I Need You from Jon Batiste‘s upcoming album We Are available March 19, 2021. Continue reading
Category: Swing
10/5/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Stompin’ at the Savoy (1992) Starring Lynn Whitfield Jasmine Guy- Debbie Allen director
As the Harlem Renaissance flourishes in jazzy New York City, Pauline (Vanessa Williams), Esther (Lynn Whitfield) and Alice (Jasmine Guy) struggle to survive. By day, they toil at dreary jobs, dreaming of stardom, riches and happiness. By night, they dance their troubles away at the famous Savoy Ballroom. But when World War II appears on the horizon, the girls find their fortunes unfolding too unevenly to reconcile, and they inevitably begin to drift apart. Continue reading
6/11/20 O&A NYC LOCKDOWN LEARNING: The Harlem Renaissance – Black Cultural Movement in Art Music and Literature
This a video biography of the Harlem Renaissance, a negro movement where Black America developed significant cultural resources and a new cultural identity. It was an era of intellectual flowering. The levity of this movement produced great Black renaissance poets, music, art and literature . Continue reading
(Repost) 9/13/24 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: The A- Z of Dance
A-Z of Dance shows you how to set hearts alight and clubs on fire. Shot on the streets and rooftops of sunny LA, float like an Arabesque, spin like a B-Boy, wobble like a Chicken Noodle Soup… it’s time to step up! In a very special project for i-D and Diesel, director Jacob Sutton has captured the world’s hottest dancers walking in the air in their Jogg Jeans and cut-offs.
Lil Buck shows us the way of Memphis Jookin. Super-thighs Nicole the Pole – star of Rihanna’s Pour It Up video – takes us to a whole other level. And fresh from the Rick Owens catwalk, the Soul Step team show us how to dance to Le1f. Continue reading
11/2/18 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Lindy Hop Hellzapoppin
Hellzapoppin (1941) the Universal Pictures adaptation of the Broadway musical directed by H.C. Potter with a cast that includes Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson who produced and starred in it on Broadway) and Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Continue reading
6/6/20 O&A NYC TRIBUTE: Loretta Abbott March 1, 19( I ain’t tellin)- May 6, 2016
By Walter Rutledge
Loretta Abbott, dancer, actress, singer and choreographer passed away on Sunday June 5, 2016. A natural performer Abbott had two passions: her love for dance that spanned over 70 years, and her allegiance to the Harlem community where she lived her entire life. Continue reading
7/31/17 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Mills Brothers – Caravan
The Mills Brothers recorded the Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington exotic jazz composition Caravan a cappella making the instruments’ sounds with their voices. The Mills Brothers honored Duke Ellington with this swing version of his Caravan.
Mills Brothers – Caravan
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed The Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as The Four Kings of Harmony, were an African-American jazz and pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and garnered at least three dozen gold records. The Mills Brothers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.