Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra was a Canadian

swing revival The swing revival, also called retro swing and neo-swing, was a renewed interest in swing music and Lindy Hop dance, beginning around 1989 and reaching a peak in the 1990s. The music was generally rooted in the big bands of the swing era, swing e ...

band, active in the late 1990s."Band a favorite with swinging fans". ''

Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published four days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postm ...

'', June 10, 1998. Formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia by jazz singer Stuart "Johnny Favourite" Bastow, the band released its debut album ''The Life Desire'' independently in 1997. Other band members included John Wesley Chisholm, Wes Mackey Jr., Colin Hudson, Pete Johnston, Matt Myer, Craig Sheppard, "Hound Dog" Dave Fitzgerald, Eric Landry, David Christensen, Dawn Hatfield and Andrew Killawee. They won an

East Coast Music Award The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) is a non-profit association purposed towards supporting the Music of Canada's Maritimes, music industry in the Canada, Canadian east coast, i.e., Atlantic Canada. The ECMA hosts the annual East Coast Music ...

for Best Jazz Group in 1998, and signed to

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

that year. Soon afterward, however, Chisholm left the band after the birth of his second child; he subsequently received two

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nominations, for both

Best Original Song The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...

and Best Original Score, for his work composing music for the film ''

Beefcake Beefcake is a performance or a form of glamour photography depicting a large and muscular male body. Beefcake is also a publication genre. A role a person plays in a performance may be called ''beefcake''. The term was believed to be first used ...

''. The band's second album, ''Holiday Romance'', was released in fall 1998. By this time the band was a popular touring act, whose live show included original material, jazz standards and covers of classic and hard rock songs by bands such as

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

and

The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

. They garnered radio and

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

airplay for singles such as "Rootbeer & Licorice" and "We Still Talk". "Rootbeer & Licorice" charted on the Adult Contemporary charts in ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'', peaking at #32 the week of January 11, 1999. The band won the

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Best New Group at the

Juno Awards of 1999 The Juno Awards of 1999 honouring Canadian music industry achievements were held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The primary ceremonies at Copps Coliseum on 7 March 1999 were broadcast by CBC Television and hosted by Mike Bullard. Nominations wer ...

. Because the band had up to 14 members at various times, it underwent frequent personnel changes and internal tensions."Just in time for summer: Johnny Favourite is smooth, solo and back on your radio". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', July 6, 2000. The band broke up following a show in Halifax in early 2000; Bastow continued to use the name Johnny Favourite as a solo artist,"Still a Favourite, despite Juno curse". ''

'', July 25, 2000. and released his first solo album ''The Tonight Album'' in fall 2000. Five of the former Swing Orchestra bandmembers continued as his solo backing band. He moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

for several years in the 2000s, before returning to Canada near the end of the decade;"The Province Playlist; Featured artist: JOHNNY FAVOURITE, 'What a Difference a Day Makes'". ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

'', July 6, 2010. his second solo album, ''Troubadour'', was released in 2010.

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian jazz ensembles Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year winners Swing revival ensembles