Jeff Meegan and David Tobin
Keep On Movin’
Audio Network
There’s nothing quite like big band music — the pushing rhythms, the riffs, and the off-the-cuff solos. It’s music that swings, and swing is created by the feel and manner with which the musicians play their instruments.
Keep On Movin’, the new album from Emmy-winning vocalist and composer Jeff Meegan and composer David Tobin, was recorded live by real musicians, in real time, in one session at Abbey Road Studio 2, and features the vocal talents of Meegan, Sara Niemietz (Postmodern Jukebox), and Steve Memmolo (The Voice Season 15). Talking about the album, Tobin says Keep On Movin’ is “a love letter to the era of showmanship, craft, and joy. It doesn’t take itself too seriously—but it’s serious fun.”
Meegan and Tobin’s music has appeared on Fleabag, This Is Us, The Equalizer, RuPaul’s Drag Race, A Million Little Things, NCIS, Big Mouth, and The Young and the Restless. In 2022, Meegan—alongside Brad Hatfield and Gaye Tolan Hatfield—took home a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song.
Made up of eight tracks, the album starts with “Who’d Have Believed,” featuring a creamy yet bouncy beat topped by luscious brass flavors. The mood and feeling of the tune are bright and lively, conveying the lustrous sensation of surprise at the magical emotions evoked by life. Highlighted by Niemietz’s sumptuous voice, infusing the lyrics with amazed joy, the melody bruits pure delight.
More restrained and elegant, “No Getting Over You” simmers with quixotic surfaces, revealing the splendor of love. A brass-driven tune, the burping accents and velvety textures combine to give the tune a stylish flow that ebbs and rises with ardent emotions.
The vocals on “It’s a Marvelous Life,” vaguely reminiscent of Frank Sinatra, suffuse the song with a radiant optimism, regardless of circumstances. The low-slung, silky motion of “Memories In the Sky” exudes a wistful mood, a mood emphasized by the nostalgic savor of the saxophone solo.
“Dance” rolls out on a dark, rumbling rhythm and blatting horns, supporting a sensuous, almost sleazy, melody full of rocking layers of brass. Niemietz’s deliciously strutting voice performs a marvelous call-and-response with the brass section.
Superbly wrought, Keep On Movin’ channels the yummy melodic movement and rhythmic phrases — the swing — of first-class, big band music.
