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Using nothing more than a guitar, a boogie woogie beat, and a 17-piece brass ensemble, Brian Setzer has melded roots rock and roll with easy listening swing in a way no one else has. I'm sure this has already been said. And not only that, but what's really so special about such a feat when ten-thousand late boomers and maniac gen xers spent most of 1998 putting together garage swing bands? Well, Setzer did it first, for one thing, paving the way with his seminal Brian Setzer Orchestra in 1994. And he did it right, too: this is not a half-dozen nurds in Buddy Holly glasses, with a stand up bass and Betty Boop winking and singing retro swing tunes. It is a complete rock and swing band, rocking and brassy and swinging and sassy, and all without a trace of irony.

Somewhere between Sinatra and Presley, Setzer's Boogie Woogie Christmas features its share of swinging moments: picture in your mind a swing version of The Nutcracker Suite, for example. Later, playing the Dean Martin card, Setzer performs a serviceable duet with Ann Margret on the almost de rigeur Baby It's Cold Outside. Far more impressive, though, was his way of belting out a gravelly (Everybody's Waitin' for) the Man with the Bag, followed by the climactic Sleigh Ride.

There are more gems on this record, but I'm not going to tell you about 'em. Just check out the Brian Setzer Orchestra's Boogie Woogie Christmas, and get ready for the sleigh ride of the season.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2002)

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From the liner notes:

Brian Setzer burst onto the scene in 1982 as lead singer for the Stray Cats, a serious roots rock and roll band that foreshadowed the psychobilly genre of the 1990s. After the breakup of the Stray Cats, Setzer put together the Brian Setzer Orchestra, a rock band incorporating the best in American music of the 20th century: rock and roll, swing, and easy listening.

Brian Setzer Orchestra

Boogie Woogie Christmas

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Track List