Jazz

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #22: Six Feet Down

02.08.2010 by Chris

Everybody who has been to Herrang last week, got the opportunity to be part of an amazing evening of live music in the fully packed Folket Hus.

Tuba Skinny from New Orleans were in the house and rocked the place like hell, their highly energetic performance was a blast! I have never seen that before in Herrang: there were almost more people listening than dancing!!

Who is Tuba Skinny? Their own description from the website:

Tuba Skinny is a band that takes its listeners back in time to the traditional dixieland jazz and old blues music of the nineteen twenties and thirties. The members have been playing together since meeting on the streets of New Orleans five years ago, & officially begat Tuba Skinny during the spring of 2009.

Our song of the week is Six Feet Down from their second album, released in February 2010. A pretty fast song in the New Orleans tradition with a wonderful washboard solo.

Line-Up: Erika Lewis – Vocals, Todd – Tuba, Kiowa – Guitar, Shaye Cohn – Trumpet, Barnabus – Trombone, Alynda Lee – Banjo, Robin – Washboard.

Title: Six Feet Down
Artist: Tuba Skinny
Released: 14.02.2010
Tempo: 240 bpm
Dance: Balboa, Lindy Hop

Click the link to download the song from: Bandcamp

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:

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #21: Linger Awhile

26.07.2010 by Chris

Another Sidney wrote music history: Big Sid Catlett (17.01.1910-25.03.1951). Catlett grew up in Chicago where he learned piano and drums.

1930 he moved to New York and became one of the most flexible drummers of the jazz history. He knew to play the old-fashioned styles, swing and the early bop styles.

He was working and recording with a lot of the greats of that time: Benny Carter, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, to name a few.

Louis Armstrong hired him for his big band where he was featured from 1938-1942. He also played with Benny Goodman and shortly joined Duke Ellington. Throughout the 1940s, Big Sid Catlett led his own bands.

From this period I've chosen the song Linger Awhile because of the powerful swinging rhythm section: Catlett on drums and John Simmons at bass, who's hollow, muffled sound is fantastic.

They alternate with playing short solos before Ben Webster starts to play after 95 seconds!

Line-Up: Ben Webster (tenor sax), Marllowe Morris (piano), John Simmons (bass), Big Sid Catlett (drums)

Title: Linger Awhile
Artist: Big Sid Catlett Quartet feat. Ben Webster
Recorded: 1944
Tempo: 168 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop

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:

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #20: Fenwyck’s Farfel

19.07.2010 by Chris

Wow, this is already the twentieth song, I'm a little bit surprised myself 😉
Ok, let's look at this week's tune, it's called Fenwyck's Farfel, what a strange title!

The widely acclaimed Jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (17.7.1928-6.2.1976), especially known as the composer of songs from the Charlie Brown television cartoon, composed this song and recorded it 1956 in San Francisco. It was the first full session led by himself.

Fenwyck's Farfel is a warm, lightly swinging tune based on a minor blues. The harmonical interaction between Guaraldi's piano and Duran's guitar is simply beautiful.

It's quite slow but I wanna dance immediately when I hear this song. It would be great to see a choreography to this song one day!

Line-Up: Vince Guaraldi (piano), Eddie Duran (guitar), Dean Reilly (bass)

Title: Fenwyck's Farfel
Artist: Vince Guaraldi Trio
Recorded: 1956
Tempo: 134 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop

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:

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #19: One O’Clock Jump

12.07.2010 by Chris

As I promised last week, I'll show you my current favourite version of One O'Clock Jump, it's by the Ernst Höllerhagen Quartett, recorded in 1943.

Ernst Höllerhagen (5.10.1912-11.7.1956) was a highly talented German clarinetist and saxophonist.

He played in several dance orchestras and belonged to the Original Teddies (by Teddy Stauffer) in 1939.

When Jazz was prohibited by the Nazis at the beginning of the Second World War he left Germany and went into exile in Switzerland.

In Switzerland he led his own band for a while, with the rhythm section of the former Teddy Stauffer Orchestra.

Line-Up: Ernst Höllerhagen (cl), Buddy Bertinat (p), Gene Favre (b), Polly Guggisberg (d)

Title: One O'Clock Jump
Artist: Ernst Höllerhagen Quartett
Recorded: 1943
Tempo: 172 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:

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #18: One O’Clock Jump

05.07.2010 by Chris

Next week, I would like to show you one of my favorite versions of One O'Clock Jump. Before that, our song of the week is the original version.

One O'Clock Jump is THE song by the Count Basie Orchestra.

Basie composed the tune, Eddie Durham and Buster Smith did the arrangement. It was recorded 1937 and became their first big success.

It was so popular that Basie used it as the closing song in almost every concert for more than fifty years!

This classic Swing tune is written in the form of a 12-bar blues. Basically it has a simple structure with a series of three riffs. One saxophone, one trumpet and one trompone riff.

Typical is the tenor battle between Herschel Evans and Lester Young. Evans plays the first solo, Young follows. Afterwards those tenor battles became a long Basie tradition.

Title: One O'Clock Jump
Artist: Count Basie Orchestra
Recorded: July 7, 1937
Tempo: 168 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop

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.