Jonathan Stout has long been an important figure in the swing and swing dance community. An excellent guitarist whose style ranges from Carl Kress and Allan Reuss to Charlie Christian without sounding too close to any of his historical predecessors, Stout leads several groups including the Campus Five and a larger orchestra. He has also been a sideman (both on guitar and drums) with many other top swing bands. As a dancer, he was on the team that won first place at the 2002 National Jitterbug Championships, so he always plays music at tempos that are quite suitable for dancing.
Recently he came out with two very different CDs. Pick It And Play It is a set of unaccompanied solo guitar performances. Stout functions quite effectively as a one-man orchestra, playing nine standards, obscurities (all set pieces) by Reuss (“Apartment G” and “Pet Shop,” neither of which were ever recorded before), Roy Smeck (“Itching Fingers”), and Frank Victor (“Pick It And Play It”), and two of his originals which are very much in the 1930s tradition.
With the exception of his two pieces, Stout performs music on this CD from 1926-38. His arrangements of the standards are fresh, lively and (particularly in the case of the ballads) thoughtful. There is enough variety throughout the solo recital to keep one’s interest throughout. Fans of the vintage jazz guitar style that was heard betw
