Shuffle Projects

Swinging Projects for Lindy Hop & Balboa Dancers

Jazz

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #33: Chimes Blues

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While teaching a workshop about jazz and swing music history, I had the idea to post from time to time a song which had a great impact to (early) jazz music.

On August 8, 1922, Louis Armstrong moved from New Orleans to Chicago to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.

At the Lincoln Gardens, they developed their cornet duet style («breaks»): Armstrong played a second cornet line while Oliver was playing the first cornet.

With Armstrong as a member, the already popular band took Chicago by storm.

On April 5, 1923, Oliver and Armstrong travelled by train from Chicago to Richmond Indiana to make their first recordings at Gennett Records.

One title they recorded was Chimes Blues and this recording is a milestone in history. Armstrong improvised with such a great intensity nobody had ever heard before.

Title: Chimes Blues
Artist: King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
Recorded: 6.4.1923
Tempo: 161 bpm
Genre: Early Jazz

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.

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #32: It’s De-Lovely

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Yesterday evening, I was watching «De-Lovely: The Cole Porter Story» – a nice movie by the way – which forced me to dig into my music library to look for the song «It's De-Lovely«.

I have found a beautyful version by the Boilermaker Jazz Band featuring female singer Jennie Luvv.

Paul Cosentino on clarinet and vocals founded the Boilermaker Jazz Band back in 1988 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Paul plays an antique Albert system clarinet giving him a wonderfully distinctive sound.

The band is highly acclaimed performing authentic hot jazz and swing and especially loved by the Swing dance crowd all over the world!

Boilermaker Jazz Band Give Me Your Telephone Number

Title: It's De-Lovely
Artist: The Boilermaker Jazz Band
Released: 2004
Tempo: 156 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop


Movie «De-Lovely: The Cole Porter Story»

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.

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #31: At A Dixie Roadside Diner

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The voice of Ellington

Ivie Anderson (1905-1949) is thought to be the best singer Duke Ellington ever had.

From early on she worked at the Cotton Club, in 1930 she found work with Earl Hines.

Duke Ellington heard her the first time while appearing with Hines and hired her in 1931. She stayed for eleven years, before she had to retire due to chronic asthma.

She sang in some of the band's most memorable tunes of the era: »I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good,» »It Don't Mean a Thing,» »Stormy Weather,» and »Rose of the Rio Grande.»

She was also featured in the 1939 Marx Brothers‘ film A Day at the Races, singing »All God's Chillun‘ Got Rhythm.»

After retiring, she ran her own restaurant «Ivie's Chicken Shack» in Los Angeles and continued singing in nightclubs on the West Coast, but her health condition limited her engagements and led to her early death in 1949.

At A Dixie Roadside Diner is a lightly swinging tune with some latin rhythm breaks in it. Ivie sings with a lot of vibrato. The tempo is medium and also great for Balboa dancing. I love this song!

Ivie & Duke - All God's Chillun...

Title: At A Dixie Roadside Diner
Artist: Ivie Anderson w/ Duke Ellington
Recorded: 1940
Tempo: 164 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop, 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.

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #30: Love Me Or Leave Me

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«Jennie Löbel & Swing Kings are a real swing band, playing mainly American swing from the 40s, with occasional visits to other jazz eras.

Jennie sings some  standards but is mostly known for picking up unusual songs from the repertoires of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Bessie Smith.»

That's how they describe themselves on their website. Further:

«Jennie Löbel has picked up an almost fogotten singing tradition when it comes to both repertoire and style.

She was awarded the Louis Armstrong scholarship of 1998 given each year by the association «Friends of Traditional jazz in Stockholm» at Mosebacke.[…]

The comment was:
Jennie Löbel is a singer with a jazz voice, phrasing and feeling beyond today’s marketed young colleagues. Without plagiarism and manners but with honesty and dignity she makes even Billie Holiday smile in her heaven.»

The band was formed 1995 in Stockholm Sweden, they released their first album in 1998. The second one «He Ain't Got Rhythm«, from which I've taken our «Song of the Week», followed in 2001.

Quickly they became very popular in the Swing dance scene.

Love Me Or Leave Me starts very minimalistic: double bass, Jennie's wonderful voice and a little bit of piano until the rest of the band get in at 0:30. A beautifully interpreted standard in a comfortable tempo!

After I'd decided to promote this song, I realised, that you can listen and download the song for free on their website! (see the link below).

Jennie Löbel & Swing Kings He Ain't Got Rhythm

Title: Love Me Or Leave Me
Artist: Jennie Löbel & Swing Kings
Released: 2001
Tempo: 128 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop

Click the link to download the song from: Jennie's website

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.

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #29: When I Take My Sugar To Tea

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Now, this week's song by the Boswell Sisters is a challenge!

The experts are generally agreed, this was the most talented and one of the all-time greatest jazz vocal groups ever.

The Boswell Sisters, Martha, Helvetia «Vet» and Connee, began their career in the vaudeville houses of New Orleans.

Gifted musicians as well as singers, the sisters started to work at a local radio station by 1925.

At first, they only played classical and semi-classical instrumentals. Their career took off when the station began featuring them as singers.

The sisters‘ harmonic vocals, dotted with scatting and numerous tempo and key changes, quickly made them popular in New Orleans and beyond.

Between 1930 and 1936 they were the hottest vocal group in the country. They appeared in several movies and were regulars on Bing Crosby's radio program.

Many of their hit recordings were made with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. In 1936, Vet and Martha retired from show business, while Connee continued her solo career.

Why is this song a challenge? Well, it's one for dancers. The song starts with a mellow feeling, swinging softly, when the tempo doubles at 1:50. Lindy Hop AND Balboa in one song is required, how great is that!?

Title: When I Take My Sugar To Tea
Artist: The Boswell Sisters w/ Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
Recorded: 1931
Tempo: 122/244 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop, 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: