Swing Dynamite Blog
Thoughts and news about swing dancing in Ottawa
Happy Birthday Satchmo. Thanks for the great Swing Music.
[ No Comments ] Posted by Claudia on Aug 04, 2011 in Jazz and Blues Musicians, Nifty Not Totally Swing Related, Swing History, Swing Music
August 4, 1901. What a happy day!
110 years ago, Louis Armstrong – also known as Satchmo, Satch and Pops, was born in New Orleans. And what a legacy he left. It is impossible to think of Jazz (and Swing) without thinking of Louis. From Dixieland to the Great America Songbook, Satchmo regaled us with his talents. As a young man in his native New Orleans, he played under the tutelage of great Jazz figures such as Kid Ory and Joe “King” Oliver.
Louis had a long, prolific career despite the humbleness of his origins and the colour of his skin. He came to be an inspiration for white and black artists alike in a country still divided by severe racial issues.
Here’s a delightful video of one of Louis’ most popular duets with his life-time friend Ella Fitzgerald with whom he recorded three albums.
Enjoy!
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Free Saturday Night Swing Pass: Check in 3x on Yelp
[ No Comments ] Posted by byron on Dec 01, 2010 in News, Nifty Not Totally Swing Related, Shameless Promotion
It’s about 50% shameless promotion and 50% shameless addiction to “Social Media“: we’ve now got a deal on Yelp where checking in with your smartphone at our Swing Dynamite studio three times will earn you a free pass to Saturday Night Swing!
Yelp is a really useful tool for finding good local establishments such as restaurants, stores, and (why not?) swing dance studios!
Recently Natalia and I were in Boston for the Swingin’ New England event with Patrick and Natasha, and we were all looking for something to eat. We found a bunch of possibilities on Yelp and managed to find a good Thai restaurant. We use Yelp a lot when we’re travelling.
The iPhone app also has a nifty augmented reality feature that’s kind of more fun than practical, but worth checking out if you have an iPhone!