A Random Swing/Jazz Selection

So I was digging through a notebook of CDs I'd had in storage and cranked up some Lee Press-On and the Nails yesterday and thought, I probably have enough swing in my collection for a post here.

Well, actually I don't - some of the stuff on this little mix isn't really swing - The Three Deuces' "You've Got to See Mamma Ev'ry Night (or You Can't See Mamma at All)" (from the soundtrack to Bullets over Broadway) is more Dixieland, I think. But it's cute.

The same might be true of Louie Armstrong's "When The Saints Go Marching In" (recorded in '38 and found on the album Louie Armstrong of New Orleans) is definitely Dixie. I quite dig the intro.

Next up we have Bix Beiderbecke's "I'll Be a Friend With Pleasure". Recorded in 1930, it doesn't exactly swing, per se, but the lineup included Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Gene Krupa - folks without whom the whole Swing idea wouldn't have flown. One of Bix's last recordings before alcohol and pneumonia did him in at the age of 28.

Artie Shaw's interpretation of Gershwin's "Oh Lady Be Good" most definitely swings, noting that it's found in the film 1938 film Symphony in Swing. Shaw's orchestra was cooking in this session, I tell ya.

I've shared two tracks by the afforementioned Lee Press-On whose Nails were exponents of the 90s Swing revival. Both are from the album Jump Swing From Hell. First up is I'm Beginning to See the Light, with vocals by the sweetly voiced Lesley Presley. This crew has been on hiatus, but (according to Lee's blog), played SF's DNA lounge a couple months back. Back in the day they shook the room; glad to hear they still do.

Next up is some early Ella Fitzgerald with "The Organ-Grinder's Swing" which brings the tempo and volume down a bit. It's a bit silly and the recording (or CD transfer) is kind of muddy, but the trombone break is ace.

Les Paul and Mary Ford's "How High the Moon" has the bounce - Ford's voice is astounding - I'm pretty sure this wasn't a multi-track recording, though it might be - she sounds as if she's harmonising with herself. My copy is on an Uncut Magazine compilation called Mob Life which features tunes from the films of Martin Scorcese. This features in the movie Casino.

And another Lee Press-On - a nearly punk version of Louis Jordan's "Caldonia" - off the hook. Lee and company are far more dedicated to the swing aesthetic, however, than say Joe Jackson when he took on a couple Jordan tracks on Jumpin' Jive. But in '81, there was no revival, just Joe letting us know there was more than new wave.

Going back a bit, we next have Lionel Hampton's take on "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" Alas I have no info on who was in the band, the year, but it does swing. Sweetly.

And last up is Mission to Moscow from Benny Goodman's astoundingly clean Live In Moscow, recorded on a 1962 tour of the Soviet Union. So soon after the Stalin era, these shows must have been an incredible treat for his audiences.

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download the whole set here: A Swinging Time.