Good Queen Bess - Duke Ellington

Good Queen Bess - Duke Ellington

Listen at Spotify.

What do you think of Good Queen Bess with Duke Ellington? Please comment.

Beyonce vs Duke Ellington

What do you get when you mix Duke Ellington with Beyonce Knowles and all the single ladies? You get this. Brilliant mashup.

(Via Peter Loggins and Miss S)

What do you think of the video clip? Please comment.

Happy Birthday Duke! - Concert and show April 29th

Happy Birthday Duke! is a concert and show that you really should see. It's a concert that celebrates Duke Ellingtons 110th birthday. The concert features no less than three bands and orchestras: Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra, SweDukes and the Middlesex group.

But wait there's more. Way more. You will also see the swing dance troupe MessAround perform together with the bands. The will show off all kinds of swing dances: Lindy hop, balboa, shag, charleston and tap.

The concert takes place next Wednesday, April 29th, at Univeritetsaulan, at 19.30.
Tickets cost 130 kr (90 kr for students). If you got a UNT-card: 100 kr (70 kr for students). Buy tickets via UNT Biljett (018-478 10 70) or at Ticnet.

Invite all your friends to Happy Birthday Duke! on Facebook.

If you were at Cats Corner yesterday, you got a sneek peak of MessAround doing the charleston number Uppsala Stomp. The number was tight and had lots of energy.



Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra (UUJO) has got a new member: Claes Brodda on saxophone. The photo above is from Saturday when he played together with Jennie Löbel and the Swing Kings at Swingkattens dance at Grand. I look forward to hear more of him. (I'll post more about the Saturday night dance later).

The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission.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

Will you attend "Happy Birthday Duke!"? 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.

Rockin' in Rhythm: Duke Ellington

One of my favorite Duke Ellington songs is Rockin' in Rhythm. Here is a great version of Rockin' in Rhythm with Duke Ellington himself.

When I hear that riff at 0:20-0:25, I always think of the American folk song "Turkey in the Straw". Do you think the riff might be borrowed from "Turkey in the Straw"?

What do you think of Rockin' in Rhythm? Tell me.

Swe-dukes at Skarholmen: Concert photos

Two weekends ago the band Swe-dukes play for dancers and listeners at Skarholmen in the south of Uppsala. They play just Duke Ellington songs. Duke Ellington wrote very many songs in very many styles but the great thing about Swe-dukes is that they concentrate on the swinging danceable songs from the 1930s and 1940s.

I liked their versions of Good Queen Bess and Stompy Jones.



There is a good floor for dancing right in front of the band. I encourage more dancers to check out Skarholmen because Swe-dukes are going to play there three more times this spring: April 6th , May 11th and June 1st.

Just dancing costs 50 kr. If you like you can eat your Sunday dinner there as well.

As the spring progresses you can easily go the by bike if you like (but it takes some time though to get there). Another easy way to get there is to take bus 20 which stops right outside Skarholmen. It takes about 25 min by bus. Some places to enter the bus downtown is at Kungsgatan in front of Centralstationen (stop A2) or the bus stop in front of Carolina Rediviva.



Swe-dukes consists of Bosse Broberg (trumpet), Dicken Hedrenius (trombone), Anders Gahnold (saxophone), Ulf Lindsjö (saxophone), Håkan Hedstrand (piano), Curt Andersson (bass), Johan Ståhlgren (drums) and Karin Hallin (song).

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

Have you heard Swe-dukes play? What do you think of them? Tell me.

Swe-dukes plays at Skarholmen today

Today the band Swedukes will play for dancing and listening at Skarholmen in the south of Uppsala. As you might guess from their name they are fond of playing Duke Ellington songs.

Swe-dukes consists of Bosse Broberg (trumpet), Dicken Hedrenius (trombone), Anders Gahnold (saxophone), Ulf Lindsjö (saxophone), Håkan Hedstrand (piano), Curt Andersson (bass), Johan Ståhlgren (drums) and Karin Hallin (song).



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).

You can get there anyway you like, by bike, car or the buses 18 or 20. Map to Skarholmen.

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

Will you go dancing today to Swe-dukes? Tell me.

Duke Ellington: It Don't Mean A Thing

A classic swing tune: It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) performed by Duke Ellington.



Do you have more information about this video clip, like where it's from and who the the soloists are? Let me know.

What do you think of the video clip with Duke Ellington playing It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)? Tell me.

Jam session: Duke Ellington plays C Jam Blues

Here is a soundie called Jam Session with Duke Ellington where he plays the song C Jam Blues together with other great jazz musicians as Ben Webster, Sonny Greer, Ray Nance, Rex Stewart, Joe Nanton and Barney Bigard.



What do you think of C Jam Blues from 1942 with Duke Ellington? Tell me.

Swe-Dukes: Concert photos

The jazz band Swe-Dukes played yesterday at Grönwallsalen in Uppsala. Swedukes concentrate on music by Duke Ellington. Grönvallsalen is an auditorium located at the university hospital and these kind of concerts is intended for patients, relatives, staff and jazz lovers in general.



Swedukes consists of Bosse Broberg (trumpet), Ulf Johansson Werre (trombone), Ulf Lindsjö (saxophone), Anders Gahnold, (barytonsaxophone), Daniel Lantz (piano), Curt Andersson (bass), Gus Dahlberg (drums) and Karin Hallin (song).



The band played C Jam Blues (which is called Dukes Place when someone sing the lyrics), Echoes From Harlem, Don't Get Around Much Anymore. As a dancer I of course appreciated their version of Stompy Jones. Since the auditorium is made for lectures and education there is no place to dance but later on I found some members from Swingkatten swinging out just outside the open doors to the auditorium. It would be great to hear and dance to Swe-Dukes at a better location (with regard to acoustics and light).

Ulf Johansson Werre and Bosse Broberg were great (as always) and I really liked the sound of the rhythm section (particularly Curt Andersson on bass).

The photos are taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want licence the photos.

Were you at the concert? What did you think of Swe-Dukes? Tell me.

Swing dj Patrik at Dekadans: Photo

Since there is no dance at Dekadans tonight, here is a photo from Dekadans last week of swing dj Patrik Öhrström. One song I really liked from his set was Big Shoe from the Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges album "Side by side".

The photo may not be used elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want licence the photo.

Where you at Dekadans last week? What did you think of the music? Tell me.

How records were made in the 1930s: featuring Duke Ellington

Are you curious how records was made in the 1930s? Here is a kind of documentary footage how the record making process worked in 1937. Really interesting and educating! The orchestra featured in the video clip is Duke Ellington with singer Ivy Anderson.



What do you think of this documentary video clip about record making? Tell me.

Duke Ellington: Bli-Blip

Enjoy this video clip with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performing Bli Blip together with singers Mary Bryant and Paul White.



I smile when I see their goofyness. In the clip you can find some authentic jazz dance moves such as Shorty George, half breaks, Tack Annie, pecking etc.

What do you think of this video clip with Bli Blip? Tell me.

Peter Lind and the Cabaret Band at Uppsala Winter Swing

Peter Lind and the Cabaret Band played at Uppsala Winter Swing, the jazz festival that took place here in Uppsala in January. The Cabaret Band plays swing and jazz mostly from the 1930's.


The band consists of Peter Lind (trumpet), Mats Josephson (trombone), John Högman, (saxophone och clarinet), Claes-Göran Skoglund (piano), Kjell Grundström (bass and tuba) and Björn Sjödin (drums).

Peter Lind is a wonderful entertainer who tells very good anecdotes about the swing era. They played two sets at the jazz festival and I enjoyed both of them.

They even did a small dance number of the song "(Everybody's) Truckin'". The jazz dance move Truckin' almost made it to Sweden. The footwork was lost but the shaking (waving?) of the finger can be seen in movies like "Swing it, magistern" featuring jazz singer Alice Babs.

Peter Lind and his Cabaret Band has an upcoming show called Stardust. Stardust is about jazz in Harlem. They talk about the stars that performed there, about how and why the melodies were written. They feature musicians like Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Bix Beiderbecke and Eddie Condon.

The show will be at Eklundshof in Uppsala, Sun March 25th. I don't know what the ticket situation is like. If you like to see Stardust, you better mail Björn Sjödin and inquire.


The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without written permission.

Have you seen Peter Lind and the Cabaret Band? What do you think of them? Tell me.

Music is my mistress by Duke Ellington

Do you want to know more about Duke Ellington?

Book review: Music is my mistress is an autobiography by Duke Ellington about his life, his career and his music.

Did you know that his piano teachers name was Mrs Clinkscales?

In the book Duke Ellington writes about the people he worked with: Billy Strayhorn, Jimmy Blanton, Ben Webster, Alice Babs and Cootie Williams among others.

You can find this book in Swedish translation at Uppsala City Library where it is called "Jag älskar musik".

Have you read this book? What do you think? Got any tips about other jazz biographies? Let me know.

Sweet (?) Georgia Brown - Cabin In The Sky

Yesterday I saw the film Cabin in the sky where Lena Horne plays the character Georgia Brown. Usually you hear about the Sweet Georgia Brown but here she was trying to steal away Joe from his wife. Lena Horne certainly was an 'it' girl.



One really great version of Sweet Georgia Brown is done by Ella Fitzgerald on the album A Perfect Match together with Count Basie and his band.



Ethel Waters who plays the wife in the movie also has recorded some versions of Sweet Georgia Brown.

Duke Ellington and his band is featured in this film in a scene where you also can see several types of dance: (original) jazz dance, some lindy hop and even some shag.

Louis Armstrong also has a very small role in the film.