Foreign-language swing

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Nate Dogg · #16 Post by **Nate Dogg** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 11:24 am

mark0tz wrote:Blossom Dearie has some decent French swinging songs...

A few people mentioned Blossom Dearie. Does anybody have specific CDs/songs to recomend (french language)?

Nathan

djstarr · #17 Post by **djstarr** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 6:51 pm

Nate Dogg wrote:
mark0tz wrote:Blossom Dearie has some decent French swinging songs...
A few people mentioned Blossom Dearie. Does anybody have specific CDs/songs to recomend (french language)?

Nathan

I have this CD. The two songs listed in French in the title are mostly French, one I think has English mixed in.

The CD is ok; it has an overly sweet sound to my current tastes, I've spun from it a couple of times and can't quite decide if I like it or not. But since Ray Brown and Jo Jones back her on the album, it certainly swings hard, and probably would go over well in Austin.

Zot · #18 Post by **Zot** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 10:09 pm

I like playing some tracks from the CD DJstarr mentioned too. I played Comment Allez-Vous for kicks at the Paris Lindy Exchange last month and got a good response.

I also highly recommend looking for some Claude Bolling. Just took delivery of Paris Swings, which is a good set of big band numbers including a couple I'll use for DJing. The hit on that album for me is Marseillaise -- the French national anthem in upbeat swing time. Very nice, and very popular with French nationals!

Racetrack · #19 Post by **Racetrack** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:29 pm

Blossom Dearie's French tunes:

Comment Allez Vous (kind of on the slow side)
Tout Doucemont ("groove" medium tempo)

Platypus · #20 Post by **Platypus** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:06 pm

I am going to Sweden next month. Any suggestions about CDs that might not be avaiable in the states that I might go hunting for?

LazyP · #21 Post by **LazyP** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:48 am

Platypus wrote:I am going to Sweden next month. Any suggestions about CDs that might not be avaiable in the states that I might go hunting for?

If you're willing to pay up some money then there is a big collection with the history of Swedish jazz music. It's called "Svensk jazzhistoria" and is so far 10 volumes, each 2-4 cds, $25 and more, depending on how many cds and the years covered. It's chronological so it's relatively easy to find the years you might be interested in.

Also you might find some compilation of a Swedish artist called "Alice Babs", in the 40's and 50's she did some great swing music (singing both in Swedish and english).

Jonas · #22 Post by **Jonas** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:45 pm

Platypus, if you're going to Stockholm I would recommend the shop "Skivfynd" on Scheelegatan 12, subway station "Rådhuset". Bosse there is very knowledgeable, and has a good selection of cd's, and can probably have you listen to some Swedish jazz not readily available in the US. His website is www.skivfynd.com .

Two great CD's with 30's jazz recorded in Sweden that I know of are on the label "Jazz Document" and can be bought at that shop. Contact Bosse on "skivfynd (at) comhem . se" if you want to make sure he has copies in stock. They are around 18 USD per cd:

"Small Band Swing Made in Sweden Vol 2 1937" [CVA-7992] Featuring FOLKE ERIKSBERG/NAT GONELLA/ ZILAS GÖRLING/STIG HOLM/GÖSTA TÖRNER (26/71:49)

"Small Band Swing Made in Sweden Vol 1 1935-37" [CVA-7993] (GEORG ENDERS/FOLKE ANDERSSON/ BENNY CARTER/SWING SWINGERS/FOLKE ERIKSBERG/SUNE LUNDWALL; = LP:n + 8 bonusspår)(24/68:57)

Those CD's have some overlap with the "Svensk Jazzhistoria" series Lazy P recommended, but with far better sound quality to my ear.

I have Volume 3 (1937-1939) and 4 (1940-1942) of the "Svensk Jazzhistoria", and there are some gems, but not many I would play often at Lindy Hop events. One of my favourites is the incredibly swinging, mostly instrumental, "Cocktail-Swing" (184 bpm) off Vol. 3 of "Svensk Jazzhistoria" (but unfortunately not included on the "Small Band Swing" series). The band sings part of the Swedish drinking song "Helan går" in the mid-song break, irresistibly corny, very "Swedish"...

/Jonas

Platypus · #23 Post by **Platypus** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:40 pm

Yes, I will be in Stockholm, and will see if I can find your CD shop. Thanks!

Surreal · #24 Post by **Surreal** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:09 pm

Swing Around The World has an interesting mix of music.

Rocketman · #25 Post by **Rocketman** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:14 am

Yes, Swinging Around the World is a good disk! It has at least couple in French if memory serves me correct. And a couple ot other langs. too . . . Dont know where you can get it - I received it as a gift.

Surreal · #26 Post by **Surreal** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 3:45 pm

I think it was a feature item on Amazon the other day. The track by Eric Triton has some French/African dialects in it.

aklamo · #27 Post by **aklamo** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:12 am

I got this Swedish song from a friend a few years ago; nice and slow, swinging song piano, snare drum and walking bassline. I had no idea what song it was, since the vocals are all in Swedish.

I did some research and found that it's the Swedish band Bo Kaspers Orkester. The song is called Cigarett and it's off the album I Centrum.

The rest of the album is good, but varied in style and doesn't swing.

If you're in Sweden, you should look into picking this up...just for that song

Haydn · #28 Post by **Haydn** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 2:05 pm

aklamo wrote:If you're in Sweden, you should look into picking this up...just for that song

You can order it online from Amazon UK -
http://tinyurl.com/y37vvv

Platypus · #29 Post by **Platypus** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:20 am

Thanks, Jonas and LazyP, for the tip. What a wonderful little shop!
The owner remembered Jonas and was quite helpful. He knows his music. Aside from getting two of the Svensk Jazzhistoria and Alice Babs, I asked him to pick out the rest of my CDs for me. I haven't yet had a chance to listen to them and am looking forward to the suprises that await me.

I loved the notes from the Svensk Jazzhistoria 1, about how local musicians had started playing what they called "jazz" at least 5 years before they had ever heard an American Jazz band! I can't wait to hear what they thought it MIGHT sound like, with only written information about it available!

Jonas · #30 Post by **Jonas** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:27 am

Glad to help out Platypus. Tell me a little bit about the titles he picked out for you when you find the time, I'm very interested to hear about artists, titles (company and No.) and what you thought of them, there just might be something great I haven't stumbled across just yet

I hope you don't have too high hopes about sound quality for the early editions of "Svensk Jazzhistoria" (you got vol. 1?).

/Jonas