It's a pairing that, in retrospect, seems inevitable.
Rod Stewart
started to sing standards at the dawn of the 2000s, turning his excursion into the
Great American Songbook
into a regular standard.
Jools Holland
played barrelhouse piano from the outset of his career, sneaking some boogie woogie onto
Squeeze
albums as early as
Cool for Cats
, where he co-wrote and sang "Hop, Skip, and Jump."
Holland
later became a star in his own right as a television presenter, launching his long-running music show Later¿With Jools Holland in 1992. Later invited musicians of all stripes onto its stage, but one artist who never entered the studio was
Stewart
-- not out of animosity but circumstance. The singer put a halt to that situation in 2023. Attempting to return to standards after a decade singing original material,
grew frustrated with his results, so he called
out of the blue, asking if he and his
Rhythm and Blues Orchestra
might be interested in cutting a record together. Quickly recognizing a kindred spirit,
accepted and the pair made
Swing Fever
, a record steeped in jump blues, boogie woogie, and other manners of swinging R&B. In form, it's not far removed from
's
albums, generally relying on songs written prior to the onset of rock & roll ("Good Rockin' Tonight," which was memorably covered by
Elvis Presley
, was a jump blues written by
Roy Brown
and popularized by
Wynonie Harris
in 1947). In execution, it's wildly different, thanks to
and his big band. Possessing a big, bawdy swagger,
and his band are an ideal match for a singer as playful as
, giving him the freedom to swing, scat, and smile with glee. Where
Rod
often seemed a little mannered, even stuffy, on the
albums, he's singing with an evident grin here, with a cheerful sound matched by
's pounding piano and the band's big, bustling rhythms. There's a palpable sense of joy, all derived from the musicians working live in the studio: they're getting a kick out of their collaboration and it's hard for the listener not to get swept up in the excitement with them. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine