Brian Setzer Orchestra
performs in concert Dec. 21
Three-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist, singer and
songwriter Brian Setzer, whose rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats and his
own jazz-oriented big band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, have rocked many a
house, plays the California Theatre on Dec. 21.
Setzer formed the swing and jump blues 17-piece Brian
Setzer Orchestra in the mid-1990s. The ensemble released four studio albums, a
Christmas disc and several live releases between 1994 and 2002. The group’s 1998
album, “The Dirty Boogie,” cracked the Top 10 and featured the hit single,
“Jump, Jive and Wail.”
Other albums by the group followed, including
“Wolfgang’s Big Night Out” in April 2007, which featured Setzer's take on
classical pieces, such as Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The album earned Setzer
his eighth Grammy nomination, Best Classical Crossover Album of the
Rear.
In October 2009, the Brian Setzer Orchestra released a
new album titled "Songs From Lonely Avenue." For the first time in Setzer's
career, he was the sole writer on every song. Frank Comstock, the 87-year-old
big band arranger whom Setzer collaborated with on "Wolfgang's Big Night Out,"
orchestrated most of the horn parts for the album.
Born in New York state, Setzer, drummer Slim Jim
Phantom and bassist Lee Rocker formed The Stray Cats in 1980 in London, where
they found their first success. There the group released two albums, the
self-titled “Stray Cats” and “Gonna Ball.”
The trio finally caught America’s attention with the
1982 album “Built for Speed,” which featured the hit singles “Rock This Town”
and “Stray Cat Strut.” The band’s 1983 follow-up album, “Rant ‘N Rave with the
Stray Cats,” featured the hit singles “She’s Sexy + 17” and “I Won’t Stand in
Your Way.”
The Stray Cats separated in 1984, and but reunited
briefly to record albums and tour several times during the 1990s. During 1985
and 1986 Setzer was lead guitarist with Robert Plant’s touring version of The
Honeydrippers.
In the summer of 1986, Setzer released his first solo
album, “The Knife Feels Like Justice,” which marked a huge move away from his
trademark sound and towards a more mainstream “rock-roots” sound.
Setzer continued to release solo-billed albums,
including a solo live disc titled “Rockin’ By Myself (1998). He released the
album “Ignition” in 2001 with his new trio, billed as the ’68 Comeback
Special.
In 2003, Setzer released “Nitro Burnin’ Funny Daddy. A
tribute album titled “Rockabilly Riot Vol. 1: A Tribute to Sun Records” in July
2005. The album “13” was released in October 2006. “Red Hot & Live” followed
a year later.
BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA
WHEN: 8 p.m. Dec. 21
WHERE: California Theatre of
the Performing Arts, 562 W. Fourth St., San Bernardino.
INFORMATION/BOX OFFICE: (909)
885-5152
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