The Swing Album

Jools Holland’s big band swings with the kind of loose-limbed joy that defined British television’s golden age of music shows. The Rhythm & Blues Orchestra—Holland’s long-running ensemble—trades in jump blues, swing, and R&B standards with the ease of musicians who’ve rehearsed these grooves a thousand times. Valley Entertainment captured the warmth of Holland’s boogie-woogie piano leading the charge through a repertoire that feels both timeless and lived-in, the kind of record that plays best late at night with a drink in hand.