I'm 78 and this is the first time I am aware of seeing Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra. What a show!! Been aware of him/them almost all my life. Thanks!!
You've miss a lot. His orchestra played the background music for the Little Rascals. A deceased friend, who was twenty years older, told me about Lunceford back in 1995.
My wife's late father EDDIE DURHAM (top center trombone) & also a guitarist 1935-37 (Sy was there as well). Coming to JL from Basie - Durham brought his brass choreography. He recorded Hittin the Bottle (Arlen/Gorney/Harburg/Koehler) on guitar, perhaps THEE historic seminal recording of Amplified Guitar, on a metal-bodied Dobro resophonic, non-electric guitar - and - Honey Keep Your Mind On Me (won the All American Poll), on guitar. He composed (& arranged) for JL: Oh Boy!, Harlem Shout, Pigeon Walk, Well All Right Then!, WHAMREBOPBOOMBAM, Blues In The Groove (a swinigin song!), Swingin on C. DURHAM arranged Ellington's Bird of Paradise, Lunceford's Special and many others for Jimmie. Both Sy Oliver & Eddie Durham worked w/Glenn Miller. Durham was inducted into Hall of Fame for his arr. of IN THE MOOD 1938 Blubird - for Miller, who also recorded Durham's compositions WHAM & I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire, among others. F B Eddie.DurhamJazz
His drummer Jim Crawford would rent out the basement apartment in his victorian house to Manhattan College students. From 1971 to 1972 I lived there with 2 classmates. He and his wife Aileen were wonderful to us. They would invite us upstairs on occasion when they had an old musician friend visiting. He would introduce them as the best trumpeter or clarinet player but would then say they were “old as mud”! He would show us scrapbooks filled with pictures of him sitting high over the band at various venues, including Palisades Park. He also had a copy of Jazz Magazine with his picture on the cover. It detailed his style of playing the drums and was credited for a style that became known as “The Lunceford Beat”. Of course I knew of all the other greats from that era, but when I got home to Brooklyn on a break from school, I asked my father if he had ever heard of the Lunceford band. His eyes opened wide and said of course! It was one of the best of that era. Many years later, when I returned to show my high school age son where I used to live, the house was gone, replaced by a townhouse. I still love to hear the music and have wonderful memories of Jim Crawford. There used to be more videos of the band but I guess they were taken off due to copyright issues.
There was never an era of great African American swing bands. Just as there was never an era of great European American swing bands. There certainly was however, an era of great swing bands in America and Europe!
The precision of this band is just mind blowing. They make playing perfectly together at blistering fast tempos sound so easy. And most importantly it swings!
My Dad passed in 2015. He was a trumpet player and performed with many local bands in his hometown, Pittsburgh, PA. A WWII Navy vet, he was a member of the prestigious B-1 U.S. Navy Band. I learned to appreciate these many talented bands and musicians thanks to my wonderful Dad. Rest in Heaven Daddy. May the music play on.
For me Lunceford and Ellington were the two greatest big bandleaders. They were somewhat different - Lunceford was the par excellence swing band. Rhythm was their business indeed - and this Vitaphone short is one of the best moments I have ever seen of any band (and well recorded as well) - they entertained enough so there was not need for a storyboard. Myra may have toured with them but did not record with them. Too bad - she was an excellent singer and fits the style of the band well. Singers today could learn from her (as well as Willie Smith - Rhythm Is Our Business - and Eddie Tompkins on Nagasaki) in how to entertain while singing. I could write for years about this - this is my favourite music film/video of all time.
I have heard the Jimmie Lunceford band on record for years and never actually seen them, thank you for sharing this vid with us. They put on a great show and the musicianship was excellent!
Filmed circa July, 1936. Vocalist on "Rhythm is our Business" - Willie Smith, alto sax. Vocalists on "Nagasaki" - Eddie Tompkins and Sy Oliver (back chatter), trumpets. Dance duo -Joe Thomas and Earl Carruthers, tenor and bari saxes.
As an aside, the lyric for "Rhythm is our Business" was written by a fledgling Sammy Cahn, his earliest successful assignment, before his later decades relationship with Frank Sinatra and Academy Award-winning movie success.
@@RatPfink66 - Why wouldn't he own up to it? Nothing wrong in any way with the quality of the tune in its composition or performance. Frank Loesser's motivations for his actions are his and his alone.
My father passed away in 2004. Back in the '60s he mentioned Lunceford in the same breath Count, Cab, and Duke. Thanks to Smartphones and RU-vid I finally can enjoy the Lunceford Orchestra. When I meet my dear old Daddy again, I bet this will make him smile !!! 😃👍
I’ve never seen them on film. My grandmother loved Walking thru heaven with you , by Jimmy Lunsford that’s all I really know but nice film. I wonder was this one of the films they showed on those juke boxes that had little screens. I learned of them during the pandemic called panorams . I can’t imagine where else these shorts would be shown except the colored theaters of the time
Actually better than Fred Astaire who copied Honi Coles and used a choreographer for his Hollywood movies. (In my youth I recognized Honi Coles' moves despite seeing Astaire's body.) Astaire had great respect for Jazz and Blues. Here's a quote from the book, "Music Makes Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz" by Todd Decker: "Interracial music making was par for the course for most top jazz players in the swing years. White players like Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw brought black soloists into their bands because they wanted to play with the best, and they were not about to let race get in the way."
Here you go, it's on Amazon, though it's a bit pricey at $24.28 though there is a used copy for $6.25......also you can watch it on Amazon Prime currently for $.99 or buy it for $8.99. In any case, here's the link to find it on Amazon: amzn.to/3ySIGVs
