Aint Misbehavin'!

Last night, Sarah and I joined our friends, Paul and Jackie, for the Broadway musical hit, "Aint Misbehavin'" at the Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City. Sarah has always loved the music from this production but has never seen it. We were both surprised that there is really no story line. It is simply a musical and dance presentation of Thomas "Fats" Waller's compositions. If you enjoy jazz and swing, like I do, you would enjoy this show.

AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' brings to stage the world of legendary Thomas "Fats" Waller. It represents the pre-war and war era of the late 30's and early 40's in Black Harlem; a golden age of honky tonks, jazz, swing and the stride piano. I found it interesting to observe the audience when considering the cultural influences of Black America....a cross section of America that Utah simply does not know or understand. There were a couple swingin' numbers that any other audience with a more diverse make-up would have resulted in hoopin', hollerin' and dancin' in the aisles. I did recognize that the number "Black and Blue" was received by the audience with great reverence and greater auplause.

I love music. I appreciate all music, and enjoy most genres, but there is only a few genres that are unique to the United States and they include swing and jazz. As I get older and older and older and....I find myself drawn more and more to classic jazz; you know, the jazz with the heavy African American influence; blue notes, crisp and clean chops, syncopation and a ragtime swing. I think there are many variations of jazz and almost every genre of music since the early 1900's has been influenced by jazz, but as Duke Ellington summarized, "It's all music".

If you get the chance, enjoy this show. It also features the sweet foice of Ruben Studdard, aka "The Velvet Teddy Bear" of American Idol fame.