“Chattanooga Choo Choo” February 10, 2008
Posted by Jeff in 1929 through WWII, Dance, Jazz, Movies, Music, Nicholas Brothers, Swing.add a comment
From Sun Valley Serenade (1941), an intro by the Glenn Miller Orchestra segues into …
“I Got A Gal In Kalamazoo” February 9, 2008
Posted by Jeff in 1929 through WWII, Dance, Jazz, Movies, Music, Nicholas Brothers, Swing.add a comment
A year after Sun Valley Serenade, Glenn Miller, the Nicholas Brothers and Harry Warren and Max Gordon continue their survey of songs about American cities with funny names …
“Lucky Numbers” February 8, 2008
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From The Black Network, a 1936 short, fifteen-year-old Harold and twenty-two-year-old Fayard Nicholas perform “Lucky Numbers” by Cliff Hess.
Adelaide Hall and the Nicholas Brothers February 7, 2008
Posted by Jeff in 1929 through WWII, Dance, Movies, Music, Nicholas Brothers, Swing, Theater, Vaudeville.1 comment so far
From 1935, the VitaPhone short “An All-Colored Vaudeville Show” …
“Alright” February 6, 2008
Posted by Jeff in Cab Calloway, Dance, Music, Nicholas Brothers, R&B.add a comment
Somebody involved with Janet Jackson’s 1990 music video Alright had a nice sense of cultural history …
“Jumpin’ Jive” February 5, 2008
Posted by Jeff in 1929 through WWII, Cab Calloway, Dance, Jazz, Movies, Music, Nicholas Brothers, Swing.add a comment
This clip from Stormy Weather (1943) features Calloway and his orchestra, and the amazing Nicholas Brothers (Harold and Fayard).
Bon anniversaire, Stéphane January 26, 2008
Posted by Jeff in Cool, Jazz, Music, Swing.add a comment
Today would have been the one hundredth birthday of the greatest jazz violinist of all time.
Above, from 1991, the eighty-three-year-old Stéphane Grappelli performs “How High The Moon” by Nancy Hamilton and Morgan Lewis, accompanied by McCoy Tyner on piano, Marc Fosset on guitar and Jean-Philip Viret on bass.
“Did you ever meet that funny reefer man …” January 24, 2008
Posted by Jeff in 1929 through WWII, Cab Calloway, Jazz, Movies, Music, Swing.1 comment so far
In this clip from International House (1933), the strangest film W. C. Fields ever made (and that’s saying a lot), Cab Calloway And His Orchestra, featuring the legendary Al Morgan on bass, perform “Reefer Man” on television.
No, I’m not making that up.
And shut up with the reefer jokes.
Technorati tags: Cab Calloway And His Orchestra, Al Morgan, Reefer Man, International House
“Some Skunk Funk” January 20, 2008
Posted by Jeff in Cool, Jazz, Music, R&B.2 comments
The Brecker Brothers …
“Jasper In A Jam” January 15, 2008
Posted by Jeff in 1946 through 1960, Cartoons, Jazz, Movies, Music, Peggy Lee, Puppetoons, Swing, Zook.3 comments
From 1946, a George Pal Puppetoon featuring Charlie Barnet and Peggy Lee, and designed by Reg Massie.
“Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You” January 11, 2008
Posted by Jeff in Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz, Music.add a comment
From 1974, Ella Fitzgerald and my favorite of her many accompanists, the guitarist Joe Pass. The song, by Andy Razaf and Don Redman, is featured on Take Love Easy, the first of four albums they recorded together.
Technorati tags: Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Pass, Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You, Andy Razaf, Don Redman
Oscar Peterson, 1925-2007 December 26, 2007
Posted by Jeff in 1946 through 1960, Cartoons, Cool, Ella Fitzgerald, In memoriam, Jazz, John Hubley, Movies, Music.add a comment
Ella sings “Them There Eyes” December 19, 2007
Posted by Jeff in Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz, Music, Swing.add a comment
Anita O’Day December 11, 2007
Posted by Jeff in Cool, Jazz, Music, Swing.add a comment
Tastes change. I remember my Dad playing Anita O’Day for me when I was in my ‘twenties and on a Billie Holiday kick, and I just didn’t get it. Now I do.
These clips are from documentaries on O’Day’s life, and although there’s relatively little music it tells more of her astounding life than paragraphs of purple prose could accomplish.
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