Month: August 2020

Laura on Podcasts – Desert Island Jams and Hey Mister Jesse

A couple of months ago I sat down with UK-based swing DJ, MC, and instructor Sarah Spoon, who had conceived of a brand new, not yet launched podcast called Desert Island Jams, which would feature swing community personalities picking the 10 songs they would take with them to a desert island and talking about those tunes.  Given that dancers are music loving creatures and who doesn’t love a top 10 list, I thought this was brilliant and delighted in my hour or so chatting with Sarah about my list.  Subsequently, Sarah has released episode 1 featuring Ryan Swift of The Track podcast and swing DJ fame and episode 2 featuring swing and house dance powerhouse instructor LaTasha Barnes, both stellar episodes – thus, I’m so very excited that I am episode 3, which came out today!  Come hang out with me and Sarah while we talk about tunes I love and share a lot of fun and laughter.

I also got a shoutout on the August 2020 episode of the long-running Hey Mister Jesse podcast, hosted by Jesse Miner and Manu Smith, featuring music that is of interest to swing dancers.  There have been a number of COVID-19 pandemic album releases and this episode features 8 of them, including Gordon Au’s Tribute to Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars/Live at Lindy Focus, and you can hear me and Jim Ziegler sing and banter on “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It” – enjoy!

Profile in The Syncopated Times

I’m excited to be profiled in the August 2020 issue of The Syncopated Times by UK writer, dancer, early jazz enthusiast, and Annette Hanshaw fan Dave Doyle.  I suppose even without the pandemic we might have had to conduct this interview via FaceTime or Zoom, but it was lovely to connect with someone across the pond and to be featured in The Syncopated Times, one of very few publications focused on ragtime and pre-bop jazz.  Enjoy!