DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #16: Six Appeal

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Charlie Christian Genius of Electric Guitar

Charles Henry “Charlie” Christian (29.07.1916-02.03.1942) was a jazz guitarist during the swing era and a pioneer on the electric guitar. With the amplification it was possible to bring out the guitar from the rhythm section and to use it as a solo instrument. Thanks to his talent, Charlie popularized the electric guitar in jazz. He developed melody lines with a single-string technique, influenced more by the brass instruments and woodwinds than the guitar players of that time. His goal was to sound like a tenor saxophone. In 1939 Charlie Christian was discovered by jazz producer John Hammond who introduced him [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #15: The Raggle Taggle

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Boots And His Buddies 1937-1938

Drummer Clifford “Boots” Douglas led his 12-piece big band Boots & His Buddies during the 30s in the area of San Antonio, Texas, playing for dancers. Altough it was a “territory” band (only performing locally), they recorded 42 songs for the Bluebird label. The Raggle Taggle is a hard swinging tune in a minor key, perfect for Balboa dancing. If you don’t own this song, buy it immediately, it’s a gem! Title: The Raggle Taggle Artist: Boots & His Buddies Recorded: 17.09.1937 Album: Complete Jazz Series 1937 – 1938 Tempo: 208 bpm Dance: Balboa, Lindy Hop Click the link to [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #14: Frenesi

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Artie Shaw Frenesi

Artie Shaw (1910-2004), one of the greatest clarinet players in jazz, built and led five different and distinguishable orchestras during the swing era. 1939 he left his second orchestra all of a sudden and spent two months in Mexico. After coming back to New York, he recorded Frenesi in the first session by using a large string section, and the tune became a major hit. Frenesi has a happy feeling with a lot of breaks and latin elements (it reminds me of Paso Doble) in it. I like it! And you? Title: Frenesi Artist: Artie Shaw & His Orchestra Recorded: [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #13: Summertime

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The Modern Jazz Quartett

Summertime is a song everybody knows, but do you know the version by The Modern Jazz Quartet? This is one of my favourite versions and I sometimes play it at the end of a Swing party, around 4 o’clock in the morning or so… Summertime was composed by George Gershwin* for his “American Folk Opera” Porgy and Bess, which premiered 1935 in New York City. The song quickly became a Jazz standard and is probably one of the most popular and most played song ever. It was recorded over 26’000 times by different musicians and in different styles. *text in [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #12: Shiny Stockings

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Count Basie April In Paris

Next Wednesday, 26th May, is Frankie Manning‘s birthday, he would have turned 96. Reason enough to declare the whole week as Frankie Manning week on my Swing Blog. In the following five days, I will post every day an entry which is related to Frankie. Let’s start with Frankie Manning’s favourite song: Shiny Stockings by Count Basie (1904-1984), Frank Foster, saxophonist and musical director of the Count Basie Orchestra from 1986-1995, is the composer of this Lindy Hop Hymn. Jazz journalist Bob Bernotas interviewed Frank Foster in 1991. Here is the song relating excerpt of that interview. In his 11 [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #11: Blue Horizon

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The Best Of Sidney Bechet

This week’s song is dedicated to Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) on the occasion of his birthday and day of death on 14th May. Bechet, originally from New Orleans, was one of the most important soloists of the early Jazz period. At the beginning of the 1920s, Bechet discovered in London the straight soprano saxophone and developed his unique vibrato style. Sidney Bechet performed and recorded with all the Jazz Giants in those days, such as Freddie Keppart, Clarence Williams, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington ect., to name but a few. After being very popular at the Festival International de Jazz 1949 in [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #10: Do Nothing ‘Till You Hear From Me

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Cootie Williams

I discovered this album by Cootie Williams last year (2009) and it’s a winner. Every single song got a 5 star rating by me for Swing dancing! The tune I’ve chosen is also the title of the album, the Jazz standard Do Nothing ‘Till You Hear From Me. Originally recorded 1940 as Concerto For Cootie by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, where Williams was a prominent member for years. Charlie Melvin “Cootie” Williams (1911-1985) was one of the most influential Jazz trumpeters during the Swing era. His trademark was the growl style by using a plunger mute (in the tradition of [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #9: Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho

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Kid Ory In The Forties

The inspiration for Jazz musicians came often from traditional songs or from spirituals. They took the song and improvised over it. An example is the spiritual Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho. One of my favourite version is from 1946 by New Orleans pioneer and trombonist Edward “Kid” Ory (1886-1973). Ory’s career spans over 50 years. From 1912 until 1919 he led one of the most popular bands in New Orleans. Although he left the music business in the 30s to run a chicken farm, he made a major comeback in the 40s. 1943 he rivived Kid Ory’s Creole Orchestra [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #8: Alreet

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Anita O'Day In Memoriam

I often get asked what makes a Swing song a typical Balboa song. This is a very good question but from my point of view only a subjective answer could be given. Generally we could say – and this is broken down to a very simple quote – that danceable Swing music from the 30s and the first half of the 40s is a good source for Balboa dancing, while R&B from the later 40s and 50s is not suitable. Of course we could go now much more in details but I rather show you good examples. Let’s start with [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #7: No More Love

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Buddy Johnson Walk'em The Decca Sessions

For this week I have chosen a R&B song – played by a big band – rather than a typical Swing song, but it’s just perfect to dance Lindy Hop to. Pianist Buddy Johnson (1915-1977), his real name was Woodrow Wilson Johnson, led a large jump blues band that was very successful during the 1940s and 1950s. He featured different vocalists but his younger sister Ella Johnson was the primary singer of the band. No More Love is a great example of the big band’s driving sound at a slower tempo and Ella’s soulful voice. Title: Artist: Buddy Johnson And [...]

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