Boogie Woogie Royal: Anke Angel and Ulf Sandström

A week ago I got a mail from the pianist and singer Anke Angel from Holland, so I checked out her work and found this great clip of Anke Angel playing boogie woogie together with Ulf Sandström and the band Jump4Joy.

Such great energy and lots of humour. What is it with boogie woogie rhythm that gets you instantly into a good mood?

I missed Ulf's show "New Orleans T.O.R" at Reginateatern last year but I hope to see him performing live sometime. My bet is that it'll be at least 10 times as good as this clip.

What do you think of Anke Angel and Ulf Sandström? Please comment.

Dancin' The Boogie - Silvan Zingg, Will & Maéva

I always enjoy a good boogie woogie song and here is one: "Dancin' The Boogie", written and performed by Silvan Zingg from Switzerland. The couple who dances boogie woogie is William Mauvais and Maéva Truntzer.

I love the footwork that the boogie woogie dancers do, it looks so darn cool. Maybe one day I learn how to dance boogie woogie as well. My local dance society, Swingkatten, offer boogie woogie courses, so you never know...

Silvan Zingg organizes a large Boogie Woogie Festival each year.

Learn more about boogie woogie as a music style.

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

Ondrej Havelka - Beat me, daddy eight to the bar

Once in a while, you come across these absolutely fabulous video clips, this is one of them. The video clip is Ondrej Havelka and His Melody Makers playing "Beat me, daddy eight to the bar".



Ondřej Havelka and His Melody Makers is a band from the Czech Republic who like to play early jazz music. Besides being a musician and band leader, Ondřej Havelka is also an actor and director and you can tell that by the good cinematic quality of the video clip: the angles, the cutting and the acting.

The clip has such energy and humour that it's impossible not to be infatuated by it. Don't we all dream about being swept away to another time and place, where you can dance and enjoy yourself as much as you like and not having to care about a boring job?

Ondřej Havelka is multi-talented and is a good tap dancer, at least those half breaks looks really really good. To find out more about him, read this interview with Ondřej Havelka by Radio Prague.

In the video you can hear and see the vocal group The Swings.

A big thank you goes to band leader and trumpet player Peter Lind who told me about this clip after his concert on Saturday.

What do you think of this video clip with Ondrej Havelka and His Melody Makers playing "Beat me, daddy eight to the bar"? Do you find it as fantastic as I do? Tell me.

Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson - Keep the Beat!

Do you think school should be more fun? Well then, take a look at this video clip with Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson performing Keep the Beat! from the movie Junior Prom from 1946.



Jive talking Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson looks kind of wacky when he plays the piano but the music is swinging with a boogie woogie rhythm with bop scatting in the breaks. He is supported by the Abe Lyman Orchestra. In the video clip there is some swing dancing and even a minuet(?).

I just love the opening line of the video clip:

"and now my dear little zombies... "

I bet your teacher didn't say that to you. Or?

What do you think of this video clip with Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson? 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.