Nineteen ninety-nine

Released in 1969 on the Fontana label, 'Nineteen ninety-nine' captures Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen at a transitional point in their long-standing career. As one of the premier acts of the British trad jazz revival, the group had achieved significant commercial success throughout the early 1960s by blending traditional New Orleans-style jazz with accessible pop sensibilities. This recording emerged during a period when the initial fervor of the trad boom had begun to fade, prompting artists like Ball to experiment with thematic content and more contemporary studio production techniques.

The record reflects the era's fascination with the approaching turn of the millennium, framed through the nostalgic and rhythmic lens that defined the band's signature sound. Kenny Ball, a skilled trumpeter and bandleader, designed the arrangement to bridge the gap between his dedicated base of traditional jazz enthusiasts and the shifting tastes of the late sixties. While it did not reach the same chart-topping heights as his earlier hits like 'Midnight in Moscow,' the release remains a notable example of the band's commitment to sustaining the jazz revival movement amidst a rapidly changing music landscape.