The first single from the forthcoming album JAZZED is Eva Cassidy’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).” Her critically lauded take on the Duke Ellington classic is matched by a new big band arrangement from Emmy Award-winning composer Christopher Willis (The White Lotus), who took his inspiration from the work of Nelson Riddle and Billy May. The outcome is a big band arrangement that takes Eva Cassidy’s jazz vocal artistry into the joy and movement of swing music.
The track is full of clean trumpet, sax, drums, cool hi-hat, and vocal prowess. Those elements give the performance a lively big-band setting, with Cassidy’s voice at the centre. The arrangement does justice to the classic with a richer instrumental setting and a definite sense of swing.
The track is the lead single from JAZZED, the first in a series celebrating Eva Cassidy’s versions of the Great American Songbook. “It Doesn’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” is another highlight, featuring a spectacular new arrangement that mixes jazz vocals with big-band instrumentation and a joyful rhythmic feel, a release designed to get us ready for the upcoming collection.
