THE KINGDOM OF SWING AND THE REPUBLIC OF OOP-BOP-SH'BAM

The Kingdom of Swing and the Republic of Oop Bop Sh'bam Jazz in July Live at The 92nd St. Y

On July 30, 1987, we presented the final concert of the third annual festival known as "Jazz in July at The 92nd St. Y." The Y is a New York institution known equally for its cultural events and its community-related educational and social services. This recording presents instrumental music heard there during a program entitled ''The Kingdom of Swing and The Republic of Oop Bop Sh 'Barn.'' In dreaming up this peculiar title, I meant to suggest the present interrelationship of two styles of jazz which at one time seemed as opposed as monarchy and republicanism, cats and dogs, Bach and Stravinsky. That was long ago, however, and in the succeeding years following the astonishing innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, the mainstream has absorbed much of the vocabulary of bebop. This recording represents real time: we hear the first hour of the concert, unedited except for most of my introductory remarks. It seemed to me that every player was at the top of his form, a happy circumstance in which the audience response, also unedited, was a powerful factor. When applause like that sweeps up on the stage, we play at our best. Dick Hyman, 1989