Hey Mr Jesse: September show

It's the last day of September and I have to squeeze in an announcement of the Hey Mr Jesse podcast show for September. It's recorded before a live studio audience at the dance camp Swing Out New Hampshire.

It features many swing music recommendations both from Jesse and Spuds and all the swing djs attending the dance camp. Take a look at the show notes for all the details.

The interview of the month is with artist and performer Dawn Hampton who talks about her career.

Download the September podcast (~50MB, MP3)

What do you think of the September issue of Hey Mr Jesse? Tell me.

Diffraktionsbandet at Grand tonight

Tonight it's time for swing dancing at Grand! Live on stage is Diffraktionsbandet, a band from Uppsala. Come and dance from 20 to midnight, the band starts at 21. Entrance fee: 80 kr.

Grand is located at Trädgårdsgatan 5 in Uppsala. Also, remember, all you jazz fans in Uppsala, you don't have to dance if you want to (you can just listen) but you'll have a hard time resisting to join the crowd on the floor.

Welcome!

Harry James - Don't Be That Way

Here's a video clip with Harry James and his orchestra playing Don't Be That Way. An uptempo song with great energy. The video clip was recorded in 1965.



What do you think of Harry James and his orchestra playing Don't Be That Way? Tell me.

Jazz at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress 2007

The new concert house in Uppsala is now properly inaugurated and there are concerts there almost every evening. Here is the jazz concerts that will happen at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress this fall:

Sun Oct 14 2007 18.00
South African piano player Abdullah Ibrahim plays solo. He mixes traditional African music with Amercian jazz.

Thu Oct 25 2007 19.30
Norrbotten Big Band & Rigmor Gustafsson
Newly composed music by Norrbotten Big Band together with jazz singer Rigmor Gustafsson

Sat Nov 10 2007 19.00
Ulf Johansson Werre Big Band Explosion
The Great Jazz Party is the name of Ulf Johansson Werre's annual big concert in Uppsala with 17 handpicked jazz musicians in the band "Ulf Johansson Werre Big Band Explosion". Guest artists are blues artist Louise Hoffsten and the vocal group Vocation.

Thu Nov 29 2007 19.30
Trio X & Dan Laurin
Flute player Dan Laurin meets Trio X, a jazz trio from Uppsala. They play music from all kinds of genres: jazz, folk music, medieval music.

The photo is taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license it.

Are you going to some of these concerts at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress? Which ones? Tell me.

Cats corner: How to get a swing venue in 15 min

Yesterday our new weekly swing club Cats Corner was supposed to start at Uplands nation at 20. At 18:50, I got a call that the venue for some reason was double booked this time. I remembered the advice from the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy: Don't Panic.

I rushed directly downtown and was lucky enough to book Grand, another venue that we frequently use, within 15 min from the first phone call. How's that for working fast?

Fortunately a lot of people found their way to Grand and we had a nice swingin' evening with Jonas Petterson as our swing jockey. Since he sometimes play fast music and not everybody are able to lindy hop to tempos like 240 BPM, he reminded everybody that they could dance to half time tempo (120 BPM) and then it should be a nice comfortable song.

Next week we will be back at Uplands nation. And we can have another premiere! Yay!

The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

Were you there? What did you think of the evening? Tell me.

Cats Corner: Premiere tonight

Today our Tuesday dance nights will premiere with a new name, Cats Corner, to reflect that the organisation behind the scenes has changed.

For you, the dancers and jazz listeners, nothing has changed: we will provide excellent swing music for you dancing and listening pleasure almost every Tuesday during the fall.

Come to Cats Corner tonight and check it out. You'll find us at Uplands nation at St Larsgatan 11 in Uppsala. We will swing under the chandeliers between 20 and 23. Cost: 20 kr.

See you there!

Jesper Thilo Danish Quartet at Katalin

Today Jesper Thilo Danish Quartet played a concert at Katalin. The quartet consists of Jesper Thilo (tenor saxophone), Oliver Antunes (piano), Bo Stief (bass) and Frands Rifbjerg (drums).


The great thing with jazz is that you are supposed to interpret and add your own flavor to the standard songs and I enjoyed their treatments of the jazz standards they played. Some of the songs were: "Have you met Miss Jones", "Misty", "Things are not what they used to be". I really liked their version of "Lester leaps in".

Oliver Antunes impressed me with his piano playing.

The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

Did you listen to Jesper Thilo Danish Quartet at Katalin? What did you think of them? Tell me.

Uppsala Jazz Club: Fall season program

Today Uppsala Jazz club starts its fall season of jazz concerts.

First out is Jesper Thilo Danish Quartet. The quartet consists of Jesper Thilo (tenor saxophone), Oliver Antunes (piano), Bo Stief (bass) and Frands Rifbjerg (drums).

I photographed almost all concerts that Uppsala Jazz Club arranged in the spring and I'll continue with the jazz concert photography the semester as well. It'll be fun :).

The concert is held at Katalin and all that jazz, it starts at 14 and costs 230 kr (200 if you are a member of Uppsala Jazz Club or has a UNT-card).

The other jazz concert this fall:

• 13 oct Fredrik Kronkvist Quartet
• 27 oct Hot Club de Norvège
• 17 nov Monica Borrfors med Gösta Nilsson Trio
• 24 nov Pidgin featuring Fredrik Nordström
• 8 dec Thomas Arnesen Trio

If you like to know more about the concerts, take a look at the official program (PDF, 500k, swedish)

What do you think of Uppsala Jazz Clubs program? Have you heard the mucians before? Tell me about them.

Dinah Washington - All Of Me

Enjoy this video clip from Newport Jazz Festival 1958 with Dinah Washington singing All Of Me.

A great evening for swing djing

Yesterday was a great night at Uplands nation. I felt like I had found "The Flow" most of the time. I heard positive things from people, that's always nice. I'd love more feedback, just tell me what you think; good things, bad things, suggestions or whatever. Don't be shy.

If you really like or dislike a song while I'm djing, come and tell me, that gives me important information about what songs certain types of dancers like and I can more properly adapt the music to the dancers on the floor. I always tries to look around the room and see which dancers are dancing right now and which are resting. It's hard to know if the people which are sitting are just tired for the moment or if they don't like the music for some reason: wrong style or too fast.

I try to keep the music varied but I also want to have a flow so I won't jump between styles between each song, if you have a flow you can build a certain mood. Yesterday I felt like building a mood with hi-fi recordings of big bands with a "fat" sound. I also tested a influence from the tango scene by djing a tanda of Benny Goodman songs (A tanda is a set of 4 songs of a certain style).

It would be interesting to dj an evening of just tandas, but I think I'll never bring myself to do just like tango where a cortina ("curtain") song is played between the tandas and all the people leave the floor to find new partners. That just doesn't fit the swing scene.

I'm sorry I could fit in a request by Mr R. If you have a request, tell me as soon as possible, then it's more likely that I've brought the music with me and that I can fit it in to the flow of the music. Next time, perhaps?

Where you there when I djed? Tell me what you thought.

Swing dj Henrik Eriksson at Dekadans tonight

Yep! That's me.

Come down and bust your moves at Uplands nation in Uppsala tonight between 20 and 23. It only costs 20 kr.

Tell me if you like any particular swing song to be played and I'll se what I can do.

The photo is taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license it.

Sweden Balboa Weekend 2007

On Saturday I visisted the Chicago dance studio where the big dance of the Sweden Balboa Weekend was held. Hasse Ling & His Syncopators Of Swing played excellently as usual.

My part of the evening consisted of helping out with the Jack N Jill competition playing and stopping the music during the competition. The competition was won by Emelie Decavita from Uppsala (Yey!) and a guy from Finland (sorry, I didn't catch his name, tell me if you know).



The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

Were you at the evening at Sweden Balboa Weekend 2007? What did you think of it? Tell me.

Cleveland Eaton + Count Basie + Kansas City 5

I'll continue the theme with superb jazz double bass playing: Today it's Cleveland Eaton on the double bass when he played with Count Basie & Kansas City 5. What a line up in that band: Roy Eldrige, Zoot Sims and Duffy Jackson.



Cleveland Eaton has a bass sound that I haven't heard anyone else have, it's a kind of thick and full sound, very groovy. Man, I love it!

I like this clip because it first displays the quality of each player and the bonus comes in the last minute of the clip when the musicians play at the same time, the amount of energy they pump into the song is unbelivable. You just got to dig it. I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you can sit still to this music you better see a doctor.

If you like this video clip (I can't image that you don't) you'll also like Cleveland Eaton playing along with Count Basie and Ella Fizgerald in One O'clock Jump.

What do you think of the video clip with Count Basie and the Kansas City Five? Tell me.

Ray Brown Trio feat. Regina Carter - Lady Be Good

It's time again for the Ray Brown Trio to entertain you, this time Ray Brown is joined by Larry Fuller on piano and George Fludas on drums. Together with them they feature Regina Carter on violin. Regina Carter is swinging hard while the trio backs her up with a nice steady groove.

Enjoy this video clip with the Ray Brown Trio feat. Regina Carter playing Lady Be Good.



The jazz standard Oh, Lady Be Good is written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin in 1924.

What do you think of the Ray Brown Trio & Regina Carter playing Oh, Lady Be Good. Tell me.

Swing dancing at Uplands Nation: Photos

It was nice to get the dancing season started at Uplands nation yesterday. Uplands nation is a beautiful location and I had many great dances.

International readers may wonder: what is a student nation? A student nation is a kind of student society that dates back to the 1600s in Sweden. Uppsala is the oldest university town in Sweden and the university was founded in 1477. There are 13 student nations in town.

You don't need to be a student to go to the dance, just go there and have fun. That was the case with one girl I danced with, she had never danced any swing dance (or maybe not danced at all) before. It certainly was challenging to try lead stuff, but wasn't not a big deal, all we wanted was to have a good time and we did. I hope she enjoyed the evening and that she'll come back. The lesson is: don't worry too much about your skills when you go social dancing, just focus on having a good time, then the rest will fall into place.

If you want to become a better dancer you need to both be social dancing and take classes and practise but each activity requires different mind sets. If you're social dancing, you should be thinking: "fun, fun, fun". If you taking classes, it's "think, look and listen" and at a practise it's "experiment, try again and refine".

The photo is taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license it.

Next Tuesday it's my turn in the dj booth spinning swing songs, what would you like to hear? Tell me your favorite songs, artists or styles.

Swing dance at Uplands nation

Our weekly swing dance starts tonight at a new location: Uplands nation at St Larsgatan 11 in Uppsala. The dance is between 20 and 23 and the cost is only 20 kr.

As usual we have a swing jockey, this time it's David Kågedal who delivers swinging music for your dancing pleasure.

Join us and check out this new venue, it's beautiful. I think it will be a nice place to swing the night away.

James Cotton - Slow Blues

Today has been a really intense day. Slow blues by harmonica player James Cotton fits perfectly to wind down to.



Learn more about James Cotton.

What do you think of James Cotton playing slow blues? Tell me.

1920's Partnered Charleston: Dan Guest & Jessica Lennartsson

Charleston is a dance that can be danced both with and without a partner. Here is a wonderful video clip with Dan Guest & Jessica Lennartsson who dances charleston in this fun dance routine. A lot of humor and moves that match the music.



The music is Black Bottom by Spike Jones. Crazy tune. Crazy like only Spike Jones can be.

I found out about this clip thanks to Hans who also told me about the Hellzapoppin routine done to Jumpin At The Woodside before.

What do you think of the 1920's charleston routine by Dan Guest & Jessica Lennartsson? Tell me.

Kulturnatten in Uppsala/ Cultural night

Tonight it's "Kulturnatten" in Uppsala, which means "The Culture Night". Kulturnatten is a really big cultural event here in Uppsala, I haven't counted but I think there are over 400 different cultural activitives going on during the evening. There are lots and lots of music, dance, art and performances. I think there are like 60000 people out on the streets. Did I say this was big?

It's impossible to see everything you would like to see, so you have to scan the program and decide what you really want to do. See the whole program for Kulturnatten.

Visit Swingkatten at Forumtorget

I will be an busy organiser tonight for Swingkatten's, our swing dance society's, activities. We have a lot to offer if you take a trip down to Forumtorget: Two livebands: Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers 18-19 and Palladium between 20-22. There will be dance performances at 20.00 and 21.00. Come visit us!
Read more about the program in Swedish at Swingkatten.

Jazz at Kulturnatten

Here is also some other jazz tips for Kulturnatten:

• 16.00-17.30 Lars Erstrand Four, Svava
• 18.00 Author Samuel Charters talks about jazz in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.
• 18.00-19.30 Peter Lind and the Cabaret Band, Svava
• 19, 20, 21 Swing club, french style (Django?) jazz, Grand Hotell Hörnan
• 20.30–21.00 Canal Street Syncopators, Atrium Konferens & Bankett
• 20.30–21.00 Jazz standards with Sara Djärv and Anders Bromander, Domkyrkocentrum
• 21.00 -22.00 New Orleans jazz with Crescent City Four, Missionskyrkan
• 22.00 Jump dealers, Uplands nation
• 22.00 Sextett 60, Dance at the library, Stadsbiblioteket
• 22.00–22.30 Dixielandjazz, Fyris Jazz Band, Atrium Konferens & Bankett
• 22.30-23.30 Linné Swings in spring, Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra, Musicum
• 23.30–24.00 Radio Uppland Big Band, Atrium Konferens & Bankett

This is just a taste of the jazz part of the evening. Enjoy the evening!

What are your plans for Kulturnatten? What events is not to be missed? Tell me.

Trio X at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress: Photos

Today the jazz group Trio X had a lunch concert at Uppsala konsert & kongress. They played mostly their own compositions. I had a good time.



Trio X consists of Lennart Simonsson (piano), Per V Johansson (bass) and Joakim Ekberg (drums).





The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

Did you hear Trio X at Uppsala konsert & kongress? What do you think of them? Tell me.

Nikki Yanofsky sings Evil Gal Blues

The 13-year-old singer Nikki Yanofsky just keeps getting better and better, take a look at Nikki Yanofsky singing Evil Gal Blues at Place des Arts in Montreal, Canada. There is no doubt that she is a rising star in the world of jazz and blues.



The song, Evil gal blues, is written by the journalist/ lyricist/ composer Leonard Feather. Leonard Feather has also written lots of books about jazz.

I've featured Nikki Yanofsky before when she sang Airmail Special and It Don't Mean A Thing.

What do you think of Nikki Yanofsky? Tell me.

"James Session" - Harry James and His Music Makers

The video clip of today is "James Session" with Harry James and His Music Makers from the film Private Buckaroo from 1942. The Jivin' Jacks and Jills are dancing to the music.



What do you think of the video clip with Harry James and His Music Makers? Tell me.

Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx) - Hit The Road Jack

When you work as swing dj, sometimes the audience/dancers just want's more and more but you have to stop sometime soon because you have to pack up your things to leave and the event organisers, though having a great time, wants you to end so that they can start closing the place down for the night.

Then you can give the dancers a not so subtle hint that it's to go home by playing "Hit the Road, Jack" by Ray Charles.

Here is a video clip from the film "Ray" where Jamie Foxx plays Ray Charles performing "Hit the Road, Jack".



What do you think of the video clip with Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles' Hit the Road, Jack? Tell me.

Jimmy Smith - Moanin'

Some days ago I talked about the song Dat Dere written by Bobby Timmons. Today I want to share another good song written by him: Moanin'. In this video clip organ player Jimmy Smith plays a great version of Moanin' at an outdoor consert in Japan together with the Blue Note Big Band. Jimmy Smith is in a really good mood and has a lot of humour.

The first version of Moanin' I heard was from a great album called "In Blue" by Karrin Allyson.




What do you think of Jimmy Smith's performance of Moanin'? Tell me.