In December 1910, Virginia Woolf once observed, human character changed and, along with it, so did everything else. Politics, society, religion, sex, all of it, she thought, would leave the ancien regime behind. And, to a point, she was correct. Within a few years, the old world was gone, swept away by war and revolution. It was not coming back. Ever.

Somehow, listening to the marvelous musical products of modern big bands, Woolf seems oddly relevant. The level of musicianship, even compared to what could be found 30 or 40 years ago, forget the Dark Ages of the Swing Era, has simply gone somewhere else. Occasionally, listening to the ensemble and section work in this extraordinary group of players, one thinks this might have been possible only with the absolutely top East or West coast musicians in the 1950s or 1960s—and, for the record, most of these players lay claim to a similar title and status today—but something has changed, and it is not just chops or even arranging prowess. Possibly some readers can actually remember hearing