Names for the Chicks

[The Peregrine Chick]

left to right - Nina, Armstrong, Ellington and Ella

[The Peregrine Chick]

Thank you to everyone who voted, this year's chicks are:

Ella - red tape

Nina - yellow tape

Armstrong - white tape

Ellington - no tape (silver band)

[The Peregrine Chick]

Ellington

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist and bandleader of jazz orchestras. He led his orchestra from 1923 until his death, his career spanning over 50 years. Born in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s onward, and gained a national profile through his orchestra’s appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. In the 1930s, his orchestra toured in Europe. Though widely considered to have been a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, Ellington embraced the phrase “beyond category” as a “liberating principle”, and referred to his music as part of the more general category of American Music, rather than to a musical genre such as jazz. Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and thanks to his eloquence and charisma, Ellington is generally considered to have elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a par with other traditional musical genres. His reputation continued to rise after his death, and he was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for music in 1999.

For more information – Wikipedia / Duke Ellington

[The Peregrine Chick]

Django

Jean “Django” Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953) was a Belgium-born French guitarist and composer of Romani ethnicity. Reinhardt is regarded as one of the greatest guitar players of all time; he was the first important European jazz musician who made major contributions to the development of the guitar genre. Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris, where he started playing violin, banjo, and guitar.After his fourth and fifth fingers were paralyzed when he suffered burns in a fire, Reinhardt used only the index and middle finger of his left hand on his solos. He created an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique (sometimes called ‘hot’ jazz guitar), which has since become a living musical tradition within French Gypsy culture. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Reinhardt co-founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, described by critic Thom Jurek as “one of the most original bands in the history of recorded jazz”. Many guitar players, and musicians, have expressed admiration for Django Reinhardt, or have cited him as a major influence. Jeff Beck has described Reinhardt as “By far the most astonishing guitar player ever…” and “…quite superhuman…”

For more information – Wikipedia / Django Reinhardt

[The Peregrine Chick]

Calloway

Cabell “Cab” Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, where he was a regular performer. Early on, his parents recognized their son’s musical talent and he began private voice lessons in 1922. He continued to study music and voice throughout his formal schooling. Despite his parents’ and teachers’ disapproval of jazz, Calloway began frequenting and performing in many of Baltimore’s nightclubs. As a result he came into contact with many of the local jazz luminaries of the time. He counted among his early mentors drummer Chick Webb and pianist Johnny Jones. Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States’ most popular big bands from the start of the 1930s through to the late 1940s. Calloway’s band featured performers including trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus “Doc” Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon “Chu” Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86.

For more information – Wikipedia / Cab Calloway

[The Peregrine Chick]

MALE NAMES

Armstrong

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and one of the pivotal and most influential figures in jazz music. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an “inventive” trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing (vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics). Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong’s influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to “cross over”, whose skin colour was secondary to his music in an America that was severely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation during the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for black men.

For more information – Wikipedia / Louis Armstrong

[The Peregrine Chick]

Nina

Nina Simone (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist. She worked in a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. The sixth child of a preacher’s family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. To fund her continuing musical education and become a classical pianist, she began playing in a small club in Philadelphia where she was also required to sing. She was approached by Bethlehem Records, and her rendition of “I Loves You, Porgy” was a hit in the United States in 1958. Over the length of her career Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958, when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue, and 1974. Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic contralto voice. She injected her classical background into her music as much as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical. Her intuitive grasp on the audience–performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years old.

For more information – Wikipedia / Nina Simone

[The Peregrine Chick]

Etta

Etta James (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer. Her style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazz and gospel. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as “The Wallflower“, “At Last“, “Tell Mama“, “Something’s Got a Hold on Me“, and “I’d Rather Go Blind” for which she wrote the lyrics. She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch. James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll but had once been considered one of the most overlooked blues and R&B musicians in the music history of the United States. It was not until the early 1990s, when she began receiving major industry awards from the Grammys and the Blues Foundation, that she began to receive wide recognition.

For more information – Wikipedia / Etta James

[The Peregrine Chick]

Ella

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer often referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. After tumultuous teenage years, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra. Performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Taking over the band after Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start a solo career that would last essentially the rest of her life. While Fitzgerald appeared in movies and as guests on popular television shows in the second half of the twentieth century, her musical collaborations with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and The Ink Spots were some of her most notable acts outside of her solo career. These partnerships produced recognizable songs like “Dream a Little Dream of Me“, “Cheek to Cheek“, “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall“, and “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)“. In 1993, Fitzgerald capped off her sixty-year career with her last public performance. After her passing, Fitzgerald’s influence lived on through her fourteen Grammy Awards, National Medal of Arts, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and tributes in the form of stamps, music festivals, and theatre namesakes.

For more information – Wikipedia / Ella Fitzgerald

[The Peregrine Chick]

FEMALE NAMES

Billie

Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Holiday’s delivery made her performances recognizable throughout her career. Her improvisation compensated for lack of musical education. Her voice lacked range and was thin, and years of drug use altered its texture and gave it a fragile, raspy sound. Holiday said that she always wanted her voice to sound like an instrument and some of her influences were Louis Armstrong and singer Bessie Smith.

For more information – Wikipedia / Billie Holiday

[The Peregrine Chick]

Not sure what happened to this thread but it disappeared after the contest started and I hadn't realized it wasn't here until today.

So for those who haven't checked out the names for voting, here are the details on the four choices for each gender.

VOTE HERE - tinyurl.com/lxqaurw

Remember - VOTING ENDS Sunday, July 26th at 1800h CDT (Winnipeg Time)

[des]

You sure have a talent for great names and themes TPC. Quite fitting I feel, and I really like each of these names!

Can't take credit for these names I'm afraid.  

Interesting, as I’ve always liked the name Brooklyn as well! It’s nice to hear local students were able to help with naming chicks raised in their area, and I’m impressed with their well thought out theme and names. Great work Green Team! Thank you for helping the Project.

Congratulations Green Team!  Terrific work. 
Thank you

[susha]

Love the names, TPC!

[Kinderchick]

Guess I was to late to add in my suggestions for names  

Aw! And you keep trying every year, don't you, Dennis? LOL!

[photosbydennis]

Guess I was to late to add in my suggestions for names 

[burdi]

You sure have a talent for great names and themes TPC. Quite fitting I feel, and I really like each of these names!

Can't take credit for these names I'm afraid.  

Interesting, as I’ve always liked the name Brooklyn as well! It’s nice to hear local students were able to help with naming chicks raised in their area, and I’m impressed with their well thought out theme and names. Great work Green Team! Thank you for helping the Project.

[Kinderchick]

Great names, as usual. 

[The Peregrine Chick]

You sure have a talent for great names and themes TPC. Quite fitting I feel, and I really like each of these names!

Can't take credit for these names I'm afraid.  When the local government office had Green Team students the students used to spend a couple of hours a week checking on the falcons for us (this was before we used cameras) and they got to come up with names for that year.  Some Green Team students dreaded this - the student who named Brooklyn was one of those, it was very cute!  There haven't been students involved for a number of years so the Project took over the naming the chicks.  But because the office has always been willing to help us out when we need it, we always invite the the office to come up with ideas for names - and this year they had a couple of great ideas for a theme and we helped them narrowed it down to one and that's how we got this year's names.  Without the webcam this year, the office has been very generous with their help so it was nice that they could name the chicks! 

[burdi]

You sure have a talent for great names and themes TPC. Quite fitting I feel, and I really like each of these names!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Frankie - after Frankie Manning

Frankie Manning started dancing in his early teens at a Sunday afternoon dance at the Alhambra Ballroom in Harlem to the music of Vernon Andrade. From there he moved on to the Renaissance Ballroom, which had an early evening dance for older teens with the live swing music of the Claude Hopkins Orchestra.  Finally, Frankie "graduated" to the Savoy Ballroom, which was known for its great dancers and bands.

Competitive as well as gifted,Manning, became a star in the informal jams in the "Kat's Korner" of the Savoy, frequently won the Saturday night contests, and was invited to join the elite 400 Club, whose members could come to the Savoy Ballroom daytime hours to practice alongside the bands that were booked at the Savoy.

Frank Manning's dancing stood out, even among the greats of the Savoy Ballroom, for its unerring musicality. Fast on his feet and with a keen ear, Frankie gave physical expression to the beat, the feel and the excitement of the swing sound played by the great Big Bands.

Frankie was inspired by first-generation Lindy Hoppers George "Shorty" Snowden and  Leroy "Stretch" Jones. However, in order to beat these two great dancers in the intense competitions held at the Savoy Ballroom, Frankie developed his own unique style. He is responsible for many innovations of Lindy Hop step and style, including dancing at a sharp angle to the ground like a track runner, instead of in the upright, stiff ballroom position of his predecessors.  In a famous competition --really, a showdown-- Frankie Manning and his partner Freda Washington out-danced Shorty and his partner Big Bea-- and astonished the crowd of 2000-- with the first Lindy air-step ever done.

In 1935, when Herbert White brought together the top Savoy Ballroom Dancers into a  professional performance group to be called Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Frankie created the first ensemble Lindy Hop routines. This gave him an opportunity to expand upon his gift for transforming the swing music into exciting dance-movement patterns. When Whitey's Lindy Hoppers were in their heyday, Frankie was the chief choreographer, serving as what we today would call artistic director while Whitey was business manager.

source & videos = http://www.savoystyle.com/frankie_manning.html

[The Peregrine Chick]

George - after "Shorty" George Snowden

George Snowden was the top dancer in the Savoy Ballroom from its opening in 1927 into the early 30's, when he formed the first professional Lindy Hop troupe, the Shorty Snowden Dancers. They performed with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra at the Paradise Club downtown through most of the thirties.

Although he was barely five feet tall, Snowden made his height an asset rather than a liability. With comic genius, he parodied himself in his signature "Shorty George" step, in which his bent his knees, swinging from side to side, exaggerating his closeness to the ground.

Shorty's partner, Big Bea, towered over him. They often ended their routines in a comic move in which she carried him off the dance floor on her back. Frankie Manning says that this move inspired him to create his first air step, in which his partner started out on his back and then she flipped over his head and landed on the ground. Ironically, Shorty was defeated by Manning in a major competition when Manning introducted this first air step in 1935. Manning replaced Snowden as reigning king of the Savoy.
Manning remembers his first idol and sometime competitor at the Savoy this way: "Shorty was a great comic dancer who knew his art well, like Jack Benny on violin and Victor Borge on piano.He brought comical moves to Lindy Hop and intricacies of footwork."

Snowden is often given credit for giving Lindy Hop its name. As the story goes, there was a charity dance-marathon in New York City in 1928, shortly after Charles Lindbergh's (known as "Lucky  Lindy") triumphant "hop" across the Atlantic. A reporter saw Snowden break away from his partner and improvise a few steps in a style that was popular in Harlem. "What was that!?" he asked. Snowden thought for a few seconds and replied, "I'm doin' the Hop...the Lindy Hop". The name stuck.

In recent years some writers have challenged the authenticity of the popular story about Short George naming the Lindy Hop. When asked about this, Frankie Manning has said, "All I can say is that I heard the story from Shorty George himself. The other fellas from that time were standing around listening and they didn't say 'Aw, come on Shorty, quit the BS' --- which they would have said if it wasn't true."

source & videos = http://www.savoystyle.com/shorty_george.html

[The Peregrine Chick]

Lindy - besides being the name of this year's only female at McKenzie Seeds, it is also the theme for his year's names = the Lindy Hop.

According to Wikipedia, the History of Lindy Hop begins in the African American communities of Harlem, New York during the late 1920s in conjunction with swing jazz. Lindy Hop is closely related to earlier African American vernacular dances but quickly gained its own fame through dancers in films, performances, competitions, and professional dance troupes. It became especially popular in the 1930s with the invention of aerials. The popularity of Lindy Hop declined after World War II, and the dance remained dormant until revived by European and American dancers in the 1980s.

The origins of the name 'Lindy Hop' are much debated in Lindy Hop communities today.  One account is that "Lindy" was the slang in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for young woman and that "hop" was a term for swing dancing and was used by early Texas Tommy dancers to describe the basic move for their dance.  Another account is that dancer "Shorty" George Snowden renamed the breakaway dance he performed during a dance marathon in 1928 in Harlem.  Fox Movietone News was covering the marathon and filmed a close-up of Shorty's feet and when the interviewer asked him what he was doing, Shorty replied (apparently without stopping his dancing) "the Lindy".  A particularly popular account believed to have been created by a reporter wanting to make his story on Shorty Snowden more sensational was that the dance was named after Charles Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight - "Lindy" was Lindbergh's nickname and "hop" for the staged flights necessary to cross the ocean.

For a much longer & more detailed history on the Lindy Hop = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lindy_Hop

[The Peregrine Chick]

The Brandon Chicks have new names ... and yes, there is a theme for their names this year ...




left to right: George (yellow tape on silver leg band), Frankie (red tape) and Lindy (no tape)

photo courtesy of Dennis Swayze - www.pbase.com/photobydennis

[The Peregrine Chick]

Kelly is on the left, Bogart has his back to us and Spencer is the one in the ladder. 
 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Here are the votes broken down by gender ...

    19% Spencer (Tracy)           12% Kelly (Grace or Gene)
    18% Bogart (Humphrey)        10% Mae (West)
    13% Guiness (Alec)               8% Hepburn (Katharin or Audrey)
    12% Kelly (Grace or Gene)      6% Garland (Judy)
    10% Astaire (Fred)                5% Marilyn (Monroe)

When we banded the chicks we took great care to measure their ankles before we put their bands on.  We had one small male and one larger male and one female.  Because Princess and subsequently Hurricane both have produced small chicks in the past, it will be interesting to see if the larger male survives if it is a male or perhaps a small female.   I had hoped there would be a more even split among the names based on gender but the top 3 names are males, the fourth is for either a male or a female and the fifth based on votes is a tie - one male and one female. So looking at the winners here are the assignment of names ...

Bogart = small male - green tape on his silver leg band

Spencer = larger male - no tape on silver band

Kelly = female - red tape & the largest of the three birds

[The Peregrine Chick]

CBC Manitoba will be holding a Name the Chicks contest to name the 2013 Brandon chicks starting tomorrow morning on the Falcon Cam website.

Voting will last for 1 week.

The theme for this year's names came from the fact that this year's McKenzie Seeds chicks are very photogenic - more photogenic than any of our other chicks in fact.  So, being the little media stars they are, the choices are all famous actors/actress from the 1950s ....

Female Names:

• Garland - Judy Garland
• Hepburn - Katharine Hepburn or Audrey Hepburn
• Marilyn - Marilyn Monroe
• Mae - Mae West
• Kelly - Grace Kelly

Male Names:

• Astaire - Fred Astaire
• Guinness - Alec Guinness
• Bogart - Humphrey Bogart
• Spencer - Spencer Tracy
• Kelly - Gene Kelly

When we banded the chicks, we banded two as males, one as a female.  Having said that, one of the male chicks is larger and given that Hurricane was banded as a male, it is possible that the the large male, may actually be a female, but we won't know until/if the chick returns in a couple of years and nests somewhere.