The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America

It seems like there is going to be a movie made about Chick Webb, Ella Fitzgerald and the Savoy Ballroom called The Savoy King: Chick Webb and the Music That Changed America. Check out the video clips.

The documentary features interviews with Frankie Manning and Norma Miller.






(via Charlie)
What do you think of the movie? Please comment.

Hey Mr Jesse: September podcast

The September episode of the podcast Hey Mister Jesse is just released. This time the show recorded live at the lindy hop camp Swing Out New Hampshire.

Hey Mr Jesse is a great monthly podcast where the swing djs Jesse Miner and Manu 'Spuds' Smith talk about swingin' music that matters to dancers. Take a look at what is in the show: read the show notes for Hey Mister Jesse September 2008.

Download the September 2008 episode of Hey Mister Jesse. (~50 MB, mp3)

I have some things from the podcast I'd like to comment on:

First of all, Jesse was spot on that the source of the my tip about Calvin Boze in the August episode was from the MP3 blog Be Bop Vino.

Just like Jesse I have mixed feelings about MP3 blogs and I wasn't sure if I should name it as a source so I stayed on the safe(?) side and didn't mention it.

But now that the cat is out of the bag, it's only fair that you, my blog readers, should know about it too: Take a look at the Calvin Boze album: "Havin' A Ball" at Be Bop Vino. Be Bop Vino is a great blog that gives you tips about jazz and blues artists.

Secondly, the September podcast features a good interview with swing dj Rayned Wiles about the photograph "A Great Day in Harlem" by Art Kane. Rayned has prepared a 8 hour (!) show on Yehoodi radio featuring all the jazz musicians in the photograph. I just have to say: wow.

I've had the idea of blogging about that photo since I first started blogging but never got around to do it, so this is a perfect time to at least mention some things about it.

In addition to listening to Rayned's radio show you should see the documentary "A Great Day in Harlem" where you get all kinds of stories about the making of the photograph. You can borrow it at the Uppsala City Library if you like or buy the documentary from Amazon.com.

There are much more in the show but at last I want to mention that Bernard Berkhout and his orchestra has made some video clips available on Youtube. Great stuff. The video clip in the beginning of this post is the song House Hop.

What do you think of the September edition of Hey Mr Jesse? Please comment.

Documentary: A Place To Dance

I got an email from supervising producer Jason Wehling at Arts & Labor about the documentary film: "A Place To Dance".

This is how he describes the documentary:

"A PLACE TO DANCE follows New Orleans' longest-running big band, The Pat Barberot Orchestra, and in addition to capturing the feel of big band and the swing dancing that accompanies it, we've gotten into the personal lives of some of the musicians and fans who've been involved with the Orchestra for years (some since the 1940s).

When Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005, many of our subjects lost their homes, and the dancehall the band performs in sustained major damage, but they pushed forward, and in the end, we think these folks dedication to the music speaks volumes."

Here is a video clip from the documentary "A Place To Dance":



This seems to be a wonderful documentary about swing music and dance and I would love to see the whole film. If you would like to know more about the film, take a look at the film's official website.

Have you seen the documentary "A Place To Dance"? What do you think of it? Tell me.

Marilyn Monroe & Ella Fitzgerald

A couple of weeks ago I saw a documentary about Marilyn Monroe and her life: "American Masters" Marilyn Monroe: Still Life. In the documentary the story is connected through the photos taken of her by her friend photographer Milton H. Greene.

One of the things I found out was that Marilyn Monroe had a big part in helping Ella Fitzgerald launch a career as a mainstream singer. Marilyn found out that Mocambo, a popular jet set night club in Hollywood, would not book Ella Fitzgerald as a performer because of segregation.

Marilyn phoned the manager and told him that she would book a front row table every night Ella performed there, knowing that her presence would get a lot of reporters there and a lot of publicity for the club.

Ella Fitzgerald was booked and Marilyn Monroe kept her promise.

Have you seen the documentary? What do you think? Tell me.

Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer

Right now the Tribeca Film Festival is going on and one of the movies that has it's premiere there is a documentary about jazz singer Anita Oday called: "Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer".

Take a look at the trailer for the documentary at Anita O'day's official website. If you're at the Tribeca Film Festival you can see the film on Friday and Sunday.

Anita O'day passed away in the end of last year. She will be remembered as a great jazz singer. What I admire about Anita O'day is her marvelous phrasing, one outstanding example of her phrasing can be heard on the following video clip from the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 where Anita O'day sings Sweet Georgia Brown in three different styles .



I especially like the way she presents the line in the lyrics that goes: "I don't lie... much".

The video clip is from the documentary "Jazz on a Summer's Day" from 1960 by Bert Stern.

You can compare her version with the other versions of Sweet Georgia Brown that I've posted.

What do you think of Anita O'day? 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.

Soundies: Jazz and Swing Legends in PBS Documentary

In March a documentary about soundies is shown on the tv channel PBS in USA. Watch the trailer for the soundies documentary.

Soundies were an early version of the music video: three-minute musical films, produced by professional film crews in New York, Chicago, and Hollywood between 1940 and March, 1947. The films were displayed on the Panoram, a coin-operated film jukebox, in nightclubs, bars, restaurants, factory lounges, and amusement centers. [Wikipedia]

The documentary is presented by Michael Feinstein. Here is more information about the program.

It would be interesting to see this program because it gives an insight how melodies was performed in those days, that something you can't get just by listening to recordings. I'm looking forward to see the program sometime.

If you want to learn more about soundies check out "The Soundies Book: A Revised and Expanded Guide" by Scott MacGillivray and Ted Okuda.

Have you seen the soundies documentary? What do you think of it? Tell me.