movies/part 2
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Stormy Weather (1943)
Cab Calloway and His Orchestra; Nicholas Brothers, dancers; “Jumpin’ Jive”
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lagniappe
Fred Astaire told the [Nicholas] brothers that the “Jumpin’ Jive” number in Stormy Weather was the greatest number he had ever seen on film. He would have been more impressed had he known that the choreography was filmed all in one take.
—Constance Valis Hill, Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History (2010)
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Want more tap-dancing?
movies/part 1
I feel a rhythmic brainstorm comin’ on . . .
—Slim Gaillard
Hellzapoppin’ (1941)
Slim Gaillard, piano, guitar; Slam Stewart, bass; Rex Stewart, drums; Elmer Fane, clarinet; Jap Jones, trombone; C.P. Johnston, drums; Harlem Congeroos, dancers
music to levitate by
Dizzy Gillespie & Louis Armstrong, “Umbrella Man,” live (TV broadcast), 1959
Chicago, Texas, Louisiana, West Coast—blues comes in lots of different shades.
Freddie King, with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown; live (TV broadcast [The !!!! Beat]), 1966
Part 1
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Part 2 (“Funnybone”)
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Part 3 (“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”)
replay: a clip too good for just one day
The world became a less interesting place the day Lester Bowie died.
Digable Planets (with Lester Bowie [trumpet], Joe Sample [keyboard], Melvin “Wah-Wah Watson” Ragin [guitar]), “Flying High in the Brooklyn Sky,” live
Want to hear more of Lester? Here.
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lagniappe
Part of the job of a musician is that of a messenger. If you ain’t ready to be a messenger, forget it. You need to get a job in the post office or somewhere. If you ain’t ready to travel, pack up your family, or pack up yourself and hit the road, you’re in the wrong business. Because that’s what music is about. It’s about spreading knowledge and education, and re-education. It’s about spreading. You have got to travel with it to spread the word. Like all the people in the past that have had to travel to spread the music.
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It’s life itself that this [music] is about.
—Lester Bowie (in George E. Lewis, A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music [2008])
(Originally posted 10/28/09.)
Is the greatest electric guitar player of all time a guy who died in 1942?
Charlie Christian, July 29, 1916-March 2, 1942
“Waiting for Benny” (1941 [recorded at a Benny Goodman session, while the engineers were testing the equipment])
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Live, New York (Minton’s), 1941
“Swing To Bop”
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“Stompin’ at the Savoy”
lagniappe
TV news piece, Oklahoma City, 2007 (following CC’s induction into the Jazz Hall of Fame)
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2010/part 2
Scene 1: Parade of the New Orleans Social Aid and Pleasure Club
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Scene 2: Chouval Bwa
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Scene 3: Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, “Backatown” (record-store performance)
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Scene 4: Pinettes Brass Band (outside another record store)
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lagniappe
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2010/part 1
Scene 1: Sousaphone Parade
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Scene 2: Brian Blade & The Fellowship
Want more Brian Blade? Here.
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Scene 3: Mardi Gras Indians (Members of the Golden Star Hunters, Carrolton Hunters, et al.), Backstage
Want more Mardi Gras Indians? Here.
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lagniappe
Me and a million other dudes said ‘later’ to picking cotton.—Wilson Pickett (in Gerri Hershey, Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music [1994])
Wilson Pickett, live, Germany, 1968
“Stagger Lee”
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“Funky Broadway”
Want more? Here.
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lagniappe
listening room
The UPS guy left a tiny box yesterday—the new albums by Roky Erickson and Gil Scott-Heron. Who’s next? Sly Stone?
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The Bobby Dylan clip was very nice and linked to Manfred Mann—sweet. Thanks.
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Thanks, Richard! Emails like yours are the main reason I have some energy every week to sit down and grind through another show. Many thanks.
—Kevin [Nutt, host of Sinner’s Crossroads on WFMU-FM, responding to an email notifying him of this mention]
Happy (111th) Birthday, Duke!
At least one day out of the year all musicans should just put their instruments down, and give thanks to Duke Ellington.
—Miles Davis
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
“C Jam Blues,” 1942
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“Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” 1943
lagniappe
It is becoming increasingly difficult to decide where jazz starts or where it stops, where Tin Pan Alley begins and jazz ends, or even where the borderline lies between between classical music and jazz. I feel there is no boundary line.
—Duke Ellington
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Radio Ellington: All Duke, All Day
WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
music clip of the day 