As I deal with the current dystopia I encounter every morning on NPR, I keep thinking about the song “Slap That Bass” by the Gershwin brothers. “Dictators would be better off if they zoom-zoomed now and then,” they write. I couldn’t agree more. “Zoom zoom, zoom zoom, the world is in a mess”—but for a few minutes George and Ira make the world safe again. After all, I need to think straight if I am going to help put things right.
I offer it in three formats:
FRED ASTAIRE, with the original dance break from “Shall We Dance”
ELLA FITZGERALD from her Gershwin Songbook, buttery and smooth, if a bit bland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSzVP3GYhT4
And a special treat: Susan Stroman’s staging in Crazy for You, taken from the São Paulo production and sung, of course, in Portuguese. American swing-time meets Brazilian pelvises. Just watched it twice…
0 Comments