This 1972 production is a potpourri of “live” festival big bands, starring some of the greatest jazz musicians of the time: the Nordic All-Stars with Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek of ECM fame, Poland’s Novi Singers and the Zurich International Festival All-Stars including Dexter Gordon and Art Farmer. These timeless performances sound as fresh today as when they were first recorded.

Recorded Live at the 1971 Berlin Jazz Festival, "Swinging East" is testimony to jazz’s ability to cross over international boundaries. Representing various Communist Bloc countries, the musicians were all-stars in their own lands, and three of the players, Croatia’s Bosco Petrovic, Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak, and Hungarian bassist Aladar Pege, gained international fame. Czech flutist Jiří Stivín and Polish violinist Zbigniew Seifert were originally billed for this unique concert but due to difficulties with the officials in their countries they couldn't travel to Berlin.