Remembering Norma Miller
December 2, 1919 – May 5, 2019
“Queen of Swing”
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The last 50 years or so make it easy to overlook, but jazz is a dance music.
Norma Miller and friends show what dance (jazz or otherwise) looks like at its highest level.
Mliler is wearing the chef hat in the routine which was originally choreographed to “Jumping at the Woodside.”
The group went by various names: Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, Whitney’s Hopping Maniacs, and Harlem Congeroo Dancers. The group was born in in 1935 at the Savoy Ballroom and disbanded in 1942.
The musicians are:
Slim Galliard, piano, guitar, vocals
Slam Stewart, bass
Rex Stuart, trumpet
C.C. Johnson, on the drums
Five years before Miller was born, this is how they were shaking it in San Francisco.
Stick around to the 1:30 point and you might be surprised by what you see.
Click here for more about Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean dance
Stan Getz