Rod Stewart and Jools Holland – Swing Fever Review

Get the fever from the Hootenanny Man and the Celtic fan. What a pairing Jools Holland and Rod Stewart is. Their shared love for the swinging days of classic music is clear as ever and their pairing makes perfect sense. Enlisting the endless spectacle which pours from Holland’s talented band and pairing it with the legendary voice of Stewart, now refined for the Swing Fever classics within, is a tremendous blend. This is not a fuddy compilation of tracks which appeal to the older generations but a piece which enlists legends of the game to beat new life into tracks of old. Swing Fever works with this in mind and benefits greatly from the pace set by the firm hands which were influenced, very clearly, by these efforts.  

Swing away then, with the short and brass-filled efforts of Lullaby of Broadway. Seth Macfarlane is allowed to expose the modern gap and so too do Stewart and Holland. Stock efforts from these opening two tracks, Oh Marie included, mark a neat introduction but it is not until the short and blisteringly sweet brass and trumpets of Sentimental Journey that Stewart finds himself in full swing. Holland follows this fine form with some grand experiences in his big band calibre on classic track Pennies from Heaven. Those “shoo-be-doo-be” beats are replaced with steely orchestral bits and some exceptional work. Build on that on Night Train too – as Stewart does, his voice improving and feeling like a warm embrace with its familiar tone and exceptional style. It suits the beat and flow of these swinging numbers. 

Part of it feels like this was the sole reason for the project. Stewart gears up to retire himself from performances and rightly so, a hell of a career and calling it on your terms is a rarity for artists. He gets to pay tribute, along with the safe hands of underrated, last bastion of great musical presentation Holland, with the likes of Love is the Sweetest Thing. Sincerely solid the whole way through and is a background pleasure – the likes of which we will see less and less of as the legends call time on their careers. Make no mistake, there is no sense of entitlement to Swing Fever. This is two legends sparring with the classics.  

Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima make the rounds on this effort from two established careerists. What a time they have of it, though the steam of swinging jazz-adjacent numbers runs out on Frankie and Johnny. Even then the bulk of Swing Fever is just enough to enjoy and engage with. A light string of treats to make do with. Covers of classics and an exceptional trend of shedding light on the music which inspired the greats reared its head last year but lacked the quality. Neil Young covered his works, as did U2. Middling efforts from the latter party. But it clicked something for listeners who are keen to experience old words through new mouths. Swing Fever offers just that, and it works nicely – the likes of Walkin’ My Baby Back Home capture the upbeat intent and consistency as well as can be.