Lars Erstrand Four: Photos

Last week I listened to Lars Erstrand Four when they played at the outdoor stage at Parksnäckan in Uppsala.




They played the songs: "Beautiful Friendship", "Cherokee", "The Things We Did Last Summer", "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans", "I Want To Be Happy", "I Found A New Baby", "Satin Doll", "It Might As Well Be Spring", "When You're Smiling", "All The Things You Are". My favorite song for the evening was "Timme's Blues". A really swinging song with great rhythm.

The featured guest, jazz fiddler Gunnar Lidberg, was great and played some songs by Svend Asmussen.



During the talk between the songs I found out that there have been an outdoor dancing place a few hundred meter south of Parksnäckan where there nowadays is a mini golf course. The dancing place was run by a woman named Saga Hedén. I would be fun to know more about this place, do you know something? Please tell me.

It would be nice to have an outdoor dancing place here in Uppsala during the summer. We dance at quayside every now and then but a place with a roof in a sunnier location would be great. A place for dancers of all kinds of dances to use. I have an idea that I would like to pitch to the city council, but that would take some work, if you're interested in helping me, let me know.



Lars Erstrand have met his idol Lionel Hampton several times and one time Lionel Hampton gave him this advice:

"If you got an audience that doesn't want to go home, just play a really slow ballad."

Consequently, the band ended the concert with "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square".



The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

Have you heard Lars Erstrand Four? What do you think of them? Tell me.

Fats Waller sings Ain't misbehavin' with Myra Johnson

Ain't misbehavin' is a classic jazz standard by Fats Waller that he wrote in 1929 and Andy Razaf wrote the lyrics. Take a look at this soundie from 1941 where Fats Waller sings Ain't misbehavin' together with Myra Johnson.



Fats Waller had a distinctive voice and a certain performing style with his running commentary all through the song. He was a great entertainer.

Do you know anything more about Myra Johnson?

What do you think of Fats Waller singing Ain't misbehavin'? Tell me.

Glenn Miller - In The Mood

If you ask a person on the street to name a swing song, many would probably say "In the Mood" performed by Glenn Miller. In the Mood is a one of the classic swing songs that everybody should know of. What many people don't know is that the main theme in the song comes from Tar Paper Stomp by Wingy Manone. The Glenn Miller version is credited to Joseph C Garland.

Here is a video clip with Glenn Miller and his orchestra performing "In the Mood" from the film Sun Valley Serenade (1941).

I always thought of Glenn Miller and his band as a quite polished band and I didn't know that they could be so showy, maybe it's because it is a film, I don't know if they did the same thing when they played for dancers in the real world (do you know?).

However, it's great to hear the energy and see the female character played by Sonja Henie get swept into digging the band. As I like to say: "The music made me do it". Resistance is futile.

I can't really tell but about 3:00 in the clip it looks like there is couple dancing balboa, but I'm not sure. What do you think?

You can read more about what other people think about Sun Valley Serenade over at Amazon.com.

What do you think about the video clip with Glenn Miller and his orchestra playing "In the Mood? 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.

Brigitte Bardot sings Les amis de la musique

Who would have expected to see a video clip with Brigitte Bardot singing a hot jazz song? Take a look at her singing "Les amis de la musique" where she also dance some charleston. Quite charming.



Do anyone know where this video clip with Brigitte Bardot is from? Tell me if you know anything more about it.

What did you think of Brigitte Bardot singing "Les amis de la musique"? Tell me.

Lars Erstrand Four feat. Gunnar Lidberg

Tonight Lars Erstrand Four featuring Gunnar Lidberg will play at an outdoor concert at Parksnäckan in Uppsala.

The band consists of Lars Erstrand (vibraphone), Bertil Fernqvist (guitar), Arne Wilhelmsson (bass) and Björn Sjödin (drums). Gunnar Lidberg plays violin.

The concert starts at 19.30 and costs 90 kr (70 kr with UNT-card).

The photo of Bertil Fernqvist is taken by me at Uppsala Winter Swing and may not be used elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license it.

Have you heard Lars Erstrand Four before? What do you think of them? Tell me.

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.