Hip to the Jive

photo from More Things Jazz Boutique

5th Graders at Wendell Elementary have been immersed in the study of Jazz!  We are exploring the origins, growth, and development of this unique American art form through a variety of listening, watching, singing, playing, reading, and writing activities.  Most recently, we studied Swing Jazz Band Leader, Cab Calloway and his use of an entire Jazz language in his music and songs.  After watching his energetic performances of Jumpin' Jive and Hi-Dee-Hi Man, students researched the use and meanings behind several Jazz slang words.  Here's a list of some of our favorites:

• Barbeque - a girlfriend, a beauty
• Boot - to give (Boot me that jive)
• Cat - musician in a swing band
• Dig - to understand, to "get"
• Gimme some skin - to shake hands
• Grease - to eat
• Hep - wise, smart
• Hip - cool, groovy
• Jive - speech, way of talking
• Off The Cob - corny, old, out of date
• Skins - drums
• Yarddog - poorly dressed person, uncool
• Zoot - exaggerated

After exploring some of these Jazzy words, students imagined they were music editors for a newspaper in the 1950s and had just seen Cab Calloway perform live.  Using at least two of the new Jazz words they had learned, students wrote a headline for their article.  Here is what they came up with:

• Cab Calloway is the sharpest Daddy-O, honey-o! ~Lizzie
• That Hi-Dee-Hi man, Cab Calloway, was the opposite of a yarddog and was truly diggin' the beat. ~Jessica H.
• Cab Calloway takes off and digs a fine-as-pie hip-hep jive. ~Phillip
• Cab Calloway's music is a sharp mess.  He's groovy and weird but his talents are HEP-HEP!! ~Jayleen
• Dude, I dig that jive with a little shab-a-daba-doo! ~Christian
• Cab Calloway is a jazzing hep cat.  I can dig his music.  He had a hip jive. ~Lupe
• Cab Calloway's music is solid.  I totally dig that call and response. ~Nigel
• Cab Calloway is a hep-hep hip gator, fine-as-pie, super duper, hip to ya boot! ~Nereida
• Hep-Hep!  I dig that beast Cab Calloway - who ain't no yarddog.  He don't mess around.  ~Hannah F.
• This music was down dog, I digged it!  It was solid. ~Aldayr
• Cab Calloway is a shaba-da-ba-doo, ooh-ooh-ooh, honey-honey-pie, hep cat who digs a salty jive. ~Tyler W.
• Cab Calloway will blow your top and zoot your boot. ~Blake

I am so proud of our 5th graders for using these unfamiliar words in creative and engaging ways.  Don't you just want to read all about the Jazz Master Cab Calloway after reading these headlines?!?  Keep your eyes out, we'll have more fun jazz things for you on our Music Blog soon!  Till then, stay Hip to the Jive...