4beat6 plays Six Appeal

Six Appeal is a great Benny Goodman song that features an electric guitar. In the Benny Goodman small group it was Charlie Christian who played the guitar.

Take a look at this modern version of Six Appeal performed by 4beat6 with Bernard Berkhout at the clarinet.

What do you think of the video clip with 4beat6 from the Netherlands? Tell me.

Hey Mr Jesse: January 2008

The third year of the podcast Hey Mr Jesse starts out great, normally the show is about 60 min long, this time it is 80 min, packed with good swinging music. See the show notes for Hey Mr Jesse January 2008 for all the details.

Download the January show of Hey Mr Jesse (mp3, 55 MB)

Jesse Miner does a tribute count down of Oscar Peterson songs, since Oscar Peterson passed away last month.

He does an interview with Pete Petersen from The Pete Petersen & The Porkpie Septet. It's great to hear that there are new swing songs being written as well as new arrangements of jazz standards.

Jesse & Manu also kindly features some of my comments and tips:

First, there is the great music video with Ondrej Havelka and his Melody Makers playing Beat Me Daddy Eight To the Bar.

When they talked about street band last podcast I had to plug my favorite street jazz band: The Lost Wandering Blues & Jazz Band.

Here is a video clip with The Lost Wandering Blues & Jazz Band playing Tilly Brown that I haven't seen before. This is totally their style of music (but I prefer an acustic guitar).



At last, they also talk about Bernard Berkhout, the band leader of 4beat6, that I tipped them of in the last episode. Here is a video clip with 4beat6 playing Airmail Special at a concert.



See what I wrote about previous Hey Mr Jesse shows.

What do you think of the January 2008 podcast of Hey Mr Jesse? Tell me.

Hey Mr Jesse - Christmas songs

I have no superlatives left to describe the podcast "Hey, Mr Jesse" where Jesse Miner and Manu Swith talks about swing music, so I'll just say: Check it out!

Download the December edition. [42 MB, mp3]

This episode concludes the second year of monthly podcasts. Since it's December and holiday season they feature some swinging Christmas songs. One album they mention is Diana Krall's Christmas Songs. That cd has been on my wish list for quite some time. Another good Christmas album is Yule B Swingin.

Jesse & Manu also listed holiday swing songs last year in Hey Mr Jesse #12. Download.

They feature some of my comments about previous podcasts. They play Benny's Bugle from the band 4beat6 which they describe as

"Man! Smokin'! ... Foot stompin' music ... I just wanna dance."

I couldn't agree more. They also play a clip of Splanky performed by Count Basie at Montreux Jazz Festival 1977. Thank you guys for letting me be a part of the show.

There is so much more, see all the details in the show notes for Hey Mr Jesse #24.

I now realize that I didn't announce the November 2007 edition of Hey Mr Jesse. So if you missed it, download Hey Mr Jesse #23. Then you'll have two hours of swinging jazz music tips to enjoy!

What do you think of Hey Mr Jesse December edition? Tell me.

Play swing music for the best dancers

On Tuesday I dj:ed a set at Cats Corner and I felt it went successfully. Swing dancer Peter Loggins told me earlier this year: "Dj for the best dancers". He meant that if you play swing music that satisfies the best dancers and makes them happy, that kind of music will benefit all of the dancers in the dance scene. On Tuesday I looked out over the dance floor and some of the best dancers seemed inspired so I guess I did a pretty good job.

So, what kind of music did I play?

I was happy to play a couple of songs by the swing band 4beat6 from the Netherlands. I was happy to for the first time introduce the crowd to swing songs sung by Nikki Yanofsky: "Betcha Nickel" and "Lullaby Of Birdland", which she recorded last year when she was 12! Amazing! I can't wait to hear more songs from Nikki Yanofsky.

I featured some songs from the vocalese group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross: "A Mellow Tone" and "Twist City" from the great album "The Hottest New Group In Jazz".


It was good to hear the new swing dj, Dietmar, dj for his first time. It's always refreshing to hear someone else's music selections.

When the set (and the swing night) was over I played one song just to amuse the crowd that was still there: "Pussy, Pussy, Pussy" by the Hot Club of Cowtown from a live album called Continental Stomp.

Were you at Cats Corner on Tuesday? What do you think of my music choices? Tell me.

4beat6 plays Benny Goodman songs

I just discovered the swing band 4beat6 from the Netherlands which plays swing in the style of the Benny Goodman sextet.

I think they play really tight: Listen to these songs from their site (mp3)

• Airmail Special
• Bennie's Bugle

4beat6 consists of Jacco Griekspoor (vibraphone), Martien Oster (guitar), Joop van Deuren (piano), Frans van Geest (bass), Barry Olthof (drums) and David Lukacs on clarinet.

What do you think of 4beat6 playing Benny Goodman songs? Tell me.