|
This review appeared in the San Francisco Bay Guardian
April 28, 1999...
___________________________________
Two Live
Period pieces: Cynthia and Swing Set provide the mood music for swing
fans longing to re-create an era.
Cynthia and Swing Set
A nice crowd of people
For a lot of people, swing is more than just a recreational form of music. According to
Cynthia Bythell, lead vocalist-bandleader of Cynthia and The Swing Set, it's a lifestyle.
"The swing revival is a conservative backlash against the hard coldness of the world,"
she says. "I think people are ready to dance closer and dance together. I think they're
trying to create a fantasy of an era that they think was nicer, with more beauty in it,
more melodic music. They're into the clothing, the cars and the bric-a-brac for the
house. It's a nice crowd of people."
Watching Cynthia and Swing Set's Wednesday night performance at San Francisco's posh
Top of the Mark restaurant was like being on the set of a swing era-themed movie or
television show. Bythell, a Berkeley-based voice teacher and swing aficionado with
five albums to her credit, is involved in every aspect of the band, from writing the
lyrics to managing and booking to designing the musicians' black fedoras, thier zoot
suits, and the moniker on the bandstands. The eight-member dance band opened with an upbeat
instrumental written by alto saxophonist-arranger Barbara Speed called "Whoopsie Doo!"
(It's also the title track of the band's forthcoming CD.)
Bythell, heavily influenced by Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, and Louis Armstrong,
lent her full-bodied contralto vocals to a variety of standards and originals, including
"Mean to Me," "Blue Moon," the ragtime-infused "Dr. Jazz," and Cole Porter's
"Anything Goes" and "I Get a Kick Out of You."
One standout was an original called "That Suit Suits Me Fine," a buoyant jazz piece with
a cha-cha breakdown.
Playing to a small but enthusiastic crowd that night, Bythell's strong points were her
sparkling stage persona and her way of involving the audience by introducing each song,
as well as band members before and after solos. Musically and stylistically, Cynthia and
Swing Set provided an answer to the rhetorical question: "What is hip?"
(Shelah Moody)
_________________________________________
This review
appeared on the Northern California Lindy Society Web Site, 1997...
"Great musicianship. Cynthia is a fantastic
scatwoman. And, her scats don't interfere with the rhythm. There's
great potential in this 3 song demo. It's my understanding that they
really want to play for the dancers. Let's give 'em some support. ++"
Big Bea
(Music Critic for the Northern California Lindy
Society)
|
|
