Tiger Rag – 1960
Dutch Swing College Band
A stirring version by the veteran band
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The longest still-active jazz band in the world, the Dutch Swing College Band was founded in 1945 by Peter Schilperoort who played clarinet and baritone sax.
Based in the Netherlands, the band has performed Dixieland, swing and classic jazz standards for 80 years.
While the group has had many personnel changes through the years including the death of Schilperoort in 1990, and it has had a lower profile since its most recent recording in 2015, the Dutch Swing College Band has stuck to its original path during its entire long life and is still performing regularly in Europe.
Here is a rare television appearance from 1960 that features the band (with Schilperoort heard on both clarinet and baritone) playing a rather heated version of “Tiger Rag,” with cornetist Oscar Klein (the best known member of the group), trombonist Dick Kaart, clarinetist Jan Morks, pianist Arie Ligthart, bassist Bob van Oven, and drummer Martien Beenen.
The Dutch Swing College Band only had three minutes to complete the television show and, as one can see, they packed a lot into that time.
-Scott Yanow
