Doc: History of Swing

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Yesterday, I came across a BBC documentary that serves up a smart history of swing. It rightly dates the music's start to 1924, when Louis Armstrong joined Fletcher Henderson's band. Benny Goodman in 1935 simply picked up the dance feel already popular among African-American bands. The documentary isn't perfect—Fats Waller is missing as is the influence of Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb, Harry James, Charlie Barnet and other major contributors. Perhaps the biggest oversight of all is the absence of Nat King Cole and his pre-Sinatra, neo-swing influence on modern pop singing at Capitol. But overall, the documentary is wonderfully informative and dramatic. Here's The Swing Thing...

Used with permission by Marc Myers