     By Shawn Hanna on Wednesday, April 07, 1999 - 11:49 am: Edit |
Ron - That's what the new music section will include, with lists from: Bill Elliot Erin Stevens Paul Overton The Camaros Indigo Swing George Gee Josie Say Peter Schumerth and many more. I've just lagged in posting it. I'll do it very soon. |
| By Ron Bloom on Wednesday, April 07, 1999 - 10:33 am: Edit |
Suppose you are about to be stranded on a desert- island but you have time to bring your five favorite swing-dance CDs (and an excellent portable sound system. With a generator.) This desert island also comes equipped with an excellent wood dance floor, and lots of lovely natives that want to learn to swing. (OK, not such a desert island..) You might be there for a long time, so must pick your best 5 swing CDs, the ones you can't do without. No one else has swing, so you can't expect a couple of your favorites to be brought by someone else. To make it more interesting, say that you can't bring two of the same artist, and that each one must be a single CD, or if it is a double CD, it counts as two selections. And it must be swing-danceable, not your favorite Jazz CD with 1 swing song. Which would you bring? I'm really interested in what everyone has to say, even those "lurkers" out there who don't normally write anything here. Give it your best response: Your 5 CDs (or albums), and a short quick explanation. |
| By Swiveler on Wednesday, April 07, 1999 - 12:59 pm: Edit |
Hi Ron, BTW, nice to meet you. Why don't you start it off by telling us Your 5 favs! I have to really think about that. There's a few that come to mind right away, but I would also need to really think about what I would not get sick of eventually. Music that is complex and diverse. Ummmmmmmmm I'll get back to you. |
| By Ron Bloom on Wednesday, April 07, 1999 - 01:21 pm: Edit |
My 5 would be: 1. Indigo Swing - All Aboard 2. Mighty Blue Kings - Meet me in Uptown 3. Oscillatin Rhythms - Various big bands 4. Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie - On the Sunny Side of the Street 5. Cab Calloway - Are you Hep to the Jive? I have about 40 swing CDs and a lot only have a few songs I would hate to do without, but the CDs above have the best mix of my must-haves. I had a hard time picking my favorite Ella, the Priceless Jazz collections are also awesome. But Ella/Basie really swings, and it was in the 50's, in her prime. The Oscillatin' Rhythms collection from Capitol is great, very danceable, and recorded in hi-fi. Not the low-fi of the 30's and 40's. All great stuff. I reserve the right to change my mind next month, though... |
| By Ron Bloom on Wednesday, April 07, 1999 - 01:26 pm: Edit |
Shawn- Looking forward to seeing the new music section, but until then, what are your 5 desert-island CDs? |
| By Swiveler on Thursday, April 08, 1999 - 09:42 am: Edit |
Okay, I thought and thought, here's my list: Living Era "Hits of 1946" (compilation) Jumpin Like Mad (counts for two-compilation) Gene Krupa w/ Anita O'Day & Roy Eldridge Tex Williams Greatest hits (Western Swing tough choice between Bob Wills and Big Sandy!) Wow, five is sooooo hard. It think that's it, a lot of variety. BTW, Living Era has a ton of Hits of...'37, '37, '45, '46 etc. A lot of crazy stuff like "Conversation while Dancing," "Let Yourself Go," "When I'm Washing Windows," "One Meatball," I could go on and on, but you've probably not heard a lot of it. |
| By Ron Bloom on Wednesday, April 14, 1999 - 05:33 pm: Edit |
I'm disappointed in you people. You won't list your five faves? come on... |
| By Shawn Hanna on Wednesday, April 14, 1999 - 05:37 pm: Edit |
Ok, here's a few off the top of my head... Maxine Sullivan - Tribute to Andy Razaf Lavay Smith & her Red hot Skillet Lickers Buddy Johnson - Walk Um (?) Ernestine Anderson - Great moments with The slower songs from both Indigo Swing albums and Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums Ok, so I've lagged on the music page...it'll have been worth the wait! |
| By Ron on Wednesday, July 14, 1999 - 10:52 am: Edit |
Its too bad more people didn't contribute to this thread on desert-island CDs. Charlie? Andy? Meeshi? Chris? |
| By HopMichael on Wednesday, July 14, 1999 - 01:32 pm: Edit |
Meeshi, I'd love to see you post some of the CD titles you picked up in Boston and some of the CD's you've been playing at the Marriott. I'd give you my list, Ron, but with my limited swing CD collection, there's barely enough for a "three-hour tour" let alone a desert island. So in case your first mate's name is Gilligan: 1. Indigo Swing - All Aboard! -- wonderful moderate tempos to practice to 2. Count Basie and Joe Williams - Compact Jazz (Verve label) -- great vocals and Basie big band arrangements with mixes of moderate and faster tempos 3. Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - One Hour Mama -- Jump blues with a Billy Holidayesque voice that floats over the beat. And Lavay's so nice in person...sigh. 4. George Gee and the Make-Believe Ballroom Orchestra - Live -- the Count Basie influence is apparent. You've got to see the guy live - he's a dynamo on stage. 5. Any Ella Fitzgerald compilation. Though not all her songs are for swingin', I just love her voice. Best of the Songbooks (Verve) is a great intro. Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald - Compact Jazz (Verve) is another fabulous compilation. |
| By Andy on Wednesday, July 28, 1999 - 12:53 pm: Edit |
Man, I'm havin' so much fun at work today listening to my new CD's. Thanks Ron for tipping me off on some of these! Here's my current fab five: 1) Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis "Live in Swing City: Swingin with the Duke" this CD has the swingin'-est version of "C Jam Blues" that I've ever heard. A cool version of "CottonTail", and the voice of the vocalist on "Bli Blip" is HOT! 2) Maxine Sullivan "Sings 1955-56" with "Massachussetts", "Columbus", "Stompin at the Savoy", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'"... man, can she hang! 3) George Gee and his Make Believe Orchestra with "Splanky" and "Blues for Stephanie" which Dalmo used in his workshop in SD 4) Count Basie and Oscar Peterson "Satch and Josh" reviewed by Meeshi on this site has tons of great stuff 5) Carmen McRae "Priceless" really only two danceable songs, but they are doosies! "Bye, Bye, Blackbird".. and "Exactly Like You" where her voice just drives me 6) Had to throw in Ella Fitzgerald's "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie", which has three or four danceable tunes, but one of them is her version of the "Jersey Bounce"... Whew! ~^) |
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