Featurettes from the DVD release of Blues In The Night

Featurtettes from the DVD release of Blues In The Night

Jammin' The Blues
runtime 10 min 16 sec

Jimmie Lunceford and his Jazz Orchestra
runtime 10 min 13 sec

My notes:
Lester Young's nickname is "Prez". When asked what he was president of, the band or someone close to him, would reply "He's the President of the Saxophone." Jammin' the Blues features Lester Young in a rare appearance as well as many other notables.

The Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra (which is featured in the original film "Blues In The Night" (1941) appears in the second short both of which are period releases. I don't know enough to say they are 'race films' (those shown only in theaters patronized by black people.) Make no mistake, these films are from the days when there was no integration. And even though the Lunceford band is smilin' and acting up they played the real thing.

Another favorite example of mine from the period is Frankie Manning about whom I only learned in the last few years. Manning invented the Lindy Hop. You can find Manning's rave up choreography on the you tube with google > frankie manning > hellzapoppin.

A documentary of Manning's life came out a couple years ago. It is called:
"Frankie Manning; Never stop swinging." (2009) Other film appearances are listed at the Manning Wiki.

Since a good copy of Blues in the Night is available on torrents I have not duplicated the film. The dvd disk contains these two shorts which are what I like to call (after Lawrence Farlenghetti, I think) 'pictures of the gone world.' It is for this reason that I post them as torrents. Seek out others and post your own. This is an archive of history.


Notes written May 9th, 2012