'It don't mean a thing...if it ain't got that swing!'

I was sitting here in the coffee shop (Port City Java on 7th St.), contemplating what music to put on to get me in the mood for a couple hours of solid work. Pop gets kind of tiresome, Rap and Rock can both be kind of distracting if they're too hardcore, and Classical can be boring at times. It then hit me -- of course, SWING! Because of the quick tempo, it's completely motivating and energizing, but since most of it doesn't have lyrics, it doesn't get too distracting (and onces that do have lyrics are often sung with the cool, relaxing, round voices of 40s greats like Ella Fitzgerald).

I only had a few swing songs on my computer, so I just downloaded the Benny Goodman's greatest hits off iTunes, as well as Count Bassie's single 'In the Mood' (which you probably don't realize you already know... it's used in a lot of movies -- The Notebook comes to mind off the top of my head.)

I'm not sure when I first fell in love with swing, but a few contributing factors are the movie Swing Kids, which I saw when I was in elementary school about underground jazz and dance clubs in WWII Germany, and doing swing dance for SING! at Stuy. My favorite swing song is also probably the most famous, Goodman's Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) which we performed, ironically enough, for Junior SING!. I would almost guarantee that if you listen to that song, you'll be a swing fan forever -- it's intoxicating.