Hey Mr Jesse: June edition

The June edition of the podcast Hey Mr Jesse is now available. [Download (40 MB, mp3)]

While all things they mention are good stuff, I think the best parts of the show are the interviews. They have a clip from the Philadelphia Lindy Exchange 2007 DJ Summit where several swing dj's talk about how they structure a set. Great stuff, I probably will get back to you with more comments about that later on.

Jesse Miner och Manu Smith also does a mini interview with band leader Gordon Webster and play a really good slow blues song from his new cd "Blues Till Dawn".

They give some more info about things already mentioned in this blog like:

• The Frankie Manning book launch
• Buddy DeFranco
• George Gee's new album: If Dreams Come True
• The Puppini Sisters

It nice to have topics covered from a slightly different angle.

Also they feature a comment from my swing dj colleague here in Uppsala: Jonas Pettersson regarding the last shows interview with Jonathan Stout and how he broke down the information about different kinds of swing rythms.

Read the show notes for Hey Mr Jesse - June edition to see everything they talk about in the show.

If you're interested, read what I written before about previous Hey Mr Jesse shows.

What do you think of the June edition of Hey Mr Jesse? Tell me.

Hey Mr Jesse: Jonathan Stout and His Campus Five

It's so pleasant to know that in the beginning of each month I know exactly what I'll be blogging about and that is of course the fabulous podcast Hey Mr Jesse. Here is what I wrote about this show earlier.

The thing that makes this podcast great is that Jesse Miner och Manu Smith each episode invites a swing jazz musician and interviews them. This time they interview Jonathan Stout, the band leader of Jonathan Stout and His Campus Five. This might be the best interview so far. If you haven't listened to the podcast before, now is the time to do it.

Besides being a musician, Jonathan Stout is also a swing dancer and he talks about what makes swing music danceable. He gives music examples of different ways to play swing music and how that affects the dancing. One thing he mention is "dancing to the music", which means that if you listen to the music and are interpreting it, the music gives you huge clues about what moves to do.

One of my favorite expressions is: "The music made me do it". That happens when you have this great dance with a great dance partner and you feel absolutely compelled to do a certain movement because it totally fits to the music. Nothing else would have made sense. Both you and partner smile and say: "Yeah, we nailed that one". That's a total connection between you, your partner and the music. It's like the music is standing beside you with a big sledge hammer and say (in the most friendly but firm voice). "Make that move, or else...".

I think the interview is educational both for dancers and musicians.

Jesse Miner mentions a lot of other stuff also, like the upcoming Frankie Manning biography: "Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop" and the new documentary Anita O'day: The Life of a Jazz Singer.

Check out everything in the show notes for episode number 17 of Hey Mr Jesse.

Download the May episode of Hey Mr Jesse. (50 MB, mp3)

What do you think of the Hey Mr Jesse podcast? Tell me.