To Swing or Not to Swing

Last updated
To Swing or Not to Swing
To Swing or Not to Swing.jpg
Studio album by
Released1956
RecordedMarch 28 & July 26, 1955
StudioContemporary Records Studio, Los Angeles, California
Genre Jazz
Length40:24
Label Contemporary C3511
Producer Lester Koenig
Barney Kessel chronology
Kessel Plays Standards
(1954-55)
To Swing or Not to Swing
(1956)
Music to Listen to Barney Kessel By
(1956)

To Swing or Not to Swing (subtitled Barney Kessel Volume 3) is an album by guitarist Barney Kessel released on the Contemporary label which was recorded at sessions in 1955. [1]

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states: "the overall result is a recording highly recommended to fans of straight-ahead jazz". [2]

Track listing

All compositions by Barney Kessel, except as indicated

  1. "Begin the Blues" - 4:29
  2. "Louisiana" (J. C. Johnson, Andy Razaf, Bob Schafer) - 3:57
  3. "Happy Feeling" - 3:58
  4. "Embraceable You" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) - 3:24
  5. "Wail Street" - 4:25
  6. "Back Home Again in Indiana" (James F. Hanley, Ballard MacDonald) - 3:13
  7. "Moten Swing" (Bennie Moten, Buster Moten) - 3:58
  8. "Midnight Sun" (Sonny Burke, Lionel Hampton) - 3:10
  9. "Contemporary Blues" - 4:09
  10. "Don't Blame Me" (Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields) - 2:58
  11. "Twelfth Street Rag" (Euday L. Bowman) - 2:55

Personnel

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References

  1. Contemporary Records discography accessed May 25, 2015
  2. 1 2 Yanow, Scott. To Swing or Not to Swing – Review at AllMusic . Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  3. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 820. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.