Specialist jazz educators, even great ones, rarely get a mention outside interviews and biographies. Keep Swingin' brings the name of one such, Charlie Banacos, to light. All the compositions are Banacos originals – lead sheets are included in the booklet for fellow educators to take note – and the repertoire ranges from fusion to swinging modern jazz.

The project was organised by pianist/educator Garry Dial – a Banacos pupil for 35 years – and drummer/conductor/educator Rich DeRosa, whose composing and arranging credits range from JALC to commercials, TV and film. Both spent early careers playing jazz live – they crossed paths with Gerry Mulligan and Dial spent a decade with Red Rodney – and both are effective, though generic, in a broadly modernist style.

The meat of the album, though, are the ١٠ Banacos compositions, originally designed for a correspondence course, but now crisply re-configured for the album’s heavyweight, ex Banacos-pupil guests. Each track has different personnel – five drummers and five bassists are among the ٣٤ musicians named – and lead soloists range from trumpeter Terrell Stafford to guitarist Wayne Krantz. Banacos’ scholarly compositions hold the album together and give it a coherent heart.

Highlights include Stafford’s solo on the blousy title track, guitarist Wayne Kranz and bassist Joe Hubbard delivering ‘The Great Awakening’s’ Weather Report vibe and Jerry Bergonzi’s imperious tenor sax on the swinging modernism of 'Mummy’s Curse'.