Mr Kelly - Sarah Dawn Finer & Putte Wickman

A friend of mine, Miss L, recently performed the song, Mr Kelly, so I looked for other versions of it online and found this one sung by Sarah Dawn Finer and you can also spot Putte Wickman playing clarinet.

This fits perfectly into my mood as I prepare for a blues dance workshop in Stockholm this weekend. I don't know if I would dance blues to this song but I like the blue feeling it has.

One thing that surprised me was that Mr Kelly was written by a local musician here in Uppsala: Owe Thörnqvist. He is mostly known for other kinds of musical styles, so this was a nice surpice.

What do you think of Mr Kelly sung by Sarah Dawn Finer? Please comment.

Linda Hopkins & BB King - Every Day I Have the Blues

"Every Day I Have the Blues" is a classic blues song. This version with a duet between Linda Hopkins and BB King must be one of the best versions I heard. Ever. So much energy!

What do you think of Linda Hopkins and BB King singing "Every Day I Have the Blues"? Please comment.

Bob Malone

Most of the time I find great music and musicians, sometimes it's the other way around, they find me. That is the case with Bob Malone.

Bob Malone does all kinds of music and sometimes it's blues and jazz or ragtime. As Bob says "There are only two kinds of music. Good and bad." His music is the first kind.

Bob Malone is on tour in Sweden right now, check out Bob Malone's MySpace page to see his schedule. Go see his concerts.

What do you think of Bob Malone? Please comment.

Charles Brown - Drifting Blues

I really like Charles Brown and his song Drifting Blues in this video clip where he also talks how he started playing the blues. I dig this genre of piano based slow blues. Perfect as late night music and for blues dancing.

You can find more of his music in the album Driftin' Blues: The Best of Charles Brown.

I mentioned Charles Brown in my tips to Hey Mr Jesse in August.

Do you also like this type of slow blues? What artist would you recommend? Please comment.

Hey Mister Jesse! May I have this dance?

As you hopefully already know, the May episode of the podcast Hey Mister Jesse that talks about swinging music is now available. If not, download May 2008 episode of Hey Mister Jesse. (~50 MB, mp3).

Read the show notes for Hey Mister Jesse May 2008 to see all the details.

I wrote to Jesse and Manu (as always) with some tips:

First tip is the album "With Thee I Swing" with New York singer Terry Blaine and pianist Mark Shane and a bunch of other fantastic musicians. It's a live album from a concert in Hamburg, Germany.

It has songs like "Getting Some Fun Out Of Life", "Mama Don´t Allow", "I Never Knew" and my favorite song from the album: "Why Don´t You Do Right".

Terry Blaine is touring with a new show called "Swingin' the Benny Goodman Songbook".

Second tip is the album "Swingin' with Humes". On this album from 1961 the former big band singer Helen Humes fronts a small group that has a light and laidback style. I like her version of "There'll Be Some Changes Made".

Bonus tip: When I listened to the interview with Catherine Russell in last the show she mentioned western swing. Although western swing is not my prefered jazz style, I'd like to recommend a pretty decent 4 cd compilation set called "Western Swing & Country Jazz".

I like the song "Gettin' That Low Down Swing" by the band Modern Mountaineers which has great lyrics.

Manu said that "Gettin' That Low Down Swing" probably was his favorite song ever. What about that! Yehaa! That kind of comments makes a dj happy.

What other things are there in the podcast?

Well, they have a good 8 count countdown of late night blues songs. But the list has a fatal flaw! It doesn't include any Jimmy Witherspoon song. You can't have a list like that without him. It's mandatory. I 've written before about Jimmy Witherspoon and late night blues and his great compilation album Jazz Me Blues in my series of posts called Late Night Music.

Several of the songs on Jazz Me Blues (like "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer" and "Bad, bad Whiskey") come from his 1963 album "Baby, baby, baby".

The original abum is worth checkin out because it has many good slow late night blueses like "Rocks In My Bed" and "Lonely Boy Blues". Listen to clips from the album below.



What do you think of the May edition of Hey Mister Jesse? Tell me.

Katie Webster & Gatemouth Brown - Everyday I have the blues

Here's a great version of "Everyday I have the blues" performed by Katie Webster & Gatemouth Brown.



I've heard about Gatemouth Brown before but Katie Webster was a really nice new acquaintance, I have to find more music by her.

What do you think about Katie Webster & Gatemouth Brown performing "Everyday I have the blues"? Tell me.

James Cotton - Slow Blues

Today has been a really intense day. Slow blues by harmonica player James Cotton fits perfectly to wind down to.



Learn more about James Cotton.

What do you think of James Cotton playing slow blues? Tell me.

Wingy Manone - Vine Street blues

Often you just hear about the really big names in the jazz world like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald but the are other musicians from that era that also should be discovered. One of those musicians is trumpet player Wingy Manone.

Here is a video clip from a soundie from 1943 where Wingy Manone plays Vine Street blues together with singer Ann Lee.



Wingy Manones moment of jazz fame is that he came up with a great riff in the melody Tar Paper Stomp. While you may not have heard about Tar Paper Stomp, the riff is used as the main riff in "In the Mood" that was made famous by Glenn Miller.

Check out the discussion thread on swingdjs.com about Wingy Manone.

What do you think about this video clip with Wingy Manone playing Vine Street blues? Tell me.

Jimmy Witherspoon: Ain't nobodies business

Late night music

There haven't been so much blues music so far in this blog, but now it's time for some slow blues: Ain't Nobodies Business If I Do with singer Jimmy Witherspoon together with trumpeter Buck Claytons band. This video clip is very suitable as late night music.



Jimmy Witherspoon is one of my favorite male blues singers. "Ain't Nobodies Business If I Do" was made popular by another great blues singer: Bessie Smith.

If you want one great record with slow blues music, I can highly recommend (as many other swing djs do) Jimmy Witherspoons compilation album: Jazz Me Blues. On that album there are a few mid tempo songs that you dance lindy hop to, but mostly it's fabulous, slow, "late night" blues.

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

MaryAnne (ysabellabrave) sings Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) at YouTube

MaryAnne (ysabellabrave) sings the jazz standard Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) which was made popular by Billie Holiday. Wow! You must check this out!



MaryAnne is just amazing. It's easy to fall in love with her voice and her performance. She has got a sparkling and bubbly personality and a great sense of humour. She seems to have a great time and so does all people that watch her video clips. She makes me smile. If you haven't got a smile on your face after watching Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love), you should see a doctor (seriously!).

Ysabellabraves videos is very popular on YouTube, she got almost 20000 subscribers to her video channel! She sings a lot of swinging jazz and also some bluesy torch songs. MaryAnne sings other music styles as well.

Indiemusicman has a long interview with her: Ysabellabrave Talks Back. Another interview with MaryAnne is done by Robert Paul Reyes.

My favorite songs by MaryAnne:

• Lets misbehave!
• Why don't you do right?
• Mambo Italiano
• Frim Fram Sauce
• Just Like a Woman

You can find all ysabellabrave music videos either at her website: http://www.ysabellabrave.com/ or at her profile at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ysabellabrave

What do you think of Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) and her other video clips? Which is your favorite song? Tell me.

Jammin' the Blues by Gjon Mili

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.

Herräng Dance Camp 2007

Herräng Dance Camp is the worlds largest dance camp for lindy hop, boogie woogie, balboa and tap dancing.

This year they celebrate their 25th anniversary and the dance camp will be going on for five (five!) weeks this summer. Unbelivable! Herräng dance camp is truly the Mecka of swing dancing where people from all over the world come to dance. Here you can find the best instructors and there is just so much going on in Herräng that you can dance 24-7 if you like. Here are live music with swing and jazz bands, great swing disc jockeys and also blues nights.

This year, besides a massive amount of lindy hop, there are more balboa courses than last year and they have added some African-Cuban dancing (Rhumba, Mambo, Cha-Cha).

If you heard rumours about Herräng dance camp - they are probably true - it's a fantastic place to be. And, just like Mecka, if you're a swing dancer you must go here at least once in your life. Chanses are that you will be coming back.

If you want to read more about what Herräng Dance Camp is like, check out Lloyds stories from previous years.