Ghost of a flea: Jitterbug Party

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November 02, 2006

Jitterbug Party

Imagine it is a Harlem night at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue; the year is 1935. Five years ago a new house band took over a venue that had hosted Duke Ellington and where audiences first heard a sixteen-year old Lena Horne. Tonight Paramount Pictures brings the stark light for the cameras is making the scene even hotter than usual. We are here for a return appearance of Cab Calloway’s Cotton Club Orchestra and, if we are lucky, an invite to a Jitterbug Party after hours. If we stay up late there may be time for some shim sham shimmy...

Posted by Ghost of a flea at November 2, 2006 09:27 AM

Comments

I remember hearing that Duke Ellington at one point was married to a lady from Halifax and that he and his pals would travel from NY to Montreal and then out east for family togethers by train, and that the party on the train and then in Halifax carried the Cotton Club with them all that way. That would have been amazing to see.

Posted by: Alan McLeod at November 2, 2006 11:58 AM

I am having trouble visualizing "shim sham shimmy" on the part of the Flea.

Unless you're speaking out of context, that is.

Forget I just said all that.

Posted by: agent bedhead at November 2, 2006 02:04 PM

Pretty much any time is the right time for shim shim shammying.

Posted by: Ghost of a flea at November 2, 2006 02:47 PM