According to Wikipedia, the musician Louis Jordan was born on July 8th in 1908. One of his most known songs that he performed was Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby.
Above you see him play and sing it in the movie Follow the Boys from 1944.
"Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" have been sung by many artists. Do you have a favorite version?
What do you think of the video clip with Louis Jordan? Please comment.
"Mr. Paganini, You'll Have To Swing It" is a song that is mostly associated with Ella Fitzgerald, but here is an hilarious rendition of that song by actress Martha Raye in a scene from the movie Four Jills in a Jeep (1944).
Watch Martha Raye's slap stick version of "Mr. Paganini, You'll Have To Swing It".
The band behind her is the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.
You might recognize Martha Raye from when she sang "Watch the Birdie" in "Hellzapoppin'".
One unusual fact that I didn't know was that she inspired Anita O'day to be a singer.
What do you think of the video clip from with Four Jills in a Jeep with Martha Raye? Tell me.
Swinging on a star is a nice lightharted song that first appeared in the movie "Going my way" (1944) starring Bing Crosby. Here is a video clip from "Going my way" where Bing Crosby sings Swinging on a star.
The song is written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke and won an Oscar for "Best song" in the 1944 Academy awards, where the film also was voted the "Best motion picture" and Bing Crosby was voted "Best actor".
Another great film nominated this year was the short film "Jammin the blues" by Gjon Mili.
What do you think of Bing Crosby singing Swinging on a star? Tell me.
Ella Mae Morse was a good jazz singer and she also acted a little bit, here she is in a movie called Ghost Catchers (1944) where they successfully use swing music and swing dancers to chase away the ghosts from a haunted house. Watch the video clip from Ghost Catchers.
The lindy hopping is choreographed and uses a lot of air steps (aerials) and has that special Hollywood styling to it.
(Sorry, I couldn't resist: "Who you gonna call? Swing dancers!")
Read more about Ella Mae Morse over at The Pop Culture Cantina.
What do you think of the video clip with Ella Mae Morse from Ghost Catchers? Tell me.
What could be more appropriate late at night than a jazz jam session where the musicians gather and play ad lib, jammin' the blues, as in this video clip. They start out very bluesy and mellow but then the jazz music get faster and hotter. The short film from 1944 is directed by one of my favorite photographers: Gjon Mili.
Don't just listen to the wonderful swing and blues music, but also take time to enjoy how the set and the musicians are lit. Sweet! I like visual composition that Gjon Mili creates.
Marie Bryant sings "On the Sunny Side of the Street". I really like Lester Young who plays tenor saxophone and Harry Edison on trumpet. Barney Kessel on guitar was a new name to me, I have to research him a little bit more. In the video clip is also a good lindy hop sequence.
This film was nominated for an Oscar in 1944 in the category "Short subject (one reel)".
What do you think of the video clip "Jammin' the Blues"? Tell me.
