The Mood Swings Orchestra, an all-woman big band

The Mood Swings Orchestra, an all-woman big band
Performance at First Parish of Watertown, 35 Church Street, Watertown, MA
Sunday, October 30, 2006, 3 P.M.
Printed November 18, 2005

These women have brass and they know how to use it. The Mood Swings Orchestra, an all-woman big band hailing from Boston, played to an appreciative audience that filled the pews of the First Parish Church in Watertown on Sunday. The seventeen piece group is a classic big band, with the brass line of trumpets and trombones standing in the back row and the golden tenor, alto, and baritone saxophones seated in the front. Piano, bass and percussion make themselves at home on the side, supplying the rhythm that’s the backbone of a good band.

Photo:Ryles Jazz Club, February, 2005 (from moodswings web site)

The band’s repertoire reaches back to the thirties and forties. Their two full sets had the silver haired listeners who comprised most of the afternoon’s audience bobbing their heads and mouthing the words to familiar standards. After band leader Kathleen Hepburn’s second invitation to come on up and dance in front of the bandstand, several pairs of dancers answered the call. It may have been the writer’s imagination but the dancers seemed to shed a few decades as their muscle memories took over and they smoothly navigated swing dance passes and tuck turns. The hearty applause at the end of these tunes could as easily have been a salute to their by-gone youth as well as appreciation for the music.

The acoustics in this little church are heavenly for musicians. When the band amped up, its richly textured sound filled the room with sonorous harmonies that were the signatures of the Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey bands. The solo turns were a bit uneven, often a little brittle or underpowered, with an occasional errant note heading into the choir loft. But what unites the members of this not-for-profit group founded in 2003 is a love of music. No formal auditions are required. While the level of skill varies, they’re clearly having fun, the veterans paving the way for the newcomers.

Several renditions stood out in each set. Neal Hefti’s down tempo arrangement of “Little Darlin’” was very sweet, a lilting invitation to polish fox trot skills and appreciate the unique way a big band merges the smooth-as-butter reed and brass sounds. “Night Train” featured the front and back lines playfully swinging back and forth, arching their instruments during glissandos, camping it up in the best big band style. Hogie Carmichael’s “Stardust” featured a classic introduction and the audience unabashedly singing along after bandleader Hepburn’s invitation.

Second set treats included another Neal Hefti arrangement, “Why Not” and Ella Fitzgerald’s “Shiny Stockings”. The audience, no longer needing invitations, continued to dance in the small area in front of the bandstand. “Splanky”, named for Count Basie’s patented four note ending to many of his arrangements, was elevated by a rousing solo from a fleet fingered trumpeter who blew with power and command.

Each set might have benefited from re-sequencing to avoid too many similar tempos in a row. The Andrews Sisters “Pennsylvania Polka” gave the program a needed change of tempo near the close of the second set. Their encore number, “Bandstand Boogie”, featured a blistering solo from the leather lunged trumpeter in the back row and sent the happy crowd home with a little extra swing in their steps.

For more information about this band’s next stops, click on their web site, www.themoodswings.org

Comments

[Cara Fletcher]

I've heard the Mood Swings once and they are really good.I wish them good luck.