Swing Jazz
Introductory Essay (PDF)
Weekly Handout (PDF)
April 4
Film: Linebaugh Public Library, 4-6 p.m.
Ken Burns Jazz, Episode 6: The Velocity of Celebration
The pulsing Kansas City sound of Count Basie's Band comes to New York and quickly reignites the spirit of swing. Soon Basie's lead saxophonist, Lester Young, challenges Coleman Hawkins for supremacy, matching the old sax-master's muscular sound with a lighter, laid-back style of his own. Young teams with Billie Holiday for a series of masterful recordings. By the decade's end, Chick Webb has achieved national fame by taking a chance on a teenage singer named Ella Fitzgerald.and
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm
From the Piney Woods School in the Mississippi Delta to the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City, this toe-tapping music film tells the story of the swinging, multi-racial all-women jazz band of the 1940s. A 16 piece band with a strong brass section, heavy percussion, and a deep rhythmic sense, the Sweethearts were not just a novelty but featured many of the best female musicians of the day. Starring Anna Mae Winburn, Ernestine "Tiny" Davis, Vi Burnside, Roz Cron, Evelyn McGee Stone, Helen Jones, Helen Saine, and Pauline Brady, of whom drummer Panama Francis says, "She played drums like a man!"
Discussion led by Dr. Felicia Miyakawa of MTSU's School of Music.
April 5
Concert: Murfreesboro City Hall Rotunda, 5-6 p.m.
MTSU Jazz Combo — Don Aliquo, Director
Both events are free and open to the public.