Happy 105th birthday Mr. Django Reinhardt.
One of my favorite jazz musicians… died too young.
Scenes from 1938 Carnival of Swing concert on Randall’s Island, NY. It is considered the first outdoor jazz festival.
This comes up just as some Count Basie (from ‘38 no less) pops up on my playlist…. perfect!
Way before the genesis of of shows like MTV this short Film was made to illustrate the new underground Music scene. Jazz and Swing music were emerging from the Cotton Club in Harlem, a club which although had a racist door policy of no Blacks (unless performing) were pioneering this groundbreaking music and Dance Culture to a strictly wealthy White audience of Cultural observers. This clip shows Cab Calloway performing Hotcha Razz-Ma-Tazz and ‘Long About Midnight at the Cotton Club after which they travel through Harlem at night to a house party where Cab continues the entertainment by performing Jitterbug. If you look closely you can see a young Lena Horne Dancing, she joined the Cotton Club at Sixteen and went on to perform in a string of Films before she was blacklisted by Hollywood for her Apparent left wing views which were Demonised by the McCarthy movement. Spreading anti communist paranoia across America it introduced the idea that certain thoughts,actions and ideas were “Un-American” ideas that some Americans still hold onto in todays seemingly Modern times.
Check the clip for a Time Machine straight back to swinging Harlem in 1935
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
