Delta Rhythm Boys - Take The 'A' Train

In the swing era there were some songs composed with a train theme, I'm very ambivalent about them because of the cheesy sound effects when the band tries to sound like a train.

However, here is a good train song: "Take The 'A' Train" with Delta Rhythm Boys.



An anecdote regarding this clip: Some of the clip was used in "Swingen anfaller" a documentary about Herräng Dance Camp (directed by Svante Grundberg in 2005). In the documentary they did a little joke and mixed this clip with some people who board the subway in Stockholm in a similar fashion and later on they arrive in Herräng (the Swedish equivalent of Harlem). This spoof was done so convincingly, so quite a few people who saw the documentary on Swedish tv called the camp office in Herräng to find out what subway line Herräng was located at (not realizing that Herräng is about 150 km northeast of Stockholm, quite a subway trip!).

What do you think of Delta Rhythm Boys singing Take The 'A' Train? Tell me.

Coleman Hawkins - Body & Soul

It was some time since I last featured late night music, but it's time again to showcase some mellow music that you can enjoy when you come home late at night from a night out dancing.

Tonight it's Coleman Hawkins who plays "Body & Soul". A good album for more late night jazz by Coleman Hawkins is "Sirius".

What are you your favorite late night music? Tell me.

Lindy hop World Championship on TV tonight

Wow, I can't belive it, but it's true: Swedish Television will send live from the Lindy hop World Championships in Halmstad on prime time. Tune in to SVT2 at 19 o'clock tonight! Expert commentators are Marie Nahnfeldt och Ulrika Larsdotter Ericsson.

Unfortunatly I'll not be home to see it *grmbl*, can someone tape it for me?

Speedlinks: Mentions and interview tip

Speedlinking is just me collecting small bits an pieces of information into one larger blog post. I've borrowed the term "Speedlinks" from David Hobby's excellent blog about off camera flash lighting called Strobist.

So, what's the news?

• Bryant Gover found my blog post about his swing dance photos. Read his blog post.
• Carl Nelson over at Carl's Dance Blog listed a couple of dance and swing blogs where this blog was mentioned. He reports from different dance events, including the recent Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown (ULHS).
• Speaking of ULHS, there is a good interview with dancer Peter Loggins in the most recent Yehoodi Talk Show taped at ULHS. Start at 24 minutes into the podcast and listen to minute 43 to hear a more about his background and how he got interested in dance history. If you're not a member of Yehoodi, you can safely skip the rest of the show. Download the talk show here.

Got any other interesting web sites that I should check out? Tell me.

Bert Kaempfert - Tuxedo Junction

Take a look at this video clip with Bert Kaempfert and his orchestra playing Tuxedo Junction. I really like the soft arrangement.



Wow, that what a call a BIG band. How many people are on the band stand? At least twenty.

Bert Kaempfert isn't very known by the general jazz public but some of his songs are: "L-O-V-E" which was made famous by Nat King Cole and "Strangers in the Night", a hit for Frank Sinatra. In Sweden almost everybody know Bert Kaempfert's song "Swingin' Safari" since it was (and maybe still is) the theme song for the tv quiz show for fifth-graders called "Vi i femman".

Tuxedo junction was written by Erskine Hawkins in 1940.

What do you think of Bert Kaempfert and his orchestra playing Tuxedo Junction? Tell me.

Cats Corner at Uplands nation

On Tuesday it was once more time to dance at Cats Corner at Uplands nation. Many people came out to dance and I felt the room was full of good energy. I had a nice dance with V. who just started dancing two weeks ago. Hey, all beginners! Come and dance you too, we would like to meet you.


David Kågedal was the swing dj of the night. Best song that night was "Evening" with Count Basie and (I think) Joe Williams.

A journalist from a magazine came and visited and I'm curious what the the article will look like. I was hoping that their experienced photographer would also have been there so I could have seen how he was working.

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

Were you there? What do you think of the evening? 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.