The Yalloppin' Hounds were the most popular, cutting edge New York band during the "neo swing" movement. Their albums "Ghetto Swing Extreme" and "New Yalloppin' City" are now considered bonafied classics by music critics everywhere. Their reputation earned them a full chapter in "The Swing Book" by Degen Penner, and they were featured in retro and music magazines alike. Most recently, their songs have been featured in the movies "Dead Pet", and "Nola", as well as in a PSA for Planned Parenthood. Their hit song, "Oops, My Bad" was featured this year on Showtime, as a background song for their winter season trailer.
Members of the Hounds have extensive backgrounds having grown up working for such Jazz legends like Illinois Jacquet, Doc Cheatham, and Panama Francis.
The Yalloppin' Hounds possess the distinction of being the first band in the world to combine the elements of traditional Swing with Hip-Hop stylings, creating a unique and excitingly fresh hybrid. The band, currently weighing in at seven pieces, sounds like a much bigger group, due to the tight section riffing by the horns, and the constant driving beat. Contrary to many early misconceptions, the Hounds are neither neo-craze jump band nor a rap crew; they are a group of musicians and vocalists of the highest caliber who swing and/or groove hard with relaxed precision. Since their first incarnation in 1998, the Hounds have grown from a vibrantly authentic swing/jazz band to producing some of the most universal original music of the new millennium.
With this new album, The Great Recession, bandleader/songwriter/arranger G-Clef da Mad Komposa decided it was time to unleash a brand new classic for the times, entitled, "The Great Recession". "I wanted to invoke the mood of the Great Depression days but update it to what people around the world are feeling now, re-examining the deeply rooted connection between Swing Music and Hip-Hop," explains G-Clef. Featured on this excursion again are G-Clef (Wu-Tang), Lord Sledge (The Toasters) and Peter Hartmann, as well as new female vocalist/discovery Leigh Vaiano, who will make listeners swear they are listening to a living Ella Fitzgerald once again.
Easily the most fully produced Hounds album yet, "Great Recession" will disintegrate all previously existent boundaries between listener, dancer, and the music itself.
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