DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #128: Me, Myself And I

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Billie Holiday Me Myself And I

Eleanora Harris*, better known as Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend saxophonist Lester Young, changed the art of American pop vocals forever, as John Bush writes on allmusic.com. Before her, jazz and pop singers were tied to the Tin Pan Alley tradition and rarely personalized their songs. *Before she switched to the stage name Billie Holiday, she called herself Eleanora Fagan, which was her maternal grandfather’s last name and was also used by her mother. Billie Holiday Mini Biography Note: This is a flash movie and therefore not visible on IOS devices. [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #126: I Want A Little Girl

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #126: I Want A Little Girl by Jimmy Rushing

There are two male blues & jazz singers I really adore. One is Joe Williams and the other one is Jimmy Rushing. Jimmy, born as James Andrew, Rushing (Aug. 26, 1901 – June 8, 1972) was known as “Mr. Five by Five” due his corpulent shape. He was famous for his blues interpretations but actually, he could sing almost anything. Rushing played violin and piano in his youth and studied music in high school. By the time he was 18, he began working professionally as a singer. From 1923-1924, he was singing in California (with Jelly Roll Morton amongst others). [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #115: Five O’Clock Blues

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #115: Five O'Clock Blues by Jimmy Yancey

This week’s song is neither a big band nor a small group recording, it’s performed by only one instrument, the piano. James Edwards “Jimmy” Yancey (Feb. 20, 1894 – Sept. 17, 1951) was an afro-american pianist, singer and dancer. He is considered the pioneer of Boogie Woogie piano. Boogie Woogie was a typical element of uptempo Blues and early Rock ‘n’ Roll. In the late 1930s, Boogie Woogie boomed but Yancey had started playing it already after 1915. Interestingly, Yancey didn’t begin recording before 1939. Chris Kelsey on allmusic writes about his style: “Yancey was not as technically flashy as some of [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #107: The Spinach Song

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Julia Lee The Spinach Song

American (dirty) blues singer and pianist Julia Lee (Oct. 31, 1902 – Dec. 8, 1958) was best known for her double entendre songs, ”the songs my mother taught me not to sing,” as she stated herself. She began to record for Capitol in 1944. Along with local players from Kansas City, she played on some sessions with Jay McShann, Vic Dickenson, Benny Carter, Red Norvo and Red Nichols. In 1949, she landed a major hit with a song about vegetables – at first sight…! I Didn’t Like It the First Time (The Spinach Song) Now, let’s have a look at the lyrics: [...]

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Top Swing Albums of 2011: Solomon Douglas Swingtet “Ain’t No School Like The Old School”

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Best of 2011: Ain't No School Like The Old School by Solomon Douglas Swingtet | Shuffle Projects

This is my second post of the super short series “My 2 Top Swing Albums released in 2011“. If you missed the first one, then you can read here part 1. Third Album After “Swingmatism” (2006) and “Live at the Legion” (2009), The Solomon Douglas Swingtet released their third Album “Ain’t No School Like The Old School” in April 2011. This studio album was recorded at the end of a three-week tour of the eastern states and provinces (in the US), having played 16 gigs in 20 days. Led By A Swing Dancer and DJ The ten-piece band is led [...]

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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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STIR IT! 11 Lindy and More – Registration is open

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Stir It! 2011 Lindy and More Workshop

Welcome to STIR IT! 11 International Swing Workshop & Party Weekend 4.- 6. November 2011 in Zürich, Switzerland Style your lindy, groove your connection, jazz your spirit! 3 days of workshops and parties with live music. Pre party on Thursday, 3. November 2011 Lindy Hop, Blues and Jazz classes, special track, taster classes, crash courses, live music in classes, … 5 Lindy Hop levels including “Advanced-Plus” (Master class) and new in 2011: Authentic Jazz track Top teachers line-up: Steven Mitchell (USA) Mike Faltesek (USA) & Carla Heiney (USA) Mike Roberts (USA) & Laura Glaess (USA) Olivier Wan Chort (FR) & [...]

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Lindy Hop & Balboa Scenes In Switzerland – Where To Dance

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CH Flagge

I often get asked by visiting swing dancers where to dance in Switzerland. So I thought, I write this short post to give you an overview, where you can dance Lindy Hop, Balboa and Blues in our country and what the groups in the different cities are which organise classes and events. A side note: The Swiss swing dance scene is probably one of the oldest in Europe. Swiss dancers were the first foreign visitors in Herrang at the end of the 1980s. Main swing dance calender for Switzerland Lindy Hop, Balboa, Charleston, Traditional Jazz and Blues lindyhop.ch Swing scenes [...]

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