DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #96: Flaming Reeds and Screaming Brass

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #96: "Flaming Reeds And Screaming Brass" by Jimmie Lunceford

This is a song I have in my library since a long time but interestingly I didn’t play it until last Saturday at The Snowball in Stockholm. It’s an uptempo song with unexpected breaks and sound patterns. First, you wait until the song really starts when you realize, that you are already in the midst of it. Interestingly, “Flaming Reeds and Screaming Brass” was a test recording by the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra from 1933 for Columbia and not released before the late 1960s on LP! James Melvin “Jimmie” Lunceford (6.6.1902 – 12.07.1947) was a multiinstrumentalist but mostly famous as bandleader. [...]

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End-Of-Year Review 2011

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End Of Year Review 2011 | Shuffle Projects

After the first end-of-year review at the end of 2010 I thought I’m going to write another one for 2011. There are two reasons for that: I can wrap up the year and summarize what was happening here during 2011 for myself but also for you It helps me to set goals for 2012. We all need goals, don’t we? Some Personal Thoughts Before I start with the summary, I would like to write down some personal thoughts about Shuffle Projects The Blog (Shuffle Projects is actually the head label for all my activities in the swing world, that’s why [...]

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Herrang Dance Camp 2012 – Promotional Video

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Herrang Dance Camp 2012 - Promotional Video 30th Anniversary | Shuffle Projects

30 Years Herräng Dance Camp Herrang Dance Camp (HDC) will celebrate the 30th anniversary in 2012. Just today, the promotional video was released. The video was produced by ReelMacoy Herrang Dance Camp 2012 will happen from 30th June – 4th August. The registration will start today, register at http://herrang.com. I can’t wait to be back in Herräng and I’m sure this anniversary edition will be especially unique! Related Posts: Staff DJ at Herräng Dance Camp 2011

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #95: Four Or Five Times

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #95: "Four Or Five Times" by Jimmie Noone | Shuffle Projects

From a few songs, I like to collect different versions. “Four Or Five Times” is one of them and this week’s song is one of my alltime favourite swing tunes. A recording from 1937 by Jimmie Noone (23.04.1895-19.04.1944). Beside Johnny Dodds and Sidney Bechet, Jimmie Noone is considered one of the three top New Orleans clarinetists of the 1920s. Noone had a smoother tone and his style influenced many musicians of the Swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Benny Goodman. As a child, he played the guitar before he started to take clarinet lessons at age 15. [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #94: Petite Fleur

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week: "Petite Fleur" by Sidney Bechet | Shuffle Projects

During this week, my son will celebrate his first birthday! I dedicate this Song of the Week to him. Petite Fleur means “Little Flower” and I think, it suits perfectly to him. This beautiful and sentimental song was composed by Sidney Bechet, my personal king of the soprano saxophone. He recorded it several times in the fifties with different formations. After performing as a soloist at the Salle Pleyel Jazz Festival in Paris, Bechet decided to move to France in 1950 where he spent the rest of his life. There he was a major celebrity and national hero. Before his [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #93: Moonglow

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #93: "Moonglow" (Take 2) by Benny Goodman Quartet

I’m a big admirer of Benny Goodman’s small group recordings from 1935 to 1939. He recorded with different group sizes and what I like is the relaxness in the songs, there is so much joy of play hearable. The sound is full and often, you get the feeling, there were many more musicians involved than actually were. Most of the recordings were done as a quartet, with Gene Krupa on drums, Teddy Wilson on piano and Lionel Hampton on vibes. Please note, that two of the musicians (Wilson and Hampton) were black. It was quite uncommon at that time to [...]

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Frenchie Balboa Festival 2011: Some Personal Notes

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Frenchie Balboa Festival 2011 in Toulouse: Some Personal Notes | Shuffle Projects

For the fourth time in a row I attended the Frenchie Balboa Festival in Toulouse France and I had one more time a blast! Here are some notes and thoughts about the event, more random ones than a proper event review. Family Time FBF was also the very first international event Nadja and I attented with our 11-month-old son Sid. He is such a happy and charming little boy who makes it really easy having him around. Everybody seemed to like him so I never had the feeling that he was disturbing when he was in a class room. Special [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #92: Little Sir Echo

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week: "Little Sir Echo" by Rex Stewart & Dickie Wells | Shuffle Projects

With “Rexatious” [SOTW #89] we have learned, that Rex Stewart was famous for his talkative style (among other styles). This week I would like to feature a song where this technique is more hearable. But before, I need to introduce another jazz musician who had perfected a similar sound but with a different instrument. William “Dickie” Wells (10.06.1907/09 – 12.11.1985) was a leading black American trombonist noted, especially in the swing era, for his melodic creativity and expressive techniques. [source: biography.com] Scott Yanow on allmusic.com describes Wells as follows: “One of the more adventurous trombonists of the swing era, the distinctive [...]

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Random Clips on Friday: Lindy Hop Stop-Motion Animation

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Random Clips on Friday: Lindy Hop Stop-Motion Animation | Shuffle Projects

I posted this yesterday on my Facebook Page – and many other Facebook users as well – and it’s so incredibly awesome that I have to continue the unoffical Friday series and post this short clip (only 28 seconds) again. Stop-Motion Animation inspired by Max Pitruzzella & Annie Trudeau Unfortunately, there is no information about the creator (Adam from Canada?). What is Stop-Motion? Stop motion (also known as stop action) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion [...]

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