[Tango-L] [OT] jump blues [WAS OT Men|Women|Dancing Ability [WAS Re: Don't blame your follower]

[Carol Shepherd]

Hi Steve,

we could get into an even-further off-topic discussion about 
quote-unquote swing music ("swing is a verb, not a noun. there is no 
such thing as swing music" -Paul Whiteman).  It would sound exactly like 
a spat about competing tango orchestra styling in the Golden Era.

Those of us who are similarly deeply steeped, but in popular American 
dance music from the 20's to the 50's, would quibble with your post. 
Prima was a huge influence on the big band era and wrote standards for 
Benny Goodman like "Sing, Sing, Sing," but "Jump, Jive and Wail" is not 
that era or kind of tune.  The call-and-response format, instrumentation 
  and off color insinuations are hallmarks of JUMP blues.  (Some do not 
apply "jump blues" to anything produced by white musicians but that is 
even further off-off-topic.)

Here's the allmusic.com definition of jump blues: "Jump Blues refers to 
an uptempo, jazz-tinged style of blues that first came to prominence in 
the mid- to late '40s. Usually featuring a vocalist in front of a large, 
horn-driven orchestra or medium sized combo with multiple horns, the 
style is earmarked by a driving rhythm, intensely shouted vocals, and 
honking tenor saxophone solos...a precursor to rock & roll."  The Gap 
commercial music was not Setzer, it was the original recording by 
Prima's band in 1957.

I love allmusic.com and they have excellent depth on all American 
popular music going back to the dawn of recordings.  Their tango music 
history and genre information is worse than awful.  Some of the music 
experts on this list would be doing a huge service in correcting and 
expanding their tango entry to reflect the rich diversity of tango music.

Anyone into taking on that?  Do the world a service!

steve pastor wrote:
> "And they cringe when they see the guys on 'Dancing With The Stars' wearing
> spandex and gliding around...no matter how masterful and powerful the
> dancing might be."
>  
> And rightly so. But maybe not for the same reasons as I do, which is an 
> almost
> complete lack of musicality, and absolutely atrocious music. "So You 
> Think You
> Can Dance" is a better show if you understand musicality in the least, 
> and there
> is much, much less posturing.
>  
> The song used in the Gap commercial was swing, not blues.
> Music for The Gap Khaki Swing comes from Louis Prima 
> <http://www.louisprima.com/>’s swing number,
> “Jump, Jive an’ Wail”, performed by Brian Setzer and Orchestra 
> <http://www.briansetzer.com/>.
> http://www.duncans.tv/2005/gap-khakis
> They also did a commecial with line dancers using Dwight Yoakum's 
> verison of
> "Crazy Little Thing".
> I have a few other minor quibbles with your post, (If women want men to 
> dance,
> they should not laugh at them or get frustrated with them when they 
> don't get
> it. One young woman was telling me recently that she though it was OK to
> laugh at her boyfriend's mistakes. I advised he to think otherwise. He shook
> his head in agreement.), but I agree with most of what you have written.
> 
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-- 
Carol Ruth Shepherd
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Ann Arbor MI USA
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