• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Shuffle Projects

Swinging Projects for Lindy Hop & Balboa Dancers

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • DJ CHRiSBE
    • Song of the Week
  • RESOURCES
  • CONTACT

Barney Bigard

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #104: C Jam Blues

27.02.2012 by Chris

The jazz standard C Jam Blues, originated by clarinetist Barney Bigard and arranged by Duke Ellington (see Song of the Week #56) is a popular tune among jazz musicians and there are hundreds of different recorded versions available.

This week's song is a live version by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with artistic director Winton Marsalis, an outstanding and highly reputable jazz musician.

Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra

Photo: Clay Patrick McBride

The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is a key component of New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center program, serving as the highly versatile house band for a wide variety of concert events.

It maintains a heavy touring schedule, devoting around six months annually to appearances around the U.S. and at prominent international venues.

The 15-piece orchestra was founded in 1988. In 1991, trumpeter Winton Marsalis was hired as artistic director.

Under his lead, they are paying particular attention to the Duke Ellington oeuvre. The group's first recording – made under David Berger's direction – was 1992's [easyazon-link asin=”B0000028UP” locale=”us”]Portraits By Ellington[/easyazon-link].

In the late 1990s, the group began to appear more frequently on record as Marsalis began using them for ambitiously expansive projects such as 1997's [easyazon-link asin=”B0000029W7″ locale=”us”]Jump Start and Jazz[/easyazon-link] and the Pulitzer Prize-winning [easyazon-link asin=”B0000029GF” locale=”us”]Blood On The Fields[/easyazon-link], and 1999's [easyazon-link asin=”B00000JT3G” locale=”us”]Sweet Release & Ghost Story[/easyazon-link] and [easyazon-link asin=”B0012GN1CK” locale=”us”]Big Train[/easyazon-link].

Also in 1999, the LJCO released another Ellington-oriented album, [easyazon-link asin=”B00138HB9G” locale=”us”]Live In Swing City – Swingin' With Duke[/easyazon-link], where our song of the week is taken from.

The orchestra is recording both as their own entity and as a backing group for Wynton Marsalis.

Source: allmusic.com

C Jam Blues (Live)

I love this version! It's happy, light and playful with many breaks, in a very comfortable tempo. The song is also great for teaching musicality classes and you can use it even for balboa beginner classes. A must-have!


[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”B001UKKJTG” locale=”de” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LmQs61FGL._SL160_.jpg” width=”160″]Title: [easyazon-link asin=”B001UKB3FU” locale=”de”]C Jam Blues (Live)[/easyazon-link]
Artist: Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
Recorded: 1999
Album: [easyazon-link asin=”B00000ICNS” locale=”de”]Live In Swing City – Swingin' With Duke[/easyazon-link]
Tempo: 144 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop



Click the link to download the song at
iTunes CH/EU
– iTunes US – [easyazon-link asin=”B001UKB3FU” locale=”de”]A'zon.de[/easyazon-link] – [easyazon-link asin=”B00138ANNM” locale=”us”]A'zon.com[/easyazon-link] – A'zon.co.uk – eMusic


What is your favorite version of C Jam Blues? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Every Monday, I post a new “Song of the Week“.
You can find the songs also on my Spotify playlist or on 8tracks.

Related Songs:

Song of the Week #56: “C Jam Blues” by Barney Bigard
Song of the Week #103: “When I Grow Too Old To Dream” by Arnett Cobb
Song of the Week #102: “Rosetta” by Al Casey
Song of the Week #101: “Gift For The Club” by Buck Clayton
Song of the Week #100: “Livery Stable Blues” by Original Dixieland Jass Band

Filed Under: Music, Song of the Week Tagged With: Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Lindy Hop, Winton Marsalis

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

28.03.2011 by Chris

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 the late 1950s, some words were added (“Baby, take me down to Duke’s Place”…) and the song got the name “Duke's Place“

C Jam Blues

The title says it all. C Jam Blues is a blues with the twelve-bar form in the key of C major. The band soloists usually jam around this structure.

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

Title: ‘C' Blues (C Jam Blues)
Artist: Barney Bigard & His Orchestra
Released: 1941
Tempo: 198 bpm
Dance: Balboa

Click the link to download the song from: Amazon ・ iTunes

You can find the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw

Do you like the “Song of the Week” series? Share your thoughts below.

Now Check Out:

  • Song of the Week #55: “Romeo verliert Bluat” by Wolfgang Ambros
  • Song of the Week #54: “Summertime” by Angela Scappatura
  • Song of the Week #53: “Comes Love” by Meschiya Lake And The Little Big Horns

Filed Under: Music, Song of the Week Tagged With: Balboa, Barney Bigard, DJ Chrisbe, Duke Ellington, Jazz

Primary Sidebar

Welcome, I'm Christian Bossert. Since 1999, I‘ve been passionate about Swing dances as well as their culture and history. I‘m a Swing dance instructor and international Swing DJ Chrisbe, based in Zurich Switzerland. Read More…

Recent Posts

  • Alphabetical Jazz Steps – Edition 3 (2017) with Chester Whitmore
  • Marcia & Chris unterrichten bei Dance2bee in CH-Muhen, 10.-13.07.2017
  • WhatStep – Your Dance Move Assistant App: The Story
  • Februar-Aktion: 15% auf iTunes Geschenkkarten
  • Marcia & Chris are teaching Balboa in D-Dortmund, 27.-29.11.2015

Most Popular Posts

  • 33 Tips & Actions How To Become A Better Swing Dancer
  • Swing Summer in Europe: Studio Hop Summer Camp in Eauze France
  • Competing at ABW and ESDC
  • Dance Teaching Idea: Ask & Tell
  • A Day At The Balboa Experiment
  • Frankie Manning: Never Stop Swinging (Documentary)
  • 14 Tips To Become A (Better) Swing DJ

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in