Casa Loma Orchestra: Casa Loma Stomp
Track
Casa Loma Stomp
Group
Casa Loma Orchestra
CD
An Anthology of Big Band Swing (1930-1955) (GRP GRD-2-629)
Musicians:
Glen Gray (alto sax), Pee Wee Hunt (trombone), Ray Eberle (alto sax),
Joe Hostetter, Dub Shoffner, Bobby Jones (trumpets); Billy Rauch (trombone), Pat Davis (tenor sax), Mel Jenssen (violin), Joe Hall (piano), Gene Gifford (banjo, guitar), Stanley Dennis (tuba, bass), Tony Briglia (drums
.Composed and arranged by Gene Gifford
.Recorded: New York, December 6, 1930
Rating: 75/100 (learn more)
It's hard to believe anything this frantic could've been considered dance music. "Casa Loma Stomp" ought to be retitled "Casa Loma Gallop." With a tune suggesting "California, Here I Come," the musicians break from the gate faster than forty-niners answering the Gold Rush. What's the house-on-fire hurry? Was the band bus double-parked? Or had the CLO returned from its Mexican tour with a nasty collective case of Montezuma's Revenge, lending the performance its gastrointestinal urgency? Whatever the explanation, anyone foolhardy enough to try dancing to this 6-minute chart compressed into 2:42 would collapse of exhaustion long before the finish line.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: big band
No Name Jive was never considered to be a dance tune. It was one of those numbers that was designed to pause the dancers and to bring them around the band stand where they would stomp and applaud the musicians. If you think NNJ is played at break neck speed you should listen to Casa Loma Stomp, considered by many to be the first real "swing" effort by a big band.