"Satan in the Dance Hall" is coming this fall

In the beginning of last year I did a long interview with Ralph Giordano, author of the book Social Dancing in America. Then he also told me a some about his next book project: Satan in the Dance Hall: Social Dancing and Morality in 1920s New York.

The book is now finished and is named Satan in the Dance Hall: Rev. John Roach Straton, Social Dancing, and Morality in 1920s New York City. It will be released in late November by Scarecrow Press.

I think it will be an interesting book, I think many people in the swing dance scene would like to know more about what it was like dancing in the 1920s.

While you wait for this book, you can sign up at Amazon.com to be notified when the "Satan in the Dance Hall" becomes avaiable.

Looking for authors to "The American Dance Floor.”

Mr Giordano's next project is as the series editor for a ten-volume series
on social dancing from Greenwood Press and he is looking for authors.

If you are a writer or know a suitable writer, contact him at RalphGGiordano@aol.com or 718-816-1240.

He has more info about the book series, he writes:

Ten volume companion set: “The American Dance Floor.”
A series of 10 small books that focus on types of dances.
Here are the proposed topics:
Ballroom Dances (author: Martin)
Swing dances
Hip Hop dances/Break dancing/urban dances
Rock 'n' roll dances: 1950s-60s (Author: Sagolla)
Ditto (1970s-present?)
Latin dances
Folk and Square Dancing
Country Dancing and Line dancing (Author: Giordano)
Fads and Party Dances
Underground (like slam dancing)

The projected retail cost is $39.95 HC, intended as a reference / general reader. Each book will be packaged and sold separately, but under a general style and format so that each follows a similar set-up. 75 to 80,000 words. Two-year contract beginning on or about May 1, 2008.

We are in negotiations to have the author’s receive 10% royalty and a small advance. Photo permissions would be set up as a budget and paid by Greenwood.

We will be selecting authors (myself and my senior editor at Greenwood Debby Adams) based on C.V., prior authorship, and submission of an outline/proposal; of the subject matter. We can certainly talk and iron out all the details, if you are interested. In addition, if you know any others that might be interested, let me know.

All the best,
Ralph Giordano

What do you think of the forthcoming "Satan in the Dance Hall" Would you be interested in reading it? Please comment.

Alice Faye and Louis Prima: I'm Just Wild About Harry

A while back I wrote about Louis Prima being the voice behind King Louie in The Jungle Book, but Louis Prima has been in front of the camera as well. Take a look at his wild and funny style in this video clip where Alice Faye sings "I'm Just Wild About Harry" accompanied by Louis Prima in the movie Rose Of Washington Square from 1939.

The handsome bloke that is looking at the show, enjoying it, is played by Tyrone Power who was the Brad Pitt of the 1930's.

I recognize the lick that Louie plays at 0:45 into the clips, but from what other song? Do you know?

What do you think of the video clip with Louis Prima and Alice Faye? Please comment.

Herräng Dance Camp starts today

The worlds largest swing dance camp, the Herräng Dance Camp, start today. The usually quiet and sleepy little village of Herräng gets invaded by swing dancers from all over the world and doubles its population.

You can literally dance 24/7 for a month if you like (and you can dance in the space which in other parts of the year is the village library). There is nothing like Herräng Dance Camp. It's the Mecca of Lindy hop, if you're a lindy hopper you got to go there at least once in your life.

In the video clip above, you'll see a performance done to Bugle Call Rag with lot of aerials from the main ballroom in Herräng. The dancers are Hanna Zetterman & Mattias Lundmark, Frida Segerdahl & Sakarias Larsson and Henric Stillman & Joanna Ericsson.

What do you think of the Herräng Dance Camp? Have you been there? What is your favorite thing about the camp? Please comment.

Where the hell is Matt? Matt Harding dances all over the world.

Matt Harding travels all over the world and dances in all kinds of locations. This is a video clip that really makes you want to dance. Awesome! Yeah!

Do yourself a favor, watch the video clip in the high quality mode at Youtube or watch this clip at Vimeo.

If you like the video as much as I did, leave Matt a comment.

My top 3 locations that Matt Harding dances at:

• Demilitarized zone, Korea


• Poria, Papua New Guinea


• Tongatapu, Tonga

I got this tip by the lovely and charming Miss V. Thank you so much. Now I've featured tips from readers two days in a row. Keep sending me these tips. I love it. And remember, if you're a Facebook user, please become a fan of the Swing, jazz, blues blog on Facebook. I'd like to get to know you.

What is your top 3 locations that Matt Harding dances at? Please comment.

The Blue Dolls: Vocal group from Italy

Andrea gave me a tip that if you like the Puppini Sisters you might also like The Blue Dolls which is a vocal group from Italy.

The Blue Dolls consists of Erika Celesti (soprano), Federica Pallante (soprano), Viviana Dragani (alto) and is backed up by Marco Parodi (guitar), Paolo Volante (piano), Riccardo Vigorè (double bass), Luca Rigazio (drums).

You can listen to some songs from their album on their website.

On the album they mix swing jazz standards such as Shoo Shoo Baby, Sing, Sing, Sing and Some Of These Days with Italian songs from the swing era. They also sing a version of Charleston and even the blue grass song, Down In The River To Pray, that you might recognize as the song that the sirens sing in the movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?.

If you like retro stuff, you also might want to check out one post from my archive where Christina Aguilera sings "Candy Man".

What do you think of The Blue Dolls? Please comment.

Facebook for Swing, jazz, blues fans

Are you a regular reader of this blog and a user of Facebook? Then I encourage you to join the Facebook fan page for Swing, jazz, blues: Dance to the music.

In this way I hope to connect more with all you readers out there.

Welcome!

Planning for winter in the middle of the summer

The best of the summer is still to come here in Sweden (e.g. the Herräng dance camp starts next week) but the summer solstice was last week and the planning for winter activitives has already begun.

Above you see a photo of Lovisa Gustafsson who is Swingkatten's "General" when it comes to planning the Uppsala Winter Camp in the beginning of February next year. She is on top of all things. If you want to be part of the organizing committee, talk to her. Yes, it is some work but you'll meet active and very interresting people. The information on the website will soon be updated for next years' dance camp.

The photo is taken last week at "Lindy at the quayside". There is dancing at the quayside tonight as well.

Will you go to Herräng Dance Camp? Have you been to Uppsala Winter Camp? Please comment.

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

Hit That Jive Jack with Joe Carroll

Hit that jive, Jack is one of the classic swing songs. The song is written by Johnny Alston and Skeets Tolbert. Just like Route 66, it was a big hit by the Nat King Cole Trio but here is another version by jive talking Joe Caroll on vocals from a soundie.

According to the post on Youtube the band is called "The Tramp Band". The post continues:

This is from 1943; personnel should be identical or similar to their scene in Stormy Weather: Carroll and Pinky Johnson up front, Nick Aldrich piano, Johnny Cousin guitar, Ebenezer Paul bass, Willie Jones drums, Alvis Cowans washboard. Female dancer Nicky O'Daniel played Caldonia in Louis Jordan's film Caldonia a couple years later.

Anyone who can confirm this?

Also, it seems to be hard to find information about the composers Johnny Alston and Skeets Tolbert. Do you know where to find more info about them?

What do you think of the video clip with Joe Carroll singing Hit That Jive Jack? Please comment.

All Balboa Weekend 2008 + Swedish Balboa Weekend

Last weekend the All Balboa Weekend took place in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. This is the largest event for anyone who dances balboa. They have classes, competitions and lots of social dancing.

Big congratulations to my friend Jonas Pettersson who took first place in the Open Jack & Jill division together with Teni Lopez-Cardenas. I don't have any video clip of them so instead look at Mickey Fortanasce & Kelly Arsenault who won the American Classic Balboa Championship.

I haven't heard the song before, can anyone tell me what song that is?

The Sweden Balboa Weekend in coming up here in Uppsala September 26 - 28th. We've got some awsome balboa teachers coming: Mia Goldsmith & Peter Loggins, Laura Keat & Jeremy Otth, Kate Hedin & David Rehm. Come to Uppsala in September you too!

What do you think of the video clip from All Balboa Weekend? Please comment.

Recommendations of swing, jazz and blues books, music and films

To make it easier for you to find my recommendations of swing, jazz and blues books, music and films that I mention in the blog I've set up a bunch of pages where you can browse and buy the things I like.

Check it out :

Swing, Jazz and Blues: Music, books and films for dancers

I will add new products and subcategories as time goes by, so check in every once in a while to see what's new. Be sure to look at the right side of the page to find the subcategories.

I've also added a page with recommendations of Canon DSLR camera gear for those of you who like my photos.

What do you think of my recomendations? Please comment.

Dancing at the quayside in Uppsala

For the last three years (maybe longer) we've had as a tradition to dance outside along the quayside in the harbour of Uppsala in the summer. We got the idea from "Lindy in the Park" in San Francisco and have called it "Lindy at the Quayside" (in swedish: bryggdans). Now with the pretty strong balboa scene here in Uppsala, maybe we should just call it "Dancing at the Quayside".

The concept is simple: somebody brings a boom blaster and some swing music. Everybody else comes there and dance and hangs out with their friends. You can bring some picnic if you like. Clean simple fun. And you may also get applauses from people passing by (Yeah, we are that good ;-)). The edge is quite close but to this date nobody has fallen into the water.



Previous years this event has taken place at weekends, but now there seems to be a new informal group that will arrange this on Tuesdays between 18-21. Yay for more people doing stuff. You're great!

What do you think of Lindy at the Quayside? Do you do a similar thing? Please comment.

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

Hey Mr Jesse: June edition

Listening to the Hey Mr Jesse podcast with Jesse Miner and Manu Smith talking about swinging music is like going on a treasure hunt each month and always find a chest full of gold coins. Dig here to download June 2008 episode of Hey Mister Jesse. (~50 MB, mp3)

Look at the show notes for Hey Mister Jesse June 2008 to see what's in the treasure chest of June.

Here are my comments of the month that they featured:

Girls from Mars is phenomenal vocal group that swings like crazy. Their album "Planet Swing" is full of songs that makes you drop everything and get out on the dance floor.

"Jitter Joe" is what I as a dj call a "let's go"-song, a song that you can play after you've played groovier songs for while, signalling that now is the time to bump up the tempo and let loose.

I've been enjoying "Evening" by Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing from Newport 57 for a long time but I think I now have a new favorite version of the song. The version by Girls from Mars is so in the pocket.

You can listen to all the songs from the album on their website http://www.girlsfrommars.com/

Second tip:
Talking about vocal groups, I'd like to recommend the double cd album "The Hottest New Group In Jazz".

The vocal group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross were the group that introduced the concept of vocalese to an wider audience.

Some of the songs are good for dancing: Home Cookin', Cotton Tail (blazing fast with hilarious lyrics) and my favorite: Twist City.

B-B-B-B-Bonus tip:
If you want to hear a swinging song in French, I recommend the song "Désaccord Manouche" by the group Les Primitifs Du Futur from their album World Musette.

It's the only swingin' song on the album which othervise features the musette accordion and waltzes.

What do you think of the June edition of Hey Mr Jesse? Please comment.

Route 66: Bobby Troup + Nat King Cole

Route 66 is one of the classic swing songs. I bet you have sung this one time or another:

"Get your kicks on Route 66"

Many people don't know that the song was written by a man called Bobby Troup. Most people associate Route 66 with Nat King Cole because he was the first artist to record the song in 1946.

I thought it would be interesting to hear how the composer would perform the song, so here is Bobby Troup performing Route 66.

You can then compare it with how Nat King Cole and his trio played Route 66 below.



As I'm often is involved with rigging bands on Swingkatten's dance nights I could help noticing the look of the microphones: so small.

I wonder why they made microphones like that then and also why we don't see such microphones nowadays. It must be techical reasons why they changed the look or could it be astaetics as well?

Nowadays you mostly see Shure SM58s (ok, you non technical types can roll your eyes now... ;-) ). Is there anyone who know the history of microphones?

What do you think of the different versions of Route 66? Please comment.

Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers at Parksnäckan tonight

Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers will play rhythm & blues tonight at Parksnäckan. The band invites the dancers to join them on the stage!

The concert starts at 19:30 and costs 90 kr.

I took the picture above last year when they also performed at Parksnäckan. You can find the picture on their band poster. Since then they have a new piano player, Fredrik Hammarström (to the far right) has left and Kalle Sjölin has replaced him.

Read more about what I've written about Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers.

What do you think of Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers? Please comment.

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

Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra: Exam concert photos

On May 29th Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra held its exam concert at Katedralskolan. There are two versions of the big band, a permanent big band and this version consisting of students that took the two semester course in big band music. I'm so proud that our univeersity can offer a course like that, ain't cool?

One part of the course is that the students make their own arrangments. I heard new arrangements of songs like "Some of these days" and "I can't give you anything but love". Band leader Ulf Johansson Werre had arranged many other of the songs: "Lullaby of Birdland", "Don't get around much anymore".


I don't know, but it could have been a first: Ulf's son Oscar Johansson Werre (age 12) played drums with the band.

I like that they played a version of "In the Mood" with Swedish lyrics and another arrangement by Gunnar Svensson called "Inte mod" (translates into "Not brave").

What do you think of the Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra? Please comment.

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

Canal Street Syncopators: At the wedding

Last weekend I was the official wedding photographer at the amazing wedding of D&A. Everything was perfect, the weather was sunny and warm and D&A just beamed with love and happiness.

After the dinner the floor was cleared and one of my favorite bands, The Canal Street Syncopators, began to play swing and everybody really swung out.

If you need a good swing band for your wedding, give Canal Street Syncopators a call. If you want me to photograph your wedding, send me an email. I love to photograph weddings. :-)


Congratulations D&A!

What do you think of Canal Street Syncopators? Please comment.

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

Red Hot Rhythmakers

I got an email from Trevor Hutchison, a fellow Swing DJ from Perth, Australia telling us Swedes to check out one of his favorite Australian swing bands: Red Hot Rhythmakers which is on tour in Sweden right now.

Red Hot Rhythmakers plays swing from the early 1930's. They seem to be a very good band.

They will play at June 12th at Stampen and June 13th and 14th at Askersund Jazz Festival. Take a look at the calendar for all the details.

I don't know if I'll make it to the concert, but if you do, please comment what they were like.

Chita Riviera dances while Sid Ceasar wonders "What is jazz?"

What is jazz? Certainly, there are many ansvers to that question. I think Sid Ceasar's explaination in the introduction of this video clip is awesome. *laugh*

"Jazz is beautiful woman whose older brother is a policeman..."

Take a look at Chita Riviera and a group of dancers dancing to a swingin' tune. The tv show seems to be called "Tip Toe Thru TV".

Jazz can also be thought of as a conversation.

What do you think of Chita Riviera and Sid Ceasar? What is your answer to "What is jazz?". Please comment.

Viktoria Tolstoy + Uppsala Storband at Parksnäckan tomorrow

The summer season at Parksnäckan, Uppsala's outdoor scene in the City Garden, has started. Tommorow the jazz singer Viktoria Tolstoy backed up by Uppsala Storband will play at Parksnäckan at 19.30. Tickets cost 150 kr.

Take a look at previous concerts at Parksnäckan.

Stay tuned for a program of all the jazz concerts at Parksnäckan this summer. Oh, yeah, but don't forget that there are many other concerts there as well.

What do you think of Viktoria Tolstoy? Please comment.

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

Singing Telegram: Bunny Briggs & Charlie Barnet

Enjoy this video clip with Bunny Briggs delivering a singing telegram to Charlie Barnet. Take look at how the music compells him to move. This video clip is an example of what I call: "The music made me do it".

Besides being a singer Bunny Briggs is also a talented tap dancer and in 2006 he was inducted in the Tap Dancer Hall of Fame by the American Tap Dance Foundation.

What do you think of Bunny Briggs and Charlie Barnet's Orchestra? Please comment.

Cats Corner: Season finale

Tonight is the last Cats Corner for the season and the swing dj is Trina Dobbs. There will be some kind of contest during the night.

It has been a great season. I can't tell you enough how good it is to have a weekly dance. I think it raises the dancing level of the entire scene and it also brings the dance scene closer together since there are more opportunities to meet eachother.

I'm really impressed with how many people that has helped organize the evenings, I count to at least 27 persons that have contributed. Thank you so much!

I also love what a variety of swing music we have heard, we've had 13 different swing djs. Some of them came from Stockholm, but most of them were from Uppsala, how cool is that? I hope the newer djs continues to develop their style. The more, the merrier.

I hope that we can continue to develop Cats Corner in the autumn and I hope to get to meet some new friends.

What do you think of this season of Cats Corner? Do you have any ideas for the autumn? Please comment.

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

Hey Mr Jesse: June podcast available

A quick announcement:

The June episode of the podcast Hey Mister Jesse is now available. Hey Mr Jesse talks about swingin' music that matters to dancers.

I'm downloading it as I write this post, so I haven't listened to it yet (but soon, in a few minutes) but looking at the show notes for Hey Mister Jesse June 2008 it looks very promising.

Download June 2008 episode of Hey Mister Jesse. (~50 MB, mp3)

I'll post more comments about the podcast later on when I've listened to it. Enjoy!

Read what I've written before about Hey Mr Jesse.

What do you think of the June podcast of Hey Mister Jesse? Please comment.

Swe-dukes plays at Skarholmen today

Today the band Swe-dukes will play for dancers at Skarholmen in the south of Uppsala.

Swe-dukes played at Swingkattens last swing evening for the season a couple of weeks ago (that's where I took the photo above).

You can read more about the band in my blog post when I first saw Swe-dukes playing at Skarholmen.

The dance is between 15 and 18 and costs 50 kr. If you like, you can eat you Sunday dinner there as well (Call 018 32 43 30 to book tables).

It's a nice day for a bike ride but you can also get there by car or bus 20. Map to Skarholmen. A good place to board the bus is in front of the university library Carolina Rediviva (In the time table the stop is referred to as Slottsbacken).

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

What do you think of Swe-dukes? Please comment.