The only way the members of my parents’ generation would have ever heard Lil Hardin Armstrong‘s song “Oriental Swing” was if it was covered by a white band — It was “race” music and it was considered too “primitive” and “degenerate” for whites to listen to, especially in the South. How ironic that the roots of some of the most iconic American music — jazz, blues, and rock and roll — are firmly embedded in such “race” music.
A pinch of sampling, a dash of modern technology, and a half tsp of change of tempo, and you get:
I do have to say the second one has a catchier tempo. . . .
And she dates herself by adding, “I give it a 90, Dick, because it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it . . .”
The Owl Underground 
It took about two bars of “Oriental Swing” for me to be back in my folks’ living room, listening to 78s from my dad’s swing and jazz collection. He was a huge fan, and had I not been such an idiot in the years after he died (and my mother, too) I’d be awash in vinyl that probably would be worth more than I care to think about. Ah, well. I sure enjoyed the music — just great.
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