Mel Lewis was incapable of not swinging, imo, Zoot Sims was the kind of guy who would play any gig and always bring Zoot Sims, nothing more or nothing less, if you don't want Zoot Sims, don't hire Zoot Sims, right? and Phil Woods, listen closely all you reflexo-haters out there: Phil Woods was one of the VERY greatest lead alto players in the history of this music. Hell, a major reason why I still dig this record so much is just to listen to Phil Woods lead that section.
Benny Goodman was a pretty freaky guy, and time spent waiting for him to be anything other than what he was is gonna be time forever wasted. But dammit, the guy knew how he wanted his bands to sound, and they pretty much always did, so, you know, bring the mountain to the door, open up the door, Richard, you can get it yourself, I will, thank you.
And truthfully, I don't know if young people today, even the best of them could play like this band does, not just like this, these guys knew it was retro, but they still had it in them from when it wasn't. That makes a difference, imo. Is this "corny"? OF COURSE it is, does it feel bad, though, does it leave things worse than they were found? Not imo. ZOOT! MEL! PHIL WOODS LEAD ALTO!
People on the same word in the same sentence in the same paragraph on the same page of the same book, are they drug playing this, pretty sure yes, but it's not a crime to be drug on a gig, it's a crime to not elevate anyway.