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 #123: Russian Rag

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #123: Russian Rag by Tuba Skinny

Tuba Skinny from New Orleans are very productive, at least recording wise. Every year since 2009, they are releasing a new album. After “Tubaskinny” in 2009, “Six Feet Down” in 2010 and “Garbage Man” in 2011, Tuba Skinny just recently released their brand new album “Rag Band”. We don’t learn that much about the fourth album Our newest album “Rag Band” is done! After many many months of recording and re-recording, we are happy to say our new album “Rag Band” is finally complete. Thanks for your patience! The short statement on Tuba Skinny’s website. They recorded the album in October 2011 [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #59: Four Or Five Times

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Joe Williams Four Or Five Times

Another all-time favourite song of mine is Four Or Five Times and there are many versions out there to dig for. Here is a nice version by the great jazz vocalist Joe Williams. Joe Williams (12.12.1918-29.03.1999) was born as Joseph Goreed and came as a child to Chicago where he got in contact with  the thriving music scene of the 1920s. During his mid-teens he started performing as a vocalist. In 1938 he was invited by Jimmie Noone to sing with his band. Shortly later, he started touring with different bands. In 1942, he was hired by Lionel Hampton. They [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #56: C Jam Blues

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #56: C Jam Blues by Barney Bigard

C Jam Blues is another jazz standard every swing dancers should know. For this series I have chosen the very first recording from 1941. The tune with the former title “C Blues” was recorded by a small group out of Duke Ellington‘s orchestra and was released under the name of Barney Bigard & His Orchestra. In the following year, Duke Ellington recorded “C Jam Blues” with his big band for RCA Victor Records. As jazzstandards.com states, clarinetist Barney Bigard is likely the originator of the tune, but Duke Ellington was the one who arranged it for the big band. In [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #54: Summertime

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Angela Scappatura - A Little Bit Of Sugar

Sometimes I dig into the catalogues of different music services and search for interpretations of certain songs such as Summertime. A while ago I found a version by a Canadian jazz and blues artist who also is a multimedia journalist, writer and photographer: her name is Angela Scappatura. This song was released on her debut album in 2007 and it seems that she has not released another album in the meantime. Usually, Summertime is played in a slower tempo. Here we have a medium-tempo version with a “boom-cha” rhythm and the guitar as the main solo instrument. Angela’s soulful voice rounds [...]

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Samstag-Workshop 12.03.2011: Musikgeschichte Jazz/Swing

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Davenport Blues. Photo by Confetta

Anlässlich der Wochenend-Specials @ Downtownswing unterrichte ich am 12. März 2011 den Workshop Musikgeschichte Jazz/Swing Als Swing DJ Chrisbe habe ich mir in den letzten Jahren ein umfangreiches Wissen über die Musik der 20er bis 40er Jahre angeeignet. In diesem Workshop erhalten die TeilnehmerInnen einen Einblick in die verschiedenen Musikstile dieser Epoche, wie sie entstanden sind und welches deren Hauptvertreter waren. Mit Filmbeiträgen und vielen Hörbeispielen. Zeit: 13.30 – 15.00h Teil 1: Jazz, wie alles begann 15.30 – 17.00h Teil 2: Swing und seine Exponenten Level: alle Levels Kosten: Einzelner Teil: CHF 30 (25 mit Legi) Beide Teile: CHF 55 [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #50: My Blue Heaven

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Cangelosi Cards Clinton Street Recordings | Shuffle Projects

Last week I’ve featured a song by Gordon Webster‘s own band. This week’s song is by an another contemporary band Gordon is playing with: The Cangelosi Cards. The Cangelosi Cards, established and based in New York City, started in 2006 playing at small clubs and restaurants. Quickly, the were building a vast repertoire of early American jazz and attracting both local swing dancers and old-time jazz lovers. Beside the weekly engagements the are performing at larger events as Swing Out New Hampshire, Frankie 95 or the Herrang Dance Camp, only to name a few. In 2009 in Herrang was the [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #46: Lindy Hopper’s Delight

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Chick Webb Strictly Jive

What shall I say, this is a song every Swing dancer should know. I think it’s not wrong to say that the song is overused for performances and probably also overplayed on the dance floor. However, it’s a great tune! When this song was recorded, Chick Webb has already died – a few months before, at the age of only 34 – and Ella Fitzgerald led the orchestra. Title: Lindyhopper’s Delight Artist: Chick Webb Orchestra Recorded: October 12, 1939 Album: Strictly Jive Tempo: 196 bpm Dance: Lindy Hop, Balboa Click the link to prelisten and download the song (mp3/mp4a) at [...]

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