A couple of weeks ago, Miss Jeskat and I had the pleasure of watching Teatro Zinzanni, a long-running cabaret / circus dinner show in San Francisco. For those that don't know, for many years, Teatro Zinzanni has been putting on lavish three-hour shows complete with singing, magic, trapeze, juggling and more. It's very much an…
Category: Music
New Chick Webb Documentary Needs Funds!
My friend Judy Prichett shared with me this appeal for funding for a new documentary about legendary band leader Chick Webb: There is a fantastic new documentary about to be released: "The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America". It tells the important story of the birth of swing dancing at…
Interview with Remy Kouame, Dancer in “Two Cousins” Music Video & Boogie Woogie World Champ
On episode 135 of the Yehoodi Talk Show, Spuds and I chatted with French lindy hopper Remy Kouame about dancing in the "Two Cousins" music video by the band Slow Club. Find out how Remy went from world champion boogie woogie dancer, to new convert to lindy, to starring role in a music video. …
“Black Coffee”: Fantastic Swing Jazz / Lindy Hop Music Video
Get your Monday morning started right with "Black Coffee," a swingin music video by the Careless Lovers band, featuring lots of great dancing and fine musicianship. This video took First Place in in the Seattle Vintage Jazz Dance Swing/Jazz Dance Music Video Contest! Directed by Angela Muir and Joon Chang. Congrats to everyone involved!…
Improv Everywhere Glees Up a Geek-meet : Gotta Share! (video)
I'm a huge fan of Improv Everywhere and I work in social media, so when the two meet up, it's like rainbows and nutella. Here's what happens when those merry pranksters invade the GEL social media conference in NYC. Gotta share! More on the Improv Everywhere site.
Gauchos bring Gypsy Jazz to the Mission
On Wednesday night I had the pleasure of catching the Gauchos jazz sextet perform at the delightfully divey Amnesia Bar in the Mission District. The Gauchos play mostly gypsy jazz, ala Django Rheinhart, throwing in some other tango and New Orleans street jazz for good measure. They got some serious chops, tight grooves, and…
Street Dance Meets Classical: Lil Buck Jookin to Yoyo Ma (video)
This unexpected collaboration between cellist Yoyo Ma and hip-hop / jookin dancer Lil Buck has been circulating around the webasphere recently. Definitely intriguing and skillfully performed. I can't fault either Yoyo Ma's playing or Lil Buck's dancing, both of which are world-class. But I have a hard time seeing what the connection is between…
Documentary features Lindy Hop Legend Ms. Dawn Hampton and Hampton Family
Those in New York City should set your DVRs to catch "The Unforgettable Hampton Family," a new documentary by filmmaker Julie Cohen about an extraordinary African-american family of jazz musicians premiering on Thursday February 3 on WNET (Channel 13). The short film features musician/ singer/ dancer extraordinaire Ms. Dawn Hampton, a mainstay of the New…
NPR Story on the Music and Legacy of Cab Calloway
My local NPR affiliate WNYC broadcast recently an interesting piece on the swing great Cab Calloway on their show "Soundcheck." Cab Calloway of course was a primary inspiration for our website Yehoodi.com, and continues to get quite a bit of rotation on swing dance floors all over the world. Soundcheck interviews Alyn Shipton to talk…
Compilation of Dance Scenes from the Movies: What’s Missing? [UPDATED]
TinyMich tweeted out this fun compilation of dance scenes from movies from the past, including some of my favorites — "Footloose," "Step Up," "Singing in the Rain," etc. Some missing ones from my list of fave scenes: "Breaking" (Turbo's broom dance) "Beat Street" (first b-boy battle), "The Fisher King" (Grand Central Waltz) and "Shall We…