Singing Telegram: Bunny Briggs & Charlie Barnet ~ Swing, jazz and blues - Dance to the music

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

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.

3 comments:

James said...

Awesome! Do you you know if there is a recording available? That's something I'd like to swing out to.

Henrik said...

I don't think there is a recording (apart from this) of this song but Bunny Briggs recorded a handful of other sessions with Charlie Barnet.

Anonymous said...

This same tune is included in a spectacular live recording of a Town Hall concert from 1947. The arrangement seems to be the same. Briggs sings essentially the same scat vocal and Barnet plays essentially the same solo. A young Clarke Terry is on this recording and does some soloing. The title on the recording is "East Side, West Side". This was once available on an RCA LP and I have seen it in used record stores in recent years. I found it a couple of years ago in the USA on a CD label called "Hep Jazz, The Metronome Series" with the title "Town Hall Concert", CD 81. The sound is quite good. The interesting and informative original "liner notes" by Barnet are included. Barnet says neither he nor the band knew the recording was being made at the time. The CD also identifies a website www.hepjazz.com which still exists and shows the CD for sale.