Jimmie Lunceford and His Dance Orchestra

I am not cursing in my summary. No, this short is about Hell and believe it or not, Vitaphone made several other shorts with similar devilish themes! Jimmie Lunceford is a long-forgotten man. He was a black man who led an orchestra of other black performers. They were a pretty good big band and the short is quite enjoyable. However, the sets and costumes are really the stars of this one! Seeing the band inside a volcano with folks dressed up as demons was definitely eye-catching! The set was actually amazingly good considering that this was a short and considering most studios never would have spent this sort of money for a film with an all-black cast. You have to hand it to Warner Brothers for having the guts and the intelligence to make such a film! You have to see this one to believe it!

The Devil rises from Hell to introduce Jimmie Lunceford and His Dance Orchestra. Jimmie is a black orchestra band leader. There is singing and dancing. I have heard of none of these people before this. Still, I do love them as a piece of black American music history. I have to assume that some of the sound if not all is recorded at a different time. In particular, Myra Taylor doesn't seem to sync up. Quite frankly, I don't see a microphone with her. Talking about the sound. The band and their music is wonderful and energizing. The tap dancing is great fun. This is all a very fun ten minute break.

Except for real serious students of the music of the era, Jimmie Lunceford is a forgotten name. But he led a black swing band that held it's own with folks like Benny Goodman and the Dorsey Brothers.

Why they needed that Satan gimmick I'm not sure for this short subject. Just listening to Lunceford's sound is good enough. A vocal by Myra Johnson and a little dancing by the three Brown brothers is an added treat.

Benny Goodman may have caused Lunceford's demise. It was big news when he engaged black singer Ella Fitzgerald for his band. That opened the way for a lot of black musicians to integrate into the name white orchestras. But like the Negro Leagues, all black orchestras declined unless you were Cab Calloway and a showman performer as well.

Lunceford died young in 1947 at the age of 45 under some mysterious circumstances that I won't go into since it seems a story unto itself. Once again we can thank the medium of film for the opportunity to see him as well as hear his recordings.

Jimmie Lunceford And His Dance Orchestra (1938)

*** (out of 4)

Another in Warner's long-running series of shorts that would take a look at (then) current big bands. As usual, we don't get anything too fancy visually but that's made up for in some great music. I'm not sure how many people have heard of Jimmie Lunceford, I know I hadn't, but this is a very good short that contains some great music and dancing. I was a little bummed out to see that Lunceford didn't make any more of these shorts, which is a shame but at least what we have here is entertaining. The most interesting and entertainment segment of the short belongs to The Three Brown Jacks doing some great dance moves. "Rhythm Is Our Business", apparently the band's biggest hit, kicks the short off and things never slow down for the ten-minutes. Myra Johnson sings "You Can't Pull the Wool Over My Eyes", which is another winner.

This is another one of those 10-mintue features that plugs a band during its era. These were somewhat prevalent as extras to the movies playing in the 1930s. Here we get to see and hear the talents of Jimmy Lunceford and His Dance Orchstera, along with The Three Brown Jacks and Myra Johnson.

'Rhythm is our business," announces Lunceford, so his big band plays some pretty up tempo stuff, which is fun to hear. In fact, this is - by far - the best of these short features I've seen because these guys have life to them. As kids would say today: they rock! In here are some great sax and trumpet solos, a colorful band that is having a lot of fun as they play and just a lot of foot-stomping feel-good music.

Being a fan of tap dancing, I really enjoyed The Three Brown Jacks but I think I had the most fun just watching the members of band.