Jumpin' at the Woodside: Antti Sarpila

Jumpin' at the Woodside is a classic swing song by Count Basie. It has a fast tempo and has often been used as music for lindy hop jam circles.

Above is a version from Bern Jazz Festival 1988 where Antti Sarpila and Christian Plattners duels with their saxophones. I've had the pleasure of listening to Antti Sarpila a couple of times. If he is in your town, go and hear him play.

What do you think of Jumpin' at the Woodside with Antti Sarpila? Please comment.

Swedish HotSynth Quintet

Are you ready for something off the beaten track? Well, all right then: here you go. May I introduce the Swedish HotSynth Quintet.

The Swedish HotSynth Quintet is a group of musicians that play old 1930's style swing jazz on old analog synthesizers. I would describe the the result as "wonderfully weird".

Just listen to songs as Topzy (Topsy by Count Basie: Listen to the original version), Stampede (by Fletcher Henderson) and The Even Newer East St Louis Toodle-ooo (The East St Louis Toodle-oo by Duke Ellington). It would fit perfect as a soundtrack to some cartoon.

What do you think of the Swedish HotSynth Quintet? Please comment.

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.

Count Basie and Joe Williams - Alright, OK, You Win

Here is another classic swing song you should know: "Alright, OK, You Win" performed by Count Basie and Joe Williams.



What do you think of the video clip? Tell me.

Royal Garden Blues: Oscar Peterson & Count Basie

Just to honor Oscar Peterson, who died last week, I thought I'd post a video clip with Oscar Peterson playing Royal Garden Blues together with Count Basie.



Wow. Two of the greatest jazz pianists together at the same time. They recorded together at a few occations and one favorite album of mine is Satch & Josh. I really like the first song on the album: "Buns Blues" which is very playful.

Royal Garden Blues is such a great song, composed by Clarence Williams and
Spencer Williams in 1919. Spencer Williams also (co-?)wrote the song "Everybody loves my baby".

What do you think of Oscar Peterson & Count Basie playing Royal Garden Blues? 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.

Splanky - Count Basie - Montreux Jazz Festival

Splanky played by Count Basie is one of the classic swing songs you should know of. Here is a excellent up-tempo version of Splanky by Count Basie at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1977.



Splanky is written by composer and arranger Neal Hefti.

Watch other classic swing songs like Corner Pocket with Count Basie and In the Mood with Glenn Miller.

What do yoy think of the video clip with Count Basie playing Splanky? Tell me.

Count Basie duet with Cleveland Eaton: Booty's Blues

You can't have enough of Count Basie and that is certainly true when he plays together with the bassist Cleveland Eaton. Enjoy this fantastic duet between them: soft and playful. In the duet it looks like Cleveland Eaton accidentally slips but Basie use that mistake and adds a chord and makes it look like it was supposed to be like that from the beginning. What great musicians!

Then the whole band kicks in and Booty Wood plays a great trombone solo. Have a look at Count Basie and Cleveland Eaton playing Booty's Blues. Recorded at a Carnegie Hall Concert in March 20, 1981.



What do you think of the duet with Count Basie and Cleveland Eaton playing Booty's Blues? Tell me.

Cats Corner: Advice for beginning dancers

On Tuesday David Kågedal and Jonas Pettersson shared the dj duty for the night at Cats Corner. Songs to mention: David played "One-Two-Three-O'Lairy" by Count Basie. (Jonas also played a nice song by Artie Shaw but I already forgot the name, I have to take notes!) Update: the song was "Summit Ridge Drive" från 1940.

It's good to see that a lot of people are coming out and dance, especially the beginners, I had a nice dance with A. who were there for her first time. Dancing with H. was a blast as always.

Amberlynn over at Dance Primer continue to write cornerstone posts that every beginning dancer should read:

Why You Shouldn’t Wait To Go Out And Dance
10 Successful Strategies to Get Others to Ask You To Dance
Relax, Nobody is Watching You

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

What are your advice to beginning dancers? 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.

Eartha Kitt: Too close for comfort

Some singers has that special voice that once you hear it you can mistake it for some else's. An artist that has that quality is Eartha Kitt.

Eartha Kitt's pronunciation of her 'R':s in a purring way is something that makes her unique. It also made her a perfect (purrfect?) choice for the roll as Catwoman in the 1960s Batman tv series.

(Sidetrack: Did you know that jazz composer and arranger Neal Hefti who did a lot of work together with Count Basie in the 1950's also composed the Batman theme?)

Today I want to show you the jazz singer side of Eartha Kitt: Have a look at this collection of photos set to music: Eartha Kitt singing "Too close for comfort".



What an excellent version of "Too close for comfort"! Do you know a good cd with this version? Tell me.

What did you think of the video clip with Eartha Kitt? Tell me.

Jerry Lewis - Errand Boy

Jerry Lewis is great comic actor when it comes to adapting his expressions to fit the music. Here is a video clip with Jerry Lewis from the movie "Errand boy" where he imagines what it's like to be the boss. He mimes to the song "Blues in Hoss Flat" by Count Basie.



More info about the film Errand boy at Internet Movie Database.

If you like this clip, you'll also like Jerry Lewis in the film Cinderfella.

What do you think of the video clip with Jerry Lewis from the film Errand Boy? Tell me.

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross sings vocalese

Vocalese is a certain kind of vocal jazz. It's similar to scatting but when you scat you use nonsense words or syllables to imitate the instruments where in vocalese you use lyrics to imitate. The masters of vocalese where the vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross consisting of Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross.

Look at this video clip of them sing "Every day I have the blues".

They have taken the arrangement from Count Basie and instead of trumpet, trombone and saxophone they are now singing those lines. The phrasing is still the same as the instrument players would have done it but it's just song.

I can really recommend their album "Sing a Song of Basie" where they do vocalese versions of Count Basie arrangements. They sing songs like "One O'clock Jump", "It's Sand, Man" and "Down For Double". Highly recommended if you like vocal jazz.

What do you think of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross singing "Every day I have the blues"? Tell me.

Playboy Jazz Festival 2007

This weekend The Playboy Jazz Festival will be held at the Hollywood bowl where you can see artists like The World Famous Count Basie Orchestra, Dianne Reeves, Etta James and the Roots Band and many more jazz and blues artists.

It would be so much fun to go to Hollywood to attend this, make some interviews, take photos of the legends and report back to you, but it won't happen this year, so:

"Mr Hefner, if you would like me to dj an after hours swing and blues party at the Playboy mansion next year, send me some plane tickets and I'll be there!"

I'm going to see if I can listen to the jazz concerts from the festival on the radio station KJAZZ instead. KJAZZ seems to be a really good jazz and blues radion station.

Are you going to the Playboy Jazz Festival? Have you been there? Tell me.

Botan Brass & Fireworks: Ulf Johansson Werre

The previous week has been full of activity since the whole city has been celebrating the 300th anniversary since Carl von Linne (aka Carolus Linnaeus) was born.

The festivities ended yesterday in the Botanical garden in Uppsala where several orchestras played music, both swing and other sorts of music.

One of the jazz orchestras that played was Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra, which is led by the great jazz musician Ulf Johansson Werre. Uppsala University actually has a course for those who want to study big band music history as well as learn to play in a jazz orchestra. The orchestra played Count Basie classics as Shorty George and Splanky.

The grand final of the night was a performance of "Botan Brass & Fireworks" composed by Ulf Johansson Werre. 80 or more musicians played the piece that was synchronized with a firework. The firework matched the music and was truly spectacular. The music gave associations to Star Wars and "2001: A Space Odyssey". Wow. I hope they do this more often.

Take a look at a video clip of the performance of Botan Brass & Fireworks.

The photo is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.

Were you at Botan Brass & Fireworks? What did you think of it? Tell me.

Frankie Manning's stories

I've heard several stories that lindy hop legend Frankie Manning have told when he have visit Herräng Dance Camp. He has visited Herräng so many times, so put together it's probably a year of his life that he has spent there.

In this video clip Frankie Manning tells the stories about his best dancing nights. One is when there were a Battle Of the Bands between Chick Webb och Count Basie at the Savoy ballroom and the other one is when he did the first aerial (air step) in the history of lindy hop.



If you like to read more of Frankie Manning's stories, you should buy his new autobiography "Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop".

There is a campaign to make Frankie's book a best seller at Amazon.com. Buy your copy of the book on May 26th.

Do you know more about this video clip? What do you think of this video clip with Frankie Manning's stories? Tell me.

Count Basie Orchestra - Corner Pocket

Every now and then people come up to me and ask:

"Hey, what's the name of this song, I've heard it a million times, but I can't remember the name."

I think there are some songs that you should make an effort to learn their names just because they are classic swing songs.

One of those classic swing songs is Corner Pocket. Here is a video clip with the Count Basie Orchestra performing Corner Pocket.

They have a great full big band sound. Great solos! I really like Sonny Payne on drums.

If you want a Count Basie cd that has Corner Pocket I recommend "April in Paris", a reissue that actually has two versions of the song.

A classic album that also have great versions of "Magic". Good stuff! If you are collecting Count Basie you should get this cd.

What do you think of Corner Pocket by Count Basie? Tell me.

Sandviken Big Band featuring Claes Jansson

Tonight there will be a concert with Sandviken Big Band featuring Claes Jansson at Katalin and all that jazz. The concert is arranged by Uppsala Jazz Club.

They will do a tribute to Count Basie so I think you can expect good music all evening. The concert starts at 21 o'clock.

This is the last concert for the spring season. Take a look at my reports and photos from concerts this spring.

Have you heard Sandviken Big Band before? What do you think of them? Tell me.

Ulf Carling: Swing dj at Dekadans tonight

Tonight Ulf Carling will be the swing dj at Dekadans. Come there and dance to the swing music.

Tonight is a also Beginners Night where we try to get as many people there from the beginners courses and get them to have fun dancing socially.

During one hour in the beginning of the evening all experienced dancers dance only with beginners and get to know them.

I think this is a important thing to do, when you start dancing you are easily intimidated by experienced dancers. You think that they are too good to ask to dance because they will get bored because you don't know much stuff.

As an experienced dancer I can tell you that that is not the case as long as you are smiling and you're trying your best. We want you do become a better dancer but we know that it takes time. Knowing this, it might be easier to ask someone to dance, it's still a little bit intimidating, but you must be brave.

I always try to dance with two or three persons a night that I haven't danced with before. It's fun to get to know new people.

Now, a little bit more about Ulf Carling. Ulf is also a drummer in the Carling Family band. He always adds a good portion of humour when he plays drums. All his family is talented musicians, the most well known relative is his sister Gunhild Carling. Tonight at Dekadans, I hope he plays a private recording of One Oclock Jump from when Gunhild played with the Count Basie Orchestra. I really would like to have that recording myself because it's really great!

As a bonus I've found a old video clip from 1990 with Carling Hot Six playing "You're Driving me Crazy" with Ulf at the drums and his sisters doing a charleston dance routine.




The photo of Ulf Carling was taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.

Have you heard Ulf Carling play drums or dj? Tell me.

The music made me do it - Cinderfella

Sometimes you hear a piece of music that is simply irresistible, you must move to the music. Maybe you will not dance, but you just have to express what the music tells you to do.

Someone may see you and ask "How did you come up with that move?" and your answer is "I really don't know, the music made me do it!".

If you're not a musician yourself, you can always pretend that you are. That is what happens in this video clip where Jerry Lewis mime dances to Count Basie's "Cute" from the movie Cinderfella.




Those who have seen me dj know that I sometimes behave just like him, because:

I can't help it!

The music made me do it!

What do you think of the video clip with Jerry Lewis from Cinderfella? Do you also do this stuff? Tell me.