Zoot Suit Riot: A Brief History of Neo-Swing

Perhaps it all started with the zoot suits. Although the word “zoot” is a corruption of the word “suit” by Blacks. Saying “zoot suit” is just tautology. Oversized banana trousers with a high waist, jackets that rival the length of the floor with a coat, and double the shoulders, wide-brimmed hats with an indispensable feather and a pocket watch on a long chain: this is what the alter ego Stanley Ipkiss looks like, performed by Jim Carrey in the best comedy of the 1990s, “Mask”.

Colored guys in such outfits began to appear in the jazz community of large Northern cities from the late 1930s. The most prominent owner of the zoot was the famous Cab Calloway, the leader of his own orchestra, the author of the hooligan “Minnie The Moocher” and other hi-dee-ho chants. Soon, the style reached California, where the Pachucos, Mexican teenagers, began to dress up in it. Pearl Harbor happened at the wrong time, forcing the United States to enter World War II. The government issued a call to save fabric, in the light of which the zoo began to look like an anti-patriotic fop.

One day, a couple of drunken sailors from a warship decided to have fun with several Latinos in funny outfits, forgetting about the Japanese threat. The sailors, of course, were wiped out, and the next morning the entire local press was trumpeting a crime against the brave defenders bordering on betrayal. Immediately, all the spinach Popeye-warriors jumped off the ships onto dry land and began to beat and undress all the dudes who came to hand, with the tacit approval of the police. The dudes did not remain in debt, and behind each pachuco stood his numerous relatives.

The riots that broke out were called “Zoot Suit Riots”, and in Brian De Palma’s film “Black Orchid” there is an episode with hooligans detained after the pogroms, among whom zoot-suiters stands out vividly. However, soon the priorities of the youngsters shifted towards more practical motorcycle leathers, and jazz became so abstruse that it was easily replaced first by jump blues, and soon by rock and roll. Rock and roll died (not without the help of the American government), barely having time to be born, and the British incompetents who took up the baton brought everything to the point of absurdity, more precisely, to punk rock.

Punk rock took root in the Californian environment, although it mutated under the influence of traditional surf rock for those parts. Soon it began to dawn on some of the guys that it was at least not serious to portray a punk after coming of age. That’s when they remembered the notorious “Zoot Suit Riots” In 1989, brothers Mark and Adam Stern assembled the Royal Crown Revue orchestra, playing dance jazz with a nihilistic touch.

It is to them that Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz dance in the aforementioned “Mask”. The Royal Crown Revue were not the first in the neo-swing movement, but they were among the few who were blessed by Hollywood.

Royal Crown Revue – Hey Pachuco! (mp3)

Another notable gang was the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies who played punk, ska-punk and swing. Their hit “Zoot Suit Riot” became one of the greatest achievements in neo-swing, forcing the musicians to release an entire record in this key. Subsequently, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies will completely abandon ska and dirty guitars in favor of jazz, but time will be lost.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was organized by Scotty Morris, who had previously been involved in all sorts of alternative obscenity. At one of his last concerts, legendary bluesman Albert Collins signed a Scotty poster with the words “To Scotty, the big bad voodoo daddy.” This signature served as a catalyst for the creation of the band of the same name. After a couple of independent releases, the magnificent “Americana Deluxe” was released, which contained amazing author’s material (only “Mr. Pinstripe Suit” is worth it!) and an excellent re-recording of the already mentioned “Minnie The Moocher”. By the way, in 2009, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy released an album dedicated to Cab Calloway called “How Big Can You Get?”.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – Mr. Pinstripe Suit (mp3)

Brian-on-the-spot Setzer also spent that memorable decade playing neo-swing in the company of the huge Brian Setzer Orchestra. It should be noted that his line-up was the largest on the new scene, in terms of the number of musicians close to the big bands of the golden era of swing. It is also necessary to recognize that the albums “Dirty Boogie” and “Vavoom!”, as well as the rockabilly trio “Ignition” recorded during the same period, are the peak of Brian’s creativity. Even the mouse Stuart Little came to star in his music video for the song “If You Can’t Rock Me”. Setzer very successfully combined jazz and rockabilly, which, in essence, is no less swing.

The Squirrel Nut Zippers stand apart, a very special formation that was originally led by Jim Mathus and Tom Maxwell, with the magnificent Katharine Whalen on vocals, gracefully meowing in the style of a young Billie Holiday, and the virtuoso Andrew Bird on the violin. Their music was saturated with the sounds of the southern hinterland, the rhythms of the waves of the great Mississippi and Marktwen’s humor. Unfortunately, the classic line-up recorded only four records, and even then, at the time of the production of the fourth, “Bedlam Ballroom”, Maxwell left the band, which pushed it to an early breakup.

So, we went through the tops of such a phenomenon as neo-swing or swing revival, as it is called in the West. Each of these orchestras deserves special and close attention, which your humble servant will do in the foreseeable future. And may the chain on your trousers get longer every day, Moon Dawgs!