Ethan teaches you music
Ethan teaches you music Podcast
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing
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It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing

But what actually is swing?

Songs discussed in order of appearance:

  • Ella Fitzgerald - "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" (1957)

  • Tchaikovsky - "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" (1892)

  • The Duke Ellington Orchestra - "Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance Of The Sugar-Plum Fairy)" (1960)

  • JS Bach - Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043 I. Vivace (c. 1730)

  • Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli & Eddie South - "Improvisation on the 1st Movement of D Minor Concerto by JS Bach" (1933)

  • John Lee Hooker - "It Serves You Right to Suffer" (1966)

  • The Duke Ellington - "Overture" (1960)

  • McCoy Tyner - "Contemplation" (1967)

  • Hank Williams - "Lovesick Blues" (1949)

  • Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys - "Bring It On Down To My House" (1946)

  • Stevie Wonder - "Superstition" (1972)

  • The Headhunters - "God Make Me Funky" (1975)

  • James Brown - "The Funky Drummer Parts 1 & 2" (1970)

  • Janet Jackson - "What Have You Done for Me Lately" (1986)

  • John Coltrane - "Trane's Slo Blues" (1957) - I incorrectly identified Elvin Jones as the drummer on this recording; it is actually Art Taylor

  • Slum Village - "Get Dis Money" (2000)

  • J Dilla - "Bars & Twists" (2010)

I reference Milton Mermikides’ paper “‘Straight and Late’: Analytical Perspectives on Coltrane’s Time-feel” and Dan Charnas’ book Dilla Time, both of which are excellent. Check out some more swing visualization and auralization

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