Swing or Nothing!

Thick. That’s how I would describe the heavy-hitting sound of alto saxophone player Buster Smith. He was instrumental in developing, along with Count Basie & Lester Young, what came to be called the Texas Sax Sound. Buster’s contribution to this sound was that he used a tenor saxophone reed with his alto saxophone to achieve a louder, “fatter” sound. Lester Young, who had played with Smith and Basie on the Oklahoma City Blue Devils and the Buster Smith-Count Basie Band of Rhythm, followed suit using a heavier baritone reed with his tenor saxophone. Buster Smith definitely had plenty of practice creating a bold sound from his early music days playing medicine shows around Dallas…where he had to play loud to help attract customers.

Buster Smith was a huge influence on the Texan music scene and industry and was known for teaching, mentoring and influencing the sounds many important musicians including Charlie Parker, Charlie Christian, Aaron “T-Bone” Walker and Red Garland. Although he did plenty of session work with famous musicians such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Earl Hines, he only ever recorded one solo album, The Legendary Buster Smith in 1959. What a powerful album though!

I remember the first time I heard Buster Smith. Jesse Miner used to DJ Kansas City Riffs (and still does) as a birthday jam song and I loved that hard-hitting sax & rhythm instantly…so much so I rushed to the DJ booth to identify the artist. Alas, that single solo album was a rare one to find in the record stores so imagine my delight when I found it online finally available for download….what a score!

My favorite tracks for dancing:

1. Kansas City Riffs
2. E-Flat Boogie
3. Organ Grinder’s Swing

They’re a bit lengthy in the 5-6 minute range which is why DJs often use them as birthday jam songs.

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Artie Shaw was an American jazz clarinetist, composer and bandleader. He started out playing the saxophone when he was 13, but by age 16 had switched to the clarinet, the instrument for which he became famous. During the 1930s he played as a session musician in New York City, and eventually put together his own big band that rivaled that of contemporary Benny Goodman in popularity. With Benny Goodman already laying claim to the title “King of Swing”, Artie Shaw became known as the “King of Clarinet”, although Shaw argued that the titles should have been reversed.

Artie Shaw was known to be a musical innovator, experimenting with unusual instrumentation, incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythms, and especially breaking away from the patterns of traditional big band dance music. Dancers wanting to express the breaks and accents in a piece of music often latch onto repeated themes and recognizable riffs and patterns. Artie Shaw tried to keep dancers on their toes by mixing up the riffs in less predictable ways…a way to challenge all but the best dancers.

Indeed, I remember that two of my early swing dance instructors, Kevin and Carla, loved performing to music by Artie Shaw as well as playing his music in classes…precisely because the unpredictability and surprise element in his music made it challenging and fun to dance to.

Artie Shaw was quite prolific, so I’m not going to list all my favorite songs, but here are two sets of music that you might like:

Mellower Tunes with a Nice Steady Beat:

1. Begin the Beguine
2. Stardust
3. Moonglow
4. Frensi
5. Softly as a Morning Sunrise

High-Energy & Fast Lindy Tunes

1. Traffic Jam
2. Diga Diga Doo*
3. Carioca*
4. Lady Be Good*
5. Man From Mars*
6. Scuttlebutt
7. All the Cats Join In

* indicates tunes that I’ve performed to at one time or another.

Here’s a great Lindy Hop routine that’s danced to a splice of All the Cats Join in and Traffic Jam.

One2Swing Jitterbugs

And a great Artie Shaw album on Amazon.com to help you jump start your collection:

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LaVerne, Maxene and Patricia Andrews were three sisters from Minnesota who developed a harmonic style of singing and specialized in swing and boogie-woogie styles, and rose to international fame during the WWII era. With Laverne singing contraalto, Maxene singing soprano and Patricia singing mezzo-soprano, and all of them singing at the top of their lungs, the trio modeled themselves after the Boswell sisters, an earlier singing group, and they also originally sought to imitate the sound of a blaring trio of trumpets.

The Andrews Sisters rose to fame through their 1937 radio broadcast, during which time Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen became one of their earliest smash hits. They played with nearly all of the most famous big bands of the era, including those led by Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Joe Venuti, Freddie Slack, Eddie Heywood, Bob Crosby (Bing’s brother), Desi Arnaz, Guy Lombardo, Les Brown, Bunny Berigan. They also enjoyed a particularly successful collaboration with singer Bing Crosby — nearly half the songs they recorded with him made the Billboard Charts.

The Sisters were active and generous in helping to entertain America’s Armed Forces during WWII and support the war cause. Along with several other prominent actors and musicians, the Andrews Sisters helped found the Hollywood Canteen, a retreat for American servicemen. Indeed, many of their songs contained war related lyrics and themes. The Andrews Sisters appeared in a handful of films, especially after being snatched up by Universal Pictures. They appeared in three Abbot & Costello comedies, including Buck Privates and Universal eventually had them star in their own B-Musicals, including What’s Cooking, Private Buckaroo, and Give Out, Sisters.

Here’s a good starting compilation of Andrews Sisters tunes for dancing:

as well as some individual tunes from other albums that I really like:

1. Rhumboogie
2. Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)
3. Shortnin’ Bread

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Okay, here’s a set of music that is essential to any serious lindy hopper’s music collection: Slim & Slam.

Slim & Slam was a 1930s musical partnership formed by Bulee “Slim” Gaillard (vocals, guitar and piano) and Leroy Elliott “Slam” Stewart (bass). They produced novelty jazz numbers featuring Slim’s distinctive vocal style with vocalese and scats, hipster argot and nonsense words. Their biggest hits were “Flat Fleet Floogie (with a Floy Floy)”, “Cement Mixer (Puti Puti)” and “The Groove Juice Special (Opera in Vout)”. Slim & Slam also provide the musical introduction to that famous clip of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers in Hellzapoppin…

If you’re out looking for CDs, look for:

…which has most of Slim & Slam’s notable hits…

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Okay, I found a great CD that I think you will love:

Julia Lee was an American Blues Singer who grew up and performed in Kansas City. When I think of the Kansas City jazz sound I think of grounded, deep horn playing and I think you can hear this influence reflected in Julia’s beautifully baritone voice. Some of my favorite tracks are: The Spinach Song, Give Me What You Got and of course The Glory of Love.

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Fats Waller (1904-1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. Widely recognized as a master of stride piano — Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era and was also a prolific songwriter. A good number of songs that you’ve been hearing Corner Pocket play each week at Cat’s Corner were originally written or co-written and performed by Fats Waller, including “Honeysuckle Rose”, “Ain’t Misbehavin’”,”‘Tain’t What You Do”, and “Yatch Club Swing.” As usual, the Proper Records label has good compilation that’s worth listening to:

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I recently stumbled upon this group while listening on pandora.com, and after reading their bio on wikipedia and seeing that they were popular in Sweden too, I couldn’t resist mentioning them. From the Wikipedia:

The Deep River Boys were an American Gospel music group active from the mid 1930s to the mid 1950s. The group performed spirituals, Gospel, and R&B. The group consisted of Harry Douglas (baritone), Vernon Gardner (first tenor), George Lawson (second tenor), Jimmy Lundy and Edward Ware (bass). They appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, held command performances before the Queen of England (in the 1960s), and US President Dwight D Eisenhower. They also performed with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Charlie Christian and Thelma Carpenter. In Europe they were especially popular in countries like Sweden and Norway from the 1950s and upwards, appearing on numerous TV shows, even releasing several hit-singles performing songs in Swedish and Norwegian. The group continued to tour into the early eighties.

One album that I particularly liked is:

especially the tracks “Lucky Old Sun”, “Lucky Black Cat”, and “Deep Water”.

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Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known by his stage name Ray Charles, was an American pianist and singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues. He brought a soulful sound to country music, pop standards. Several songs you’ve heard from the Jelly Roll Souls playing at Cat’s Corner were popularized by Ray Charles, including “I Gotta Woman” and “This Little Girl of Mine.” Here are some collections and albums worth checking out:

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If you liked the music for our Gospel Night at Cat’s Corner, then I’ll bet you’ll enjoy music by Sister Rosetta Tharpe:

From Wikipedia.org:

Rosetta Tharpe (March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was a pioneering Gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock accompaniment. She became the first great recording star of Gospel music in the late 1930s and also became known as the original soul sister of recorded music.

Willing to cross the line between sacred and secular by performing her inspirational music of ‘light’ in the ‘darkness’ of the nightclubs and concert halls with big bands behind her, her witty, idiosyncratic style also left a lasting mark on more conventional gospel artists, such as Ira Tucker, Sr., of the Dixie Hummingbirds. While she offended some conservative churchgoers with her forays into the world of pop music, she never left gospel music.

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Larry Clinton (August 17, 1909 – May 2, 1985) was a trumpeter who became a prominent American bandleader. His practice of rearranging the works of famous composers like Debussy and Tchaikovsky and adding lyrics was known as “swinging the classics”. His version of Debussy’s “Reverie”, with vocalist Bea Wain, was particularly popular. Clinton also provided conventional arrangements for performers like the Dorsey brothers, Glen Gray, Louis Armstrong, and Bunny Berigan.

I recently went on a Larry Clinton buying binge after hearing the song “Chew Your Bubble Gum.” Clinton’s sound reminds me a lot of Benny Goodman, but I like that his rhythm section has a little bit more of a driving drum beat. Here are some fun tracks you can find on emusic.com:

• Chew Your Bubble Gum
• That’s Good Enough For Me
• Zig Zag
• Missouri Gambler

or on Amazon.com:

Larry Clinton at Amazon.com

Enjoy!

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