If that opening piano section doesn't make you want to dance I'm not sure that you have a heart. And if the following section doesn't get you moving I'm also curious about the existence of your soul.
The more I listen to Sydney Bechet the more I begin to understand his genius and the talent of his musicians.
This song along with other dance hall favorites like "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" and "Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho" seems to stand right on that dividing line between Hot Jazz and Swing. The songs swing, for sure, but the instrumentation feels more like Hot Jazz with a melody and counter-melody dancing around each other. It makes for a playful combination of two instruments that you don't get in much swing music with larger bands and written instrumentation.
"All Of Me" makes me want to dance slowly, smoothly, expressively. Those of you who know me know that I enjoy fast Lindy Hop and Balboa and usually pass on the late night Blues events, but if those same late night blues events played more Jazz like this and less of what they normally do, I'd be much more willing to stay out late.
Let's bring back the "Slow Jam" and request a song like this again soon, circle up, and take turns killing it, slowly, smoothly, expressively.
Aww yeah.
That's my Jam!
Youtube's of the other songs mentioned:
This week we had fun with pop turns and inserted one into the middle of a swingout on the 5 and 6!
Come join us every Sunday at 6pm at the Zendah Grotto for more lessons!
Visit www.swingang.com for more info.
That's My Jam!
When two guys as brilliant as Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman put their heads together, you get songs like "Down South Camp Meeting."
You might be more familiar with Benny Goodman. He was, after all, the King of Swing and helped to bring Swing Jazz into public acceptance. This was the 1930's and conservative whites were not comfortable with their children listening and dancing to what they considered to be "colored people's" music. Benny Goodman began a trend that happened again and again in every generation of the 20th century - he was the white guy playing the black people's music who helped bridge the gap. Some would consider him the Elvis of his time.
What you might not know is that the musical genius behind the scenes who composed much of Goodman's music was a man named Fletcher Henderson who did not happen to be white. Together Henderson and Goodman would influence the entire progression of popular music.
If you pull up my Great Lindy Hop and Balboa Playlist on Spotify and sort by artist you'll see a whole bunch of songs by Benny Goodman. "Down South Camp Meeting" stands out to me because of just how dance-able it is.
First, it swings. It swings hard. The syncopations fall right into the pocket. It's one of those songs that just feels right. It feels comfortable. It rises and falls. It grows and shrinks. The themes repeat, but with enough variety that they are playful and familiar, not annoying or dull. It's a tune that makes you want to move your feet.
If you're interested in learning more about Henderson and Goodman I'd recommend checking out Ken Burn's documentary "Jazz" which is on Netflix currently, or the BBC documentary "The Swing Thing" which I've posted below. Both touch on this topic among a host of other awesome stories about swing.
