Swing Cats Jamboree - Louis Prima

Check out this great short film, Swing Cats Jamboree, where Louie Prima and his band performs 3-4 songs. There are also some dance in the video clip, for example a tap version of shim sham.

Do you perhaps know who the dancers and/or muscians are? Tell me.

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

Jail House Blues - Hal and Honey Abbott

Here is a comedic dance routine by Hal Abbott and Honey Abbott from the short film "Woody Herman and His Orchestra" from 1938.

Mostly they dance shag but they also do tap dancing and some charleston kicks. I'm not sure but they could also be dancing Peabody (1:14-1:24), can anybody set me straight?

I think that the solo footwork that Hal Abbott does in the very last seconds of the video clip is really amazing. Wow.

Can anyone tell me more about Hal and Honey Abbott?

What do you think of Hal and Honey Abbott dancing to Jail House Blues? Please comment.

Top Shelf Jazz: Nagasaki

Top Shelf Jazz is a jazz band from Great Britain that has the tag line "fine purveyors of filthy swing".

Top Shelf Jazz plays music from the 1920's and 1930's and they also write their own songs in a 1920's style. They seem to have a great sense of humour, just take a look at the video clip above where Top Shelf Jazz perform the song Nagasaki.

I haven't heard Nagasaki played like this before, there's something special about it, I like it. A special bonus is that the band features a tap dancer, Josephine Shaker.

You can hear more of their music on Top Shelf Jazz's MySpace page. The rumours are that they'll release an album soon.

If want more British versions of Nagasaki, I encourage you to look at this video clip from the the tv-serie Jeeves & Wooster where Hugh Laurie as Wooster plays Nagasaki.

What do you think of the video clip with Top Shelf Jazz performing Nagasaki? Please comment.

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.

I've got a Gal in Kalamazoo: Orchestra Wives

I've got a Gal in Kalamazoo is a song that I think sometimes come out a little bit flat when I hear it on a recording, but that is not the case here in this scene from the 1942 movie Orchestra Wives.

You actually get two different but equally great versions (in their own way). First out is one with Glenn Miller's band in the background. In the film the name is somewhat modified to Gene Morrison's band, probably good for the budget so you don't have to change all the GM initials on the drums and the other things.

The real focus is however on the singers Tex Beneke and Marion Hutton and the vocal group The Modernaires.

The second version features the fabulous tap dancing Nicholas Brothers. I think their tap dancing influences their singing because I really like how they phrase the words. I think that kind of phrasing is of the same kind as the rhythms they create when they dance.

And, wow, who wouldn't like to be athletic like them? Those splits... :)

I've featured the Nicholas Brothers before on my blog.

What do you think of the two versions of I've got a Gal in Kalamazoo? Tell me.

Easter Parade: Fred Astaire drums and tap dances

Since it's easter right now, I find it appropriate to show a video clip from the movie Easter Parade from 1948 starring Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Ann Miller.

Here is a clip with Fred Astaire drumming and tap dancing in a toy store in the number "Drum Crazy". There are a lot of rhythms both with the drums sticks and his feet.

What do you think of Fred Astaire tapping in the film Easter Parade? Tell me.

Let's Call The Whole Thing Off from the movie Shall We Dance

Often at swing dances you hear "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" performed by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, but I think it's good to sometimes trace the song back to its orgin.

"Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" was written for the movie Shall We Dance from 1937 with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin. In the video clip above you see Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dance to the song on roller skates.

When you see the film, the song's introduction makes much more sense than it does when played "stand alone", that's why I most times cut the intro and start playing at "You say either, I say either".

By the way, don't confuse this movie with Shall We Dance from 2004 starring Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon or the original Japanese version of Shall We Dance (1997) which people say is the better one (I haven't seen the latter).

What do think of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dancing to "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off"? Tell me.

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.

Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers - I Won't Dance

Enjoy this video clip with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing to the song "I Won't Dance".



The video clip is from the movie Roberta (1935). The music of "I Won't Dance" is written by Jerome Kern and the lyrics that appear in the film are written by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh (original lyrics was written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach [Wikipedia])

What do you think of the video clip with Fred Astaire tap dancing to "I Won't Dance"? Tell me.

The Nicholas Brothers perform “Lucky Numbers”

Enjoy this video clip with The Nicholas Brothers tap dancing to "Lucky Number".

The video clip is from The Black Network, a 1936 short with a fifteen-year-old Harold and twenty-two-year-old Fayard Nicholas performing “Lucky Numbers” by Cliff Hess.

About 45 seconds from the end you can hear a riff borrowed from the song Nagasaki (from 1928 written by Harry Warren, who also wrote Chattanoga Choo Choo).

If you like this clip you'll also like Jumpin' Jive with Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers and Glenn Miller Orchestra with Chattanooga Choo Choo featuring Dorothy Dandridge together with Fayard and Harold.

What do you think of the video clip with The Nicholas Brothers performing “Lucky Numbers”? Tell me.

Sing before breakfast with Vilma & Buddy Ebsen

Here is a video clip with Vilma & Buddy Ebsen doing a tap dance routine in a number called Sing before breakfast. Follow the link to learn more about them. Eleanor Powell is also tapping with them.



The clip is from the movie "Broadway Melody of 1936" from 1935. Did you know that Buddy Ebsen was supposed to play the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz but he got sick from the makeup which contained aluminium powder.

What do you think of this video clip with "Sing before breakfast" with Vilma & Buddy Ebsen and Eleanor Powell? Tell me.

Lets Misbehave with Christopher Walken in Pennies from Heaven

I was inspired by MaryAnne's (ysabellabrave's) singing of Let's Misbehave at YouTube, so I started looking around after other versions of that jazz song. It didn't take long before I found a video clip of Christopher Walken tap dancing in the movie Pennies from Heaven.




Christopher Walken really shows off what it means to misbehave. His tap dancing is real but he mimes to the song which is really performed by Irving Aaronson and His Commanders. "Let's Misbehave" is written by Cole Porter. The film Pennies from Heaven is from 1981 and is directed by Steve Martin.

If you want to see more of Christopher Walken dancing, you should see him in the music video for Fatboy Slims song Weapon Of Choice.

What do you think of this video clip with Christopher Walken from Pennies from Heaven? Tell me.

Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears - Truckin'

Today you're in for a real treat with this video clip of Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears playing the song "Truckin" (the song featured yesterday as well).

First of all, it's such a swinging song in a really good arrangement. A killer-diller!

Secondly, Ina Ray Hutton was so talented: she was a bandleader, singer, dancer and had a wonderful stage presence. To top it off, she was really good looking. Yes, I'm smitten.



Make sure to listen to the rhythms that Ina Ray Hutton is laying down with her tap dancing. I think they complement the band perfectly.

I think it's such a pity that there are so few well known women jazz musicians. I really would like to know more about them. Got any tips? I should of course get the book Swing Shift: "All-Girl" Bands of the 1940s by Sherrie Tucker.

You can find more info about her in the discussion thread at swingdjs.com.

What do you think of this video clip with Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears? Tell me.