Our Lindy 3 and 4 teachers this block are a rotating cast of teachers from the Amsterdam-based collective The BackBeat. Just like two years ago when we had Julia and Peter (also sometimes known as DJ Syncopeter) they will share an album of the week (approximately) every week by artists they care about, including some historical context and fun trivia. This made us really enthusiastic about learning more about the cultural background and music, so we thought we’d share the love by putting all of them on our website.
This week’s AOTW is ‘Gettin’ in the groove (Paris 1971) – the definite black and blue sessions’ by Panama Francis and his Savoy Sultans.
Listen to the album on Spotify
Listen to the album on Youtube
Peter:
Since I found this excellent article in ‘The Guardian’, I will directly share it with you and just supplement it with specifics about the album and an anecdote from Julia’s book ‘Jazz anecdotes’.
Panama Francis didn’t come from Panama. He came to New York from Florida as David Albert Francis, wearing a stylish Panama hat which he wore during his first rehearsal with Roy Eldrige’s band. Roy’s manager was expecting to see a different drummer be hired, but Roy decided to take Francis. When he asked ‘who’s that on the drums?’ Roy couldn’t remember his name and just said ‘Oh, that’s Panama.’ The musicians in Roy’s band assumed that was his name. Panama later stated ‘I was too scared to tell them my real name was David.’
Recorded in Paris, the album captures Panama Francis and his Savoy Sultans in fantastic form: relaxed, confident, and swinging hard. You can hear that this band knows exactly what it’s doing and exactly who it’s playing for.(It’s us dancers!!)
Next to Panama’s rock steady drums, quite a few of the tunes are built on a strong walking bass, with a clear beat on every count.
Standout tracks include “Stitches”, “Little John Special”, and “Second Balcony Jump”, all of which lock into a groove that feels tailor-made for the social floor. And then there’s “Harlem Congo” — fast, energetic, and unapologetically driving. It’s the kind of track that dares dancers to keep up (and rewards those who do).
Panama’s drums are always there, solid and clear, but never stiff.
Julia:
The Savoy ballroom was the place to be for Lindy hop in Harlem, new York. It was called ‘home of the happy feet’.
Thank you very much for sharing this with us Peter & Julia!
