Swing or Nothing! » Essentials

Artie Shaw – King of the Clarinet

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:06:34 +0000

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:

Begin the Beguine
Stardust
Moonglow
Frensi
Softly as a Morning Sunrise

High-Energy & Fast Lindy Tunes

Traffic Jam
Diga Diga Doo*
Carioca*
Lady Be Good*
Man From Mars*
Scuttlebutt
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:

The Andrews Sisters

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:23:57 +0000

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:

Slim & Slam

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:13:02 +0000

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…

Fats Waller

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:08:46 +0000

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:

Pure Genius: Ray Charles

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:02:58 +0000

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: