Swing it baby

Young Chang

Remember “Swingers?” The dark little dives actor Jon Favreau and his

crew hung out in and the music that filled your memory of the film?

That’s what Royal Crown Revue is all about. In fact, Favreau wrote

“Swingers” from his experiences at the Derby -- a 1920s Hollywood club

that has been a regular Revue performance venue for almost 10 years.

The band’s style is something along the lines of “The Good, the Bad

and the Ugly meets Chris Isaac meets Roy Orbison,” as drummer Daniel

Glass said, and its audience draws everyone from older generation

jazz-devotees to teens jumping into the retro-jazz scene.

“A lot of people realized that they have a lot in common with older

styles of music that they didn’t really think was possible,” Glass

explained of the group’s fans. “That otherwise, they wouldn’t have had a

chance to hear.”

Revue, which has performed at Fashion Island before, will return as

part of the annual Fashion Island Summer Concert Series on Wednesday --

an engagement for which series organizers will even install a dance

floor.

“From previous years, there’s always been a lot of dancing and action

throughout the aisles,” said Nicole Lawson, special events manager for

Fashion Island. “This is more of a big band swing people like to dance

to.”

Critics have called Revue, made up of band members Eddie Nichols,

Mando Dorame, Scott Steen, Veikko Lepisto, Greg Erba, Jim Jediken and

Glass, the founders of the recent swing resurgence. The band’s albums

include “The Contender” and “Walk on Fire.”

The music is a mix of rock ‘n’ roll, 40s blues, ‘50s rhythm and blues,

big band, bebop and even reggae. Glass compares the group’s sound to a

spectrum of genres being thrown in a blender.

“We utilize a lot of the influences we grew up with,” he said.

Glass’ parents played a lot of folk, opera and classical music while

the Los Angeles resident was young. He discovered jazz during his college

years -- specifically, electric fusion jazz -- and joined Revue seven

years ago.

“[The music] gripped me,” he said. “I’ve really taken a shine to it,

and I love what we do with it in the band.”

When the group started, a grunge type of sound was popular, he said.

The mood was angry, depressing and nihilistic, so the band created retro

swing to offer a more hopeful tune.

“It gave people other options and ways to approach music,” he said.

“And to listen to the music and participate in the music. They could

dress up, they could go be social, they could have an air of class about

them.”

Today, the band is working on a still-untitled album due early next

year.

“We’ve been getting into a real serious kind of Louis Prima feel,”

Glass said. “In that whole pre-rock ‘n’ roll kind of sound.”

FYI

WHAT: Royal Crown Revue performs

WHERE: Fashion Island, 900 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach

WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday

COST: Free, with preferred seating available for $15

CALL: (949) 721-2000