✯ Day 309 of Vintage 365 ✯
November, as we were discussing in Tuesday's post, has many appealing qualities (especially if you prefer winter over summer), but there's no skirting around the fact that for those in the western hemisphere, it is still the start of another very long, very cold season.
From snow banks so high you need to set up base camp before trying to scale them, to the sudden desire to hibernate like a fury brown bear until Easter, there are - I'm the first to admit - more than a few reasons why it can be hard to stay peppy all winter long.
Aside from vibrantly hued garments, marshmallow topped mugs of hot cocoa, and the ingrained merriment of Christmas, one of my favourite ways to shake off the doldrums that the greyest months of the year can cause any of us to feel sometimes, is to play really lively music.
From smooth-as-silk 30s jazz to psychedelic 60s tracks, 80s pop and 50s rock, if the tempo is hopping and the tune is catchy, just about any song is fair game. Few genres of of music however, can so quickly or enthusiastically perk of slopping energy levels than classic jitterbug swing!
Take for example the wonderfully lively number above that I just discovered this week on Youtube. Though the quality of the film itself is a little lacking, the music is intact and couldn't be more delightfully fun!
I searched the ol' interwebs for a while, but couldn't unearth too much about this vintage song, other than the information provided by the person who posted it on Youtube.
From that source, I can tell you that purportedly this great swing dance tune, called Juke Box Joe's, was preformed by Wingy Malone's Mardi Gras Band with Carol Adams, and that the dancers were Lennie and Freda, Gil and Nikki Brady. (By all means if you happen to more about this terrific tune, do let me know in the comment section.)
Though not a long song, Juke Box Joe's is buzzing with the precise kind of acoustic vitality that can do wonders for the mind, body and soul - especially on those bleak and dreary, numbing chilly days that lay ahead of us in the coming months of winter.
Ok, before you start thinking I've gotten into the cooking sherry, let me explain. You see, I'm rather fond of seasonal and festive music. I like to set the annual celebrations in my life up with a soundtrack, and February's upcoming holiday is no exception. 