Although all but one of the tunes on Jammin' The Blues is a cover tune, they are covers of great classic jazz and swing era songs. The recordings on this, their debut release, are done at tempos easy for this band to get into a solid groove on and easy for listeners to sachet through with a pop of the fingers or a pat of the foot. For those of the persuasion to want to grab a partner and Lindy till they drop this CD could remain on the CD player alone all night and never get old.

From the very first tune on the release one is smitten with the band’s infectious rhythm and tasteful, well-played, and emotional solos. It doesn’t hurt that it just happens to be a classic Benny Goodman Sextet riff tune opening the CD co-written by the great Charlie Christian. The band never loses a beat the whole way through with three Lester Young tunes and Stout’s guitar work throughout is as tasteful as it gets. The tune Stuffy, written by Coleman Hawkins and first recorded by the tenor great in 1945 featuring Goodman's guitarist Allen Reuss, is a pleasant surprise and very well played.

While Stout's guitar work is a high point drawing on the styles of greats like Barney Kessell, Django Reinhardt, and Charlie Christian so is the playing of the rhythm section driving the band consisting of Christopher Dawson on piano, Jim Garafolo on bass, and Josh Collazo on drums. These aforementioned modern day hep-cats could make more music alone than most bands trying to play this style of jazz today.

It is an added bonus and pleasant surprise to hear crisp, clean trumpet work and most of all in tune and on key solos handled expertly by Jim Ziegler.

Just when you think it couldn’t get any better you are whisked into another dimension with the tenor work of Albert Alva sounding at times like Georgie Auld and Chu Berry all rolled up in one pack of dynamite. His clarinet riffs also far exceeded anything this listener and jazz lover has heard or expected to hear in a small group setting in the year 2003.

Finally and certainly not lastly are the superb vocals of Hilary Alexander. What a find is this canary! Female vocalists trying to sing jazz with an operatic approach has almost become commonplace aside from a handful of blues influenced singers like Lavay Smith, Katherine Whalen and Carmen Gettit. Hilary Alexander stands right up there with the best of them. She SWINGS, she’s on key, she’s on time and she sings with feeling. You get the idea this chirp isn’t just mouthing words on a piece of paper sung by someone else 50 years ago, she’s living and owning her vocals on this release.

The bottom line is if you like listening to vintage jazz and swing music and can appreciate well-timed and placed solo work you will love Jammin' The Blues by Jonathon Stout And His Campus Five. And if you’re a dancer and can’t find the rhythm or tempo in this CD…. get a new instructor…or switch to salsa.

Our Jazz Radio Show Info Page
The sordid history of our weekly big band music radio show, live since 1985. Proves that FCC radio deregulation survival may be linked to narcissistically twisted disorders.

Pre Swing Era World Report
The role of economics, early recording technology, and radio relative to the conception of the Big Band Era.

The Recording Ban Of 1942
Scans of a 1942 Down Beat magazine article detailing one of the most devastating events of the Big Band Era; the James Petrillo / AFM recording ban.

Webb Cuts Basie At The Savoy
Another of the many historic jazz magazine articles from Down Beat here on the site. This piece details the Count Basie vs. Chick Webb big band music Battle Of Swing held at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom in January of 1938.

Barney Kessel Biography
The jazz guitar great died May 6th, 2004 and left behind a vast body of recorded jazz work.

Benny Carter Biography
Benny Carter was one of the greatest arrangers and jazz musicians the genre has ever known. This extensive biography spans the entire lengthy carreer of the jazz legend.

Count Basie Biography
Our biography of Count Basie traces the career of "the kid from Red Bank" through Kansas City and into the later stages of his life as a bandleader.