I've featured a song before that has “Lindy Hop” in its title, but it's a while ago so I thought to bring up another one.
It's just called Lindy Hop and was recorded in 1937 by one of the most important female musicians in early jazz.
Much more than just Louis Armstrong's wife
As I wrote in the Song of the Week #36 back in 2010, Lilian ‘Lil' Beatrice Hardin Armstrong (February 3, 1898 – August 27, 1971) might be identified in the jazz world as the wife of Louis Armstrong but she was much more than that.
Lil Hardin-Armstrong was the most prominent woman in early jazz. She played piano, composed, and arranged for most of the important Hot Bands from New Orleans.
While working at a music store in Chicago, she was invited to play with Sugar Johnny's Creole Orchestra, from there she went to Freddie Keppard's Original Creole Orchestra, and then led her own band at the Dreamland Cafe at 3520 South State Street in Chicago.
In 1921 she joined King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band where she met Louis Armstrong. They were married in 1924.
Lil Hardin Armstrong with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
She was a major contributor to Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. She played piano and sang occasionally, and composed several of the groups major songs.
Lil was the leader of several other recording groups, including Lil's Hot Shots and the New Orleans Wanderers. She and Louis were separated in 1931 and were divorced in 1938, although they remained friends for life.
She appeared in several Broadway shows. In the late 1930s Lil recast herself as a Swing vocalist and cut 26 vocal sides for Decca records.
In the 1940s she moved back to Chicago and played as a soloist in nightclubs. She continued to record sporadically up until 1963.
Lil kept active in the music business for the rest of her life, although far from the limelight.
Strangely enough, Lil died while taking part in a Louis Armstrong Memorial Concert in Chicago while playing “St. Louis Blues”, just two months after Louis had died.
Lindy Hop
This is a funny song, pretty fast and a nice challenge for Lindy Hoppers, though. Balboa dancers might be a little bit more comfortable with it ;).
Title:Lindy Hop Artist: Lil Hardin Armstrong Recorded: July 23, 1937 Tempo: 234 bpm Dance: Lindy Hop, Balboa
Click the link to download the song from: Amazon ・ iTunes
You can find all the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw
Do you like that Song? What do you think about Lil Hardin's music? Let us know in the comment section below.
Chris aka DJ Chrisbe is the founder and editor-in-chief of Swing DJ Resources and Shuffle Projects. Since 2006, he has been DJing all over Europe and abroad. Follow him on Twitter.
Recent Comments