Swing, jazz and blues - Dance to the music

Some jazz bands "just" played their music while other bands made an extra effort to really entertain the audience/dancers. A jazz orchestra that did the latter was the big band led by Cab Calloway. He had a very outgoing personality and put that extra energy into the performance that really made it entertaining.

In this video clip from the movie Stormy Weather Cab Calloway performs the song Jumpin' Jive followed by an amazing tap routine by the Nicholas Brothers.



This was the first clip I ever saw of the Nicholas Brothers and every time I'm surprised that they don't kick any musicians when they jump around in the bandstand. (A'int that a kick in the head?).

One of the things that I would like to point out in this video clip from Stormy Weather is the use of "call and response" (which Cab Calloway used a lot). The first occurrence is when he sings one bar of music and the band answers in the other bar in that phrase.

You also see call and response between the piano player and the Nicholas Brothers tapping on the piano and then of course between the Nicholas Brothers themselves.

What do you think of this video clip with Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers? Tell me.