When Hot House West Swing Orchestra performed at Kingsbury Hall last Thursday (January 23, 2025), one thought hit early and often: this band has done its homework.
And that’s a calming notion, a reassuring one. It makes sense, too, when someone in the band shares that there are at least a handful of horn-playing and upright bass-slapping professors in the band. Or when they share a list of musicians’ names and inspirations from the 1930s that they hold fast to (a little homework for everyone gathered to study later).
Seeing 15-16 talented musicians gather together and look a lot like a photo of an old-time radio program from the 1930s brought to life was enough of a spectacle all by itself. But the songs and arrangements they shared were a rare delight, as they dipped their toes in big band and Gypsy jazz and western swing. Playing together sounded like hours and hours of devoted practice (or, you know, homework).
The show was full of unbounded enthusiasm. Perfectly executed saxophone and drum solos. Violins. Poignantly beautiful solos (Melissa Chillinski’s “Cowpoke” was a long chance to hold breaths, and choose not to fight back happy tears). There was improvisation, syncopation, multiple sets of maracas being shaken, and a lot of blessed variety to accompany their joy.
As the concert neared its tail end, the band invited a university dance group to surround them and show off all their dance moves for a few songs in a row. In a more perfect world, the audience would have been able to join in and move as well. The sounds that The Hot House Swing Orchestra creates come together in an unbounded, energetic way that makes you move, and forces it, even. Good news, though: future performances now on their performing schedule will allow for lots of dancing, which is precisely how it should be.
Photos by Nathan Christianson (IG: @npcplus)
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