Too "jazzy" for rock critics, too "silly" for jazz critics, the jovial gentlemen and women of jumpin' jive are enthusiastically saluted in Swing It! An Annotated History of Jive. Jive, often known as "jump" or "swing," has had a language, a rhythm, and a style all its own--lively, celebratory, and most of all, quintessentially American. Though best known as a style of hot jazz performed by big bands popular in the 1930s and '40s, jive has always been much, much more. Having a passionate interest in all things jive, including rare albums, articles, photos, and bits of memorabilia ferreted out from record shops, libraries, thrift stores, and collectors conventions throughout the '80s and '90s--author Bill Milkowski takes readers on an entertaining journey from colonial times to the present, through jive's many evolutions and proponents.
The book follows the music's rich, raucous cultural heritage from the Georgia South Sea troubadours to the pioneers (Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and Cab Calloway), and from the golden era (Louis Jordan, Slim Gaillard, and Leo "Scat" Watson) to the white connection (Mezz Mezzrow, Dan Hicks, and Joe Jackson). It also covers the women jivesters (Betty Boop, Annie Ross, and Rickie Lee Jones) and the retro swingers (Brian Setzer, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Cherry Poppin' Daddies), as well as the Broadway musical Five Guys Named Moe and Swing.
Appendices include an abundance of valuable information: References, Discography, Bibliography, Websites, and an Index.
