• 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

Bernard Berkhout

Top Swing Albums of 2011: Doctor Bernard and His Swing Orchestra “Let’s Dance”

23.12.2011 by Chris

Best of 2011: Let's Dance by Doctor Bernard and His Swing Orchestra | Shuffle ProjectsMusical Hero Benny Goodman

One of my favourite contemporary swing musicians, a fabulous clarinetist from the Netherlands, is Bernard Berkhout.

Bernard used to play with small groups, but after reading the book “Swingin' the Dream: Big Band Jazz and the Rebirth of American Culture” by Lewis A. Erenberg [Amazon.de | Amazon.com], he realized the historical importance of his musical hero Benny Goodman and he was so inspired, that he started his own big band.

That was in 2008.

The big band album was in the air since more than a year, but we had to be patient, until it was finally released in July 2011. It was well worth the wait!

Fresh Sound

I have to confess, I'm not a huge fan of contemporary big bands. In my opinion, most of them are boring, uninspired, too clean and I often miss a certain amount of “dirt” in the music, if you know what I mean.

But here we have something completely different.

From the very first tone, I was impressed by the sound. The orchestra plays with such a fresh and relaxed but hard swinging drive, there is so much joy in the music, that you can't sit still!

And Bernard himself is proving again, that he is THE master on clarinet. His solos are top notch! I have no idea how one can play an instrument with such a virtuosity :).

Not to forget to mention all the other musicians who have done an incredible great job.

Music For Dancers

No wonder! The local Lindy Hop community in the Netherlands was involved from the beginning of the project. As Bernard writes in the 24-page (!) booklet coming with the CD, two of the Lindy Hoppers stand out:

“Dancer and swing DJ Robert Cullen became my sounding board, my musical conscience and co-producer. Dancer and clarinetist Frans van Dommelen was extremely generous in approaching his many contacts in the world of dance, and he was ever-present and supportive no matter how far away from home we performed or rehearsed. Both of them participated in long discussions about repertoire, length and tempos.”

The result is an album for dancers.

The music is based entirely on the ideas and arrangements of Benny Goodman. The length of the songs is in the range between 3:00 and 4:49 minutes. As usual for this kind of CDs, the bpm are listed: the tempos vary between 114 and 232 bpm. There are songs for any dance level!

Track List

  1. Roll ‘Em – 192 bpm – 3:48
  2. Minnie The Moochers Wedding Day – 200 bpm – 3:51
  3. Jersey Bounce – 126 bpm – 3:26
  4. St. Louis Blues – 130 bpm – 4:10
  5. He Ain’t Got Rhythm – 166 bpm – 4:49
  6. I Would Do Most Anything For You – 192 bpm – 3:27
  7. House Hop – 216 bpm – 3:44
  8. Swingtime In The Rockies – 230 bpm – 3:01
  9. Estrelita – 132 bpm – 3:30
  10. Sing Me A Swing Song (And Let Me Dance) – 180 bpm – 3:08
  11. Down South Camp Meeting – 216 bpm – 4:15
  12. Happy As The Day Is Long – 232 bpm – 3:54
  13. You Turned The Tables On Me – 114 bpm – 3:00
  14. Let’s Dance – 220 bpm – 3:31

Numbers 5, 10, 12 and 13 feature singer Leah Kline (awesome voice!), the rest are instrumental numbers.

Highly Recommended

This album is by far the best contemporary big band recording I've ever heard! There are always downsides, but honestly, I can't find one.

I highly recommend “Let's Dance” and I'm convinced we will hear songs from the recording very often on the dance floor.

Buy “Let's Dance”!

Digital Download
Amazon

Sources:

  • Hey Mister Jesse Podcast #67 – July 2011: Interview with Bernard Berkhout and Robert Cullen about the creation process and production of the recording.
  • “Recording technique recommended for a new big band album” Thread on swingdjs.com where Robert Cullen was researching which recording technique would be preferred by Swing DJs (try with a search, original link doesn't exist anymore)
  • Bernard Berkhout's Website

Check out another Top Swing Album of 2011:

  • Solomon Douglas Swingtet “Ain't No School Like The Old School”

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: Benny Goodman, Bernard Berkhout, Big Band, Doctor Bernard and His Swing Orchestra, Lindy Hop, Swing

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #57: Duke & Dukie

04.04.2011 by Chris

I'm at The Experiment right now and I have a full week of intense balboa dancing in front of me. That's reason enough to dedicate this song of the week to this dance I adore.

Recently I realised that I haven't featured a gypsy jazz tune so far, so here it is – by one of the best combos nowadays: The Rosenberg Trio.

The Rosenberg Trio is a family affair and consists of three cousins: Nonnie at double-bass, Nous'che at rhythm guitar and Stochelo at lead guitar.

None of these guys know how to read and write music, they just learned it as children by ear and played the same tunes again and again and again.

Violinist Stéphane Grappelli (who used to play with Django Reinhardt) was so amazed by the trio that he invited them immediately to play with him after hearing and seeing them the first time.

The rest is history, he took them worldwide, across Europe and to celebrate his 85th birthday New York's Carnegie Hall.

For the album “Roots” the Rosenberg Trio invited the dutch clarinetist Bernard Berkhout to play along on some tunes. Duke & Dukie is my favourite track from that album.

Listen to this pumping rhythm, created only by two musicians, it is amazing.

Both soloists, Stochelo at guitar and Bernard at clarinet play their instrument with so much feeling and rich in variations. I love this song and spin it therefore quite often!

The Rosenberg Trio - Duke and Dukie

Title: Duke & Dukie
Artist: The Rosenberg Trio with Bernard Berkhout
Released: 2007
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 #56: “C Jam Blues” by Barney Bigard
  • Song of the Week #55: “Romeo verliert Bluat” by Wolfgang Ambros
  • Song of the Week #54: “Summertime” by Angela Scappatura

Filed Under: Music, Song of the Week Tagged With: Balboa, Bernard Berkhout, DJ Chrisbe, Gypsy Jazz, Rosenberg Trio

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