Meegan & Tobin’s “Keep On Movin’” is a Big Band Triumph at Full Tilt

From the very first brassy swell, Keep On Movin’ announces itself as a work steeped in reverence for the golden era of big band—yet alive with the vitality and invention of the present. Recorded at the storied Abbey Road Studio 2 in a single, exhilarating session, Emmy Award-winning vocalist/composer Jeff Meegan and BAFTA-affiliated composer/orchestrator David Tobin have delivered an album that feels at once like a lost treasure from the Great American Songbook and a fresh dispatch from contemporary jazz’s brightest minds.

This is no polite museum piece. With a crack team of arrangers—Callum Au (Michael Bublé, Quincy Jones), Martin Williams, and Charley Harrison (Hollywood Jazz Orchestra)—the duo has sculpted arrangements that swing with impeccable precision while brimming with cinematic flair. The live band’s pulse is unmissable: drums crisp as a pressed cuff, horns blazing in technicolor arcs, bass walking with a sly grin. Every track is a testament to the irreplaceable electricity of musicians sharing a room, breathing the same air, and making magic in real time.

Anchoring the set are powerhouse turns from Sara Niemietz, Steve Memmolo, and Meegan himself, each vocalist inhabiting the songs with charisma and nuance. “On Top of the World” radiates optimism, “Dance” sashays with irresistible buoyancy, and the title track bounds forward with unshakable good cheer. There’s a studied elegance here, but also a wink—the reminder that big band at its best is both art and entertainment, sophistication and sheer fun.

Meegan & Tobin, whose credits span Fleabag to This Is Us, have crafted something rare: a contemporary jazz record that doesn’t simply nod to the past, but converses with it, adding their own chapter to a lineage of swing-era greats. Keep On Movin’ is a love letter to showmanship, craft, and joy—proof that when the band’s cookin’ and the charts are this sharp, the dance floor will never go dark.