released September 1, 2023

Dewey Swell - flute; clarinet; alto clarinet; bass clarinet; soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxes; piano; organ; Wurlitzer electric piano; Fender Rhodes electric piano; electric bass; double bass; violin; cello; kanun.

Moses Swell - drums, percussion, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, xylophone, piano, organ, synthesizer, trombone, trumpet, tuba, cimbasso, bassoon, lots of strings, electric and acoustic bass, pan pipes.

Bernard "Benny" Swell - Cover Design

Dave Newhouse - Pennywhistle

Michael Bass - Triangle

Neil Doherty- Pencil Sharpening and Doodles

Bobo "Zap" Bolinsky - Mixing and Mastering

Guest Artists:

Les Hot and his Hottentots - 101 Strings throughout

Motorhead - Baritone Sax solo on Mr. Wheaton

Snardly Bakersfield - Electric Guitar and Footsteps on Mr. Wheaton

Mickey Mambo and His Combo - Percussion on A Social Behavior

Organ Leroy at his Organ on Night Constantinople

J. Arthur Rank - Gong on A Social Behavior

Catering by Muffins and Matzoh

THE SONGS:
"Mr. Wheaton" was a mysterious figure who wrote an advice column that Moses read religiously. He once wrote to him for advice (why does the word Swell mean something good and something getting larger?) and Mr. Wheaton replied that he didn't answer weird philosophical questions and maybe he needed a girlfriend. Being older, Dewey went out in the world a bit earlier than Moses and was in a band called Tunc. They learned a Chico Marx tune and played it incessantly, much to their audience's dismay. Here he repents, by twisting the tune until there's nothing left.

"Brix" was a composition that an old band called The Muffins used to play. Little is known about the band as they've since faded into obscurity, probably due to their name. "Lake Constance" is a tune that Moses wrote for a friend to use for his wedding processional. It was a lovely wedding, although the bride looked like she was limping as she tried to keep time with the music. Sadly, the marriage did not last.

"March For Jeru" was written for the great baritone sax player Gerry Mulligan, whom all the hep cats called 'Jeru'. Mulligan was a personal friend of the Swell family, and he used to come by the old apartment on the Lower East Side often. One day, Mulligan gave the boys' dad, Levi, a bunch of his shoes that needed repair, as Levi Swell ran a semi-successful show repair shop. The following week when Mulligan came by to pick up his shoes, Levi had closed down the shop, left the family, and headed for Tijuana. Mulligan was furious and gave the boys a lecture about how important it was for jazz musicians to own good walking shoes. Thus, "March For Jeru".

"Three Halves Make A Hole" was the punchline of a joke that Moses used to know. He tried to tell it to Dewey recently and, even though he messed it up, Dewey thought it was swell. Dewey was so delighted that he got out his bass clarinet and played this lick, which Moses turned into this number.

"A Social Behavior". Dewey liked sweet sounds a little more than Moses and often held back tunes that he didn't think were right for the Swell Brothers sound. Some of those tunes he released as a solo artist - he has a series called "Swell Songs for Swell People" that is up to volume 8. So he wasn't sure about "A Social Behavior" when he sent the backing tracks to Moses. Maybe it was too 'nice' for Moses. Maybe it just wasn't a Swell Brothers tune. But Moses heard something and slowly they worked through the piece section by section until it turned into one of their best numbers. Neither of them expected this, but it was really swell when it happened!

"What Time Is It": When they were first making music together, Moses always would ask what time something was in and Dewey would tell him to just feel it. Moses wasn't very good at "just feeling it" but he thought it was swell that Dewey could do it, while he plodded along. Then he had the swell idea of writing a tune so twisty that Dewey would not be able to feel it and would ask What Time Is It. Dewey, of course, had no trouble and never did ask. But the title remained.

"Night Constantinople" came from a dream that Dewey had. In the dream he was shoe salesman who got locked in the old Chock Full O'Nuts on Lexington Ave and 86th Street. When he got out, he was a full-on coffee addict. The dream had nothing to do with either night or Constantinople, but Dewey liked the title, so it stuck.

"Squeaks Du Jour" was one of Dewey's nicknames back in the day when he and Moses would play the NYC club circuit as Just A Couple of Swells. This tune in particular represents the scope and questionable decisions revolving around Dewey's horn playing. Not everyone liked it.