Singing Telegram: Bunny Briggs & Charlie Barnet

Enjoy this video clip with Bunny Briggs delivering a singing telegram to Charlie Barnet. Take look at how the music compells him to move. This video clip is an example of what I call: "The music made me do it".

Besides being a singer Bunny Briggs is also a talented tap dancer and in 2006 he was inducted in the Tap Dancer Hall of Fame by the American Tap Dance Foundation.

What do you think of Bunny Briggs and Charlie Barnet's Orchestra? Please comment.

Mills Brothers sampled in Bathtime in Clerkenwell

I first heard the song "Bathtime in Clerkenwell" by The Real Tuesday Weld a couple of years ago in a commercial on tv and it was Per Starbäck who identified it for me. I then discovered that the scatting vocals in the song are sampled from the song "Sweeter than sugar" recorded by the Mills Brothers on September 12th 1934.

You can find the song "Sweeter than sugar" on The Mills Brothers Vol 2 from the label Giants of Jazz.

The video clip with Bathtime in Clerkenwell (found on the album "I, Lucifer") is quite surrealistic, but I think it's very nicely done.

What do you think of the music video for "Bathtime in Clerkenwell" by The Real Tuesday Weld? Tell me.

"Crazy Riffin" - Betti Mays, Big Sid Catlett

Here is a video clip from the movie Boy! What a Girl! where Betti Mays sings the song "Crazy Riffin" which is played by Big Sid Catlett's band.



The film "Boy! What a Girl!" is from 1947 and you can hear that the band has bop influences as well as Betti Mays has when she scats. That's bop phrases alright, but the tune still swings. Other jazz musicians as bass player Slam Stewart and drummer Gene Krupa also appears in the movie.

There is a group of dancers called The International Jitterbugs that I've heard is in the film, I haven't seen any clip of them, do you know anything about those dancers? Tell me.

What do you think of this video clip with Betti Mays and Big Sid Catlett's band performing the song "Crazy Riffin"? Tell me.

Nikki Yanofsky sings It Don't Mean a Thing

Here is Nikki Yanofsky singing It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) together with Canadian pianist Oliver Jones.



I featured Nikki Yanofsky some weeks ago where she sung Airmail Special, scatting just like Ella Fitzgerald. There seems to be a lot of interest in Nikki so I thought that I would present another video clip with her.

What I like about Nikki Yanofsky in this video clip is her phrasing, just listen to how she deliver the words, how she bends and stretches them or chops them up in perfect pieces. Excellent.

If you're interested in how Ella did it, take a look at Ella Fitzgerald singing "It Don't Mean a Thing".

What do you think of Nikki Yanofsky singing "It Don't Mean a Thing"? Tell me.

Red Nichols - Everybody Loves My Baby

Sometime I come across jazz musicians whose name I've heard but haven't really listened to. One of those was trumpeter Red Nichols, here is a video clip with Red Nichols & His Five Pennies playing "Everybody Loves My Baby".




The video clip with Red Nichols & His Five Pennies is the last part of a soundie from 1935. My favorite quote from the video (hilarious):

"Oh, Red, Please don't sing,
Pick up your horn, and play that thing!"

What I think is interesting in this clip is the mix between hot jazz and swing. One thing that is also noticeable is the slang words in the lyrics "she's my sheba, I'm her sheik". Those slang words became popular one decade earlier in 1921 when the silent movie "The Sheik" starring Rudolph Valentino was released. That film also inspired the jazz standard "Sheik of Araby".

What do you think of Red Nichols? What other recordings of Red Nichols should I listen to? Tell me.

Nikki Yanofsky sings Airmail Special and scats like Ella Fitzgerald

Wow! You must see Nikki Yanofsky sing Airmail Special in this video clip.



Nikki Yanofsky is an amazingly talented 13-year-old from Montreal, Canada who is one of the artists that sings on a tribute album called "We All Love Ella - Celebrating the First Lady of Song". The Ella that we love is of course Ella Fitzgerald and Nikki Yanofsky does a fantastic performance when she scats through Airmail Special in the style of Ella Fitzgerald.

Here is also a video clip where Nikki Yanofsky talks about being selected as one of the artists for the Ella Fitgerald tribute album. She has good company on the album: Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Dianne Reeves, Michael Buble and Etta James among others.



I'd love to see what Nikki Yanofsky does next when she finds her own voice in the world of jazz. Go girl!

If you like these video clips, you'll like seeing Nikki sing It Don't Mean A Thing.

How did I find out about her? Through the "Hey Mr Jesse" July 2007 episode. More on that later.

What do you think of the video clip with Nikki Yanofsky singing Airmail Special? Tell me.

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross sings vocalese

Vocalese is a certain kind of vocal jazz. It's similar to scatting but when you scat you use nonsense words or syllables to imitate the instruments where in vocalese you use lyrics to imitate. The masters of vocalese where the vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross consisting of Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross.

Look at this video clip of them sing "Every day I have the blues".

They have taken the arrangement from Count Basie and instead of trumpet, trombone and saxophone they are now singing those lines. The phrasing is still the same as the instrument players would have done it but it's just song.

I can really recommend their album "Sing a Song of Basie" where they do vocalese versions of Count Basie arrangements. They sing songs like "One O'clock Jump", "It's Sand, Man" and "Down For Double". Highly recommended if you like vocal jazz.

What do you think of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross singing "Every day I have the blues"? Tell me.

Buba Jazz Band: Concert at Katalin tomorrow

Upcoming concert

Tomorrow it's time for Buba Jazz Band to play at a concert at Katalin and all that jazz. The concert is arranged by Uppsala Jazz Club.

Buba Jazz Band consists of Anar "Buba" Tagyzade (song), Anders Ekholm (saxophone), Max Åhman (guitar), Christian Paulin (bass) and Janne Kullhammar (drums).

I haven't heard them before. The program says that they will play songs of Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane mixed together with jazz standards. I've read that Anar "Buba" Tagyzade is good at scatting. I guess it will be a lot of bop at this concert.

Have you heard them? What do you think of them? 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.