# "Trouble Train"...
(2009)
Compilations and live albums
- Jumpin' East of JavaJumpin' East of JavaJumpin' East of Java is the first live album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released on 2001 in Japan only.-Track listing:# "Hawaii Five-0"# "This Cat's On A Hot Tin Roof"# "The Dirty Boogie"# "Jumpin' East of Java"...
(2001) - Best of The Big BandBest of The Big BandBest of The Big Band is a compilation album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released on 2002 in Japan only.-Track listing:# "Gettin' In The Mood"# "Rumble In Brighton"# "This Cat' s On A Hot Tin Roof"...
(2002) - The Ultimate CollectionThe Ultimate Collection (The Brian Setzer Orchestra album)The Ultimate Collection is a live album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released on 2004.-Disc 1:# "Intro"# "James Bond Theme"# "Hoodoo Voodoo Doll"# "Good Rockin' Daddy"# "Your True Love"# "My Baby Only Cares For Me"...
(2004) - The Best Of Collection - Christmas Rocks!The Best Of Collection - Christmas Rocks!The Best Of Collection - Christmas Rocks! is a compilation album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released in 2008.-Track listing:# "Jingle Bells"# "Gettin' In The Mood "# "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus"...
(2008) - Ultimate Christmas Collection (2008)
- Don't Mess With A Big Band (Live!)Don't Mess With A Big Band (Live!)Don't Mess With a Big Band is a live album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released in 2010.-Disc 1:-Disc 2:...
(2010) - Christmas Comes Alive! (2010)
Live DVDs
- Brian Setzer Orchestra live In Japan (2001)
- Brian Setzer Orchestra Live: Christmas Extravaganza (2005)
- One Rockin' Night (2007) - Recorded in MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, 1995