AllMovie

A note of explanation for the unfamiliar: the swing school of jazz music connotes several stylistic tropes, including the use of high-hat cymbals and the string bass, the adoption of numerous "swing eighths," and in general, a looser, more relaxed rhythm overall. On a historical level, the segue into swing commenced in the 1920s with such performers as Louis Armstrong, and remained both popular and prevalent - the "dominant mode" of jazz interpretation - well into the 1940s. Given the fact that swing was generally played by ten musicians or more, it was also known as the Big Band Era. This ambitious music history documentary examines the evolution of swing over time, as performed by such icons as Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Erskine Hawkins and Cab Calloway.