PROOF THAT SWING HASN’T GONE OUT OF STYLE

If you think big band jazz is a museum piece, Tatum’s Swingin’ Session!!! will blow that notion clear off the bandstand. Under the sharp direction of Brett Dean, Chicago’s own Shout Section Big Band brings brassy swagger and airtight polish to fourteen tracks that feel both reverently vintage and utterly alive. Vocalist Tatum Langley, a Chicago jazz powerhouse who’s toured the world with Postmodern Jukebox, proves herself a full-throttle sensation—equal parts silk and dynamite—leading Dean’s hard-charging 18-piece ensemble through an hour of unapologetic swing.

From the moment Langley tears into “Deedle’s Blues,” her range, phrasing, and rhythmic snap command the band’s full roar like she was born to front them. Together they take off on a joyous romp through the Great American Songbook, mixing canon classics with clever surprises: a breezy Cole Porter rouser “Ridin’ High,” a sly mashup of “Sing” (kinda like The Carpenters meets the Dresden Dolls), and a sultry, swinging “Smooth Sailing” that lets Langley scat with the confidence of a modern-day Ella. Even the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” gets a jolt of jump-swing electricity—proof that the Shout Section can swing anything that moves.

Throughout, John Dorhauer’s and Mark Buselli’s arrangements crackle with color, while solos from Ben Crino, Ted Holtz, Bill Rank, Andy Schlinder, Michael Kennedy, Jimmy Farace, Nick Roach, Andrew Egizio, and Will Schmalbeck keep the charts agile and unpredictable. The set closes with “You’re the Top,” but it’s Langley who earns that title: she brings theatrical verve, humor, and heart to every track, culminating in the haunting bonus ballad “The Masquerade Is Over.” If swing this crisp and joyful can come out of the Midwest in 2025, the great tradition isn’t just surviving—it’s dancing in heels on top of the bar.

TATUM’S SWINGIN’ SESSION!!!
Tatum Langley and The Shout Section Big Band
released September 10, 2025
available on CD, vinyl, and streaming platforms
more info and other swingin’ albums: Shout Section