i just couldn’t get it together

Friday night I played a crappy craptastic set at Funbags.
It was pretty hot, I’d been feeling a bit crook during the day and I didn’t take time to go through my music.
I was also pretty uncomfortable with the set up for the DJ. The sound system was pretty good, but the whole thing was at the same counter where the punters pay to come in near the front door. We had to sit our laptops on the counter with our backs to the mixing desk so we could see the dancers, but this meant that our cables had to hang across the entry to the behind-the-counter. And people kept coming in and out of that space all night, climbing under the cords. In addition, I was ideally placed for people to come talk to me.
I need at least ten minutes of alone time at the beginning of a set to get settled – fix the sound a bit, sort my laptop, pick out a couple of good starter songs so I can go walk the room, de-jitter, etc etc etc. But I don’t mind being visited later in the set.
I just couldn’t get it together – I had to tell people to leave me alone a couple of times and to move out of my way so I could see the floor at least three times til I gave up.
As a result, I was a bit jittery and couldn’t relax and get into gear. There was too much talking and bustling around me and it kept me on edge.
So the set sucked.
It was also a bit of an odd crowd, mostly beginner dancers with a couple of more experienced people. It also felt more like an after-class gig than a ‘social dancing’ gig, so pumping, upenergy crowd-kicking songs fell a bit flat. Those sorts of hardcore songs really go down better with more experienced dancers. The Bechet track was a particularly heinous fizzer.
sigh.
I didn’t kill the floor, though. I just couldn’t make a coherent set that really worked the energy in the room. Because it was mostly newer dancers who just love dancing, it was ok. But it wouldn’t have worked on a more experienced crowd.
I’m a bit sick of my music as well – I feel like I’m just playing the same old stodge each week. The same old songs. I haven’t bought a lot of great music lately, just a lot of stuff I really like…. well, that’s probably not true, that’s just how it feels. I actually feel like I’m a bit limited in the music I can play. I feel like I can’t pull out the less crowd-pleasery stuff. There are some songs that are just like chips at a party – they go down well, you can just keep filling the bowl and the crowd’ll just keep chewing em down. But they’re nothing special.
I want to make hoors doovers. Not chips.
I dunno, guess I need to spend more time listening to my music I spose. I think I need to find another artist that really drives me wild so I can get inspired again.
I’m actually feeling like I’d like to play a supergroove set – really pull out all the really good supergroove stuff. But I don’t want to waste a big night on that rubbish. I’d like a more mellow late night perhaps for that. A really late night… but I can’t fight my ‘drive them crazy’ arse-kicker instincts.
anyway…
Just so’s you can compare, he’s the set list. All good songs, just combined in a really shitty order.
(first set, Funpit 16 Feb 2007) song – artist – bpm – album – song length
My Baby Just Cares For Me – Nina Simone – 118 – The Great Nina Simone – 3:38
Cow Cow Boogie – Jennie Löbel and Swing Kings – 120 – 2001 – He Ain’t Got Rhythm – 2:56
Jump Ditty! – Joe Carroll and The Ray Bryant Quintet – 134 – Red Kat Swing 1 – 2:53
Oomph Fa Fa – Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five – 129 – 2003 – Jammin’ the Blues – 3:35
B-Sharp Boston – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – 126 – 1949 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 – 2:54
Jive At Five – Count Basie and His Orchestra – 147 – 1960 – The Count Basie Story (Disc 1) – 3:02
Splanky – Count Basie – 157 – 1966 – Live at the Sands – 3:52
Hallelujah, I Love Her So – Count Basie – 145 – 1959 – Breakfast Dance And Barbecue – 2:36
Undecided Blues – Count Basie and His Orchestra with Jimmy Rushing – 120 – 1941 – Cutting Butter – The Complete Columbia Recordings 1939 – 1942 (disc 03) – 2:55
Hey Now, Hey Now – Cab Calloway – 121 – 1994 – Are You Hep To The Jive? – 2:56
Four Or Five Times – Woody Herman Orchestra – 141 – The Great Swing Bands (Disc 2) – 3:09
Back Room Romp – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra – 155 – 2000 – Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington – 2:49
Flying Home – Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra – 159 – 1940 – Tempo And Swing – 2:58
Cole Slaw – Jesse Stone and His Orchestra – 145 – Original Swingers: Hipsters, Zoots and Wingtips vol 2 – 2:57
Lavender Coffin – Lionel Hampton, etc – 138 – 1949 – Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun – 2:47
Redskin Rhumba – Charlie Barnet – 186 – 1940 – Charlie Barnet : Skyliner – 2:41
Savoy Blues – Kid Ory – 134 – 2002 – Golden Greats: Greatest Dixieland Jazz Disc 3 – 3:00
Perdido Street Blues – Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra with Sidney Bechet – 148 – 1940 – Blues In Thirds – 1940-41 – 3:00
The Greatest There Is – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – 133 – 1949 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 – 2:43
Come On Over To My House – Julia Lee with Jay McShann’s Kansas City Stompers – 138 – 1944 – Jumpin’ The Blues (Disc 1) – 2:52
Six Appeal – Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five – 141 – 2004 – Crazy Rhythm – 3:29

down down down


This clip caught my eye (you can find it here on youtube) because I’m fond of the Basie version (I have a 1941 version on a collection called Cutting Butter). But watching it, the race and gender stuff was kind of interesting… note the whiteness of the girls’ skin. The two girls dancing towards the end of the clip aren’t terribly great dancers (I wonder who the blokes are?), but I suspect they were picked for their looks.
And of course the lyrics are kind of interesting (the Basie version I have is an instrumental).

As dangerous as a midnight coffee

Glen’s started a meme over here, and it’s one that actually caught my eye.
I meme when I’m trying to be cool, but I think this one is actually quite me.

I am starting up a meme. It is called the “As dangerous as a midnight coffee” meme.
Blurb: Five songs for going nuts when IT HAS TO BE DONE. This isn’t the Nike Just Do It song list of inspiration. It is a savage beast that attacks your weaknesses, and gives you the perspective of sickness, thus forcing you to be stronger. The songs have to currently be on a portable music playing device that you listen to at midnight brewing a coffee and getting ready to attack IT (or comparable scenario).

I do own an ipod (well, The Squeeze owns an ipod, and I see it as my Sistahly duty to appropriate it and use it for previewing old skewl jass for DJing on the bus… well I did, when I was catching the bus. I also used to use it for ‘read-a-long’ sessions with Gunther Schuller (I’ve just been humming and ahing over his books on abebooks, btw: I need them. I do. I really do)), but I think this meme really lends itself to the ‘hypothetical set list’.
Midnight Coffee – hm. I’m thinking of late night after parties, when the crowd are warmed up from the first gig, but you’ve just changed venues, so you have to get them really cooking again.
So, to rework the meme-theme, here are five songs that (I’d hope) would work together to GET IT DONE. In other words, five songs that would hopefully drive a crowd of dancers into a frenzy.
Now, five songs really isn’t very much for crowd frenzying, so let’s assume I’ve spent about five songs getting them warmed up.
…actually, I’m going to do two lists. One will be a chronological list of five songs, in the order I’d play to get the crowd nuts. The other list will be five seriously hardcore-kick your muthafucking arse hardcore YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! dancing songs that I would never play all in a row. Not if I wanted to have the floor even partly full.
1. ‘Blues In Hoss’ Flat’ Count Basie 142bpm 195? Big Band Renaissance Disc 1 3:13
Because Basie is the only way to kick a bunch of dancers into a frenzy… well, not really, but it’s a nice place to start.
I’m imagining I’m working with the Melbourne crowd at CBD rather than at MLX or another big exchange. Because exchanges are a different kettle of fish.
This song rocks because it’s hi-fi, it’s late Basie, it has some pretty major brass and people know it and love it. It’s also a very manageable 142bpm – a nice warm-up tempo.
2.

…look, this isn’t going to work. Five songs isn’t long enough for me to guarantee mass insanity. I ain’t that good, and I need to see the floor to judge my choices.
Instead, I’m just going to go list five arse kicker songs. The sorts of songs that make me crazy. That I’ve made dancers crazy with (with which I’ve made… whatever). And they’ll probably be my current favourites.
1. ‘Back Room Romp’ Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 155 2000 Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington 2:49
Man, I can’t believe I only have one version of this song! It’s the best. This is a great warm-up track.

… wait, I’m doing it again! I just can’t list five big songs without working up to them!
Ok, now I’m just going to do hardcore, arse kicky songs that I might play at an afterparty. Maybe not all in a row, because the dancers would die. But definitely within one set. Between about 2 and 3 perhaps – when people have all arrived, had a slurpy or their second (or third) Red Bull and something to eat and have the energy to burn. Let’s also say that the room is pretty warm (but not hot – just not chilly), and it’s pretty crowded. But not so crowded you can’t really swing out like a fool.
I’ll try again.
1. ‘Jumpin’ At The Woodside’ Count Basie 237bpm 1938 Ken Burns Jazz Series: Count Basie
The 1930s versions are best. This is one kick your arse song. You can tell Basie got his start with a bit of stride piano with that stomping intro. The tempo is hot (but doable), there are lots of nice layers building up the energy.
Actually, I’m into this now. Now I’m just going to list hardcore songs that I love that would kick your arse if you danced to them all in a row.
2. ‘Lafayette’ Benny Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra with Count Basie 285bpm 1932 Kansas City Powerhouse 2:48
My comments for this one read “difficult but good fast dancing; ok quality”. It comes in shouting and then pounds away at 285bpm. I’ve never danced to it, I’m not sure you could, but it’s a cracking song. I like the stompy base. Basie of course began with Moten’s band – this is hot Kansas city action (those Kansas doods were wilder and rougher).
3. ‘Hotter Than Hell’ Fletcher Henderson 275bpm 1934 Tidal Wave 2:58
This is one frickin’ fast song. But it really rocks. Henderson is the king of hot, arse-kicking music for lindy hopping.
…I’m getting really excited listening to this stuff. It’s going to be impossible to settle down and work after this.
4.’Blues In The Groove’ Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra 205bpm 1939 Lunceford Special 1939-40 2:35
Not everyone’s pick of the Lunceford action (I know I was torn between this and ‘Lunceford Special’ or ‘Blue Blazes’), but this one, while it doesn’t have that pounding, driving structure is one of those songs that you can’t help but dance to – it makes you jump up and jiggle around. So it’s a ‘get it done song’ because it’ll get you dancing, despite yourself. And that’s a DJ’s job – getting people dancing despite themselves.
5. ‘Rigamarole’ Willie Bryant And His Orchestra 240bpm Willie Bryant 1935-1936 2:35
This one doesn’t actually sound all that fast, but it really builds you up and makes you crazy. It says DANCE MUTHAHFUCKAH! So people generally do. Mostly like crazy fools. It has shouting in it as well, which always helps. I often play the Mora’s Modern Rhythmists version for dancers because the quality is better, but the MMR version doesn’t have the same punch as Bryant’s.
That’s it, then.
There are about a million other songs I could have listed – we’re all about hard fast, getting-you-moving music here in the swinguverse – but these are five of my favourites.
I know some people’d be suprised to see no ‘Ride Red Ride’ in there, or ‘Man from Mars’ (or Chick Webb at all) or ‘Sugar Foot Stomp’ in some incarnation. I’m also a bit sorry not to have any really hot Ellington action there something like ‘Jubilee Stomp’, a 1928 Ellington track that clocks in at 265bpm (I have it on The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 01)) would have been a sensible addition. But I could have gone on forever. I could have done a top 5 Basie arse kicking songs. Or a top 5 old skewl. And I didn’t even touch the dixie or ‘charleston’ music.
Anyone got 5 other good, arse kicking, ‘get it done’, ‘dangerous as midnight coffee’ music?

because trev is a little baby

Last night I DJed for the second time since… well. I’ve only DJed three times this year, since November 2006 really. The last time was actually very ordinary and I wasn’t very happy with it (see earlier comment). Thing is, when I’m not DJing a lot, I’m dancing a lot. So it’s a trade off.
Anyways, last night I DJed a set which made me very, very happy. Practicing yesteday afternoon for the first time in ages probably helped (practicing = going through my music and doing ‘test’ sets, re-familiarising myself with all my music… well, most of my music).
Partway through the first or second or third (can’t remember which) song I had that crazy pulse-thumping ‘this freakin’ RAWKS’ feeling. I said to Dan about ten times “God, this sounds so GREAT on a big sound system!” Which was kind of duh, because it was either the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, from an album that every swing dancer and DJ must own – fabulous live recording of a fabulous band doing fabulous Ellington music, or it was Basie. And Basie is the best.
The night started kind of strange when a girl I thought knew my music asked if I could play some ‘old school’ music. And I thought she might be joking because I said “That’s like asking me if I like to lindy hop”. But she thought… well, who knows what she thought. Anyways, the upshot is that she really wanted to hear some Cats and the Fiddle. I showed her a short list of stuff I’d put together that afternoon with plenty of CATF, Slim and Slam and the Mills Brothers – male vocal groups which feature lots of guitar. And are, incidentally, from the late 30s and 40s for the most part. ‘Old school’ to me means early 30s, late 20s – serious scratch. It’s not difficult to convince me to play that stuff – I loves that action (and I’d probably add some select Fats freakin-wonderful Waller and Cab Calloway to that particular subgroup – sillier vocals, smaller groups (though not necessarily with Cab… though his earlier stuff has the right sort of sound), chunking rhythm section.
Despite the impression I might have given here, it was actually quite nice to be asked to play stuff I adore. I had to stop myself suddenly go through my music and revising my plans for the set. I had to stay cool and just work with the plan.
As it turns out, I didn’t play any of that stuff (not even any Cab!), nor did I play any serious old school, though I did have Who Stole The Lock (On The Henhouse Door) by Jack Bland and his Rhythmakers with Henry ‘Red’ Allen (1932, 243bpm) on my short list. In fact, I think it’s time for a little gratuitous lindy hop pr0n.

That’s Todd Yanacone and Naomi Unami (blowing all my arguments about ethnicity to shit right there) kickin’ it old school at the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown in 2005 (linkage). Dat is where it’s at.
But I didn’t end up playing that either. That’s the sort of music that I think of as old school, and I’d add people like Willie Bryant (oh Willie, how do I love thee?), Henry Red Allen, Mills Blue Rhythm Band, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, early Cab Calloway and early Ellington to that group). I really freakin’ love that action – it sounds crazy and fun and you can really hear the transition from ‘charleston’ music to ‘lindy hop’ music – ie this is where the swing is actually getting into jazz. It’s not quite right for hard core lindy hop, a la Frankie, but it has the crazy energy of the music that makes you dance de charleston and other ol’ timey dances. This is the sort of stuff that I associate with the breakaway – precursor to lindy hop (which you can see in the After Seben clip – Shorty George does the breakaway with an unknown partner right there at the end before the solo stuff (and that solo stuff, incidentally, was my obsession for a while – I love that crazy eccentric dance stuff)).
Though I adore this stuff, it’s not terribly general-audience-friendly. The tempos are generally very high (above 200 at least) for lindy hoppers… for Melbourne lindy hoppers – I’m sure Trev could offer some nice examples of lindy hoppers in other Australian cities and their tempo-comfort. And the lack of swinginess can actually make for quite tiring dancing when you’re doing lindy. It almost demands a more upright position and you don’t get that ‘flying’ lindy look. But, as Todd and Naomi demonstrate, it still makes for freakin’ amazing dancing.
Anyway, back to me and me and my stuff and me.
I think I’ll just cut and paste from my comment over on Swing Talk. Here’s my set list and commentary on how the set went:
[song title – artist – bpm – year – album title – song length]
Happy Go Lucky Local – Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis – 110 – 1999 – Live In Swing City: Swingin’ With Duke highenergy – 6:57
Moten Swing – Count Basie – 125 – 1959 – Breakfast Dance And Barbecue – 5:17
Blues In Hoss’ Flat – Count Basie – 142 – 1995 – Big Band Renaissance Disc 1 – 3:13
Shoutin’ Blues – Count Basie and His Orchestra – 148 – 1949 – Kansas City Powerhouse- 2:38
Four Or Five Times – Woody Herman Orchestra – 141 – The Great Swing Bands (Disc 2) – 3:09
Shout, Sister, Shout – Lucky Millinder – 140 – Apollo Jump – 2:44
Back Room Romp – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra – 155 – 2000 – Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington – 9:07 PM
A Viper’s Moan – Mora’s Modern Rhythmists – 143 – 2000 – Call Of The Freaks – 3:30
Savoy Blues Kid Ory – 134 – 2002 – Golden Greats: Greatest Dixieland Jazz Disc 3 – 3:00
Perdido Street Blues – Louis Armstrong – 144 – 1997 – Priceless Jazz Collection #3 – 3:08
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho – Kid Ory And His Creole Jazz Band – 160 – 1946 – Kid Ory and his Creole Jazz Band 1944-46 – 3:12
Lavender Coffin – Lionel Hampton, etc – 138 – 1949 – Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun – 2:47
Cole Slaw – Jesse Stone and His Orchestra – 145 – Original Swingers: Hipsters, Zoots and Wingtips vol 2 – 2:57
Solid as a Rock – Count Basie and His Orchestra with The Deep River Boys – 140 – Count Basie and His Orchestra 1950-1951 – 3:03
Joog, Joog – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – 146 – 1949 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 – 3:00
B-Sharp Boston – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – 126 – 1949 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 – 2:54
Jive At Five – Count Basie and His Orchestra – 147 – 1960 – The Count Basie Story (Disc 1) – 3:02
Six Appeal – Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five – 141 – 2004 – Crazy Rhythm – 3:29
All The Cats Join In – Peggy Lee and Frank DeVol’s Orchestra – 150 – 1998 – Complete Peggy Lee & June Christy Capitol Transcription Sessions (Disc 2) – 2:18
Flying Home – Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra – 159 – 1940 – Tempo And Swing – 2:58
Blues In The Groove – Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra – 205 – 1939 – Lunceford Special 1939-40 – 2:35
Hop Skip and Jump – Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, featuring Hilary Alexander – 192 – 2004 – Crazy Rhythm – 2:48
For Dancers Only – Jimmie Lunceford and His Harlem Express – 178 – 1944 – 1944-Uncollected – 2:22
Till Tom Special – Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra – 158 – 1940 – Tempo And Swing – 3:23
Jumpin’ At The Woodside – Count Basie – 235 – The Complete Decca Recordings (disc 02) – 3:10
Rundown:
I always begin with something ‘safe’ and hi-fi at CBD so I can fuss over the tech set up (because it always sucks). Happy Go Lucky Local went down really well (which surprised me). I’m not sure if I actually played Moten Swing or not – it was on my list but I think I was deciding between it or HGLL and didn’t actually play it. Whatever.
Keith tried to suggest the one-in-a-row rule to me at about Blues in Hoss’s Flat but I scoffed. I derided. Basie is such a great opener for a set – he really is the best lindy hopping music. Nice, high energy, kind of straight up and nothing too scary or difficult, you can get nice quality recordings and people know a lot of his stuff.
I consciously played a lot of favourites during the set – sort of speckled them in there between other ‘mini-sets’ (the mini-sets in order: the norleans set, the shouty-clapping set, the ‘chilling’ set, the ‘finally you’re warmed up, so let’s kick your arse’ set). Perdido Street Blues is one of my old faves which I actually DJ very rarely (it’s also actually a song I think of as ‘Sidney Bechet’ rather than Armstrong). I can’t play Blues My Naughty Sweety Gave To Me again – it make me want to hurl. Even though people love it, I’m over it. PSB was my BMNSGTM substitute.
The ‘mini set’ thing wasn’t deliberate – it just kind of worked out that way as I tried to play songs in a logical order (ie matching styles and then moving between styles using the clutch rather than just hacking them in there).
I did scew up at one point, doing a dreaded double click 3/4 of the way through Til Tom Special, which sucked, as I was building them into a frenzy for the last song. But no one seemed to mind and an jam circle formed instantly. It was the first spontaneous jam I’ve seen in Melbourne for ages. There were a couple of grumbles from people who wanted to dance to that song, but I say – get in there and DANCE to it.
I think I have to add for the non-dancers reading, that that last song Jumpin’ at the Woodsideis an iconic one. It’s hardcore Basie, doing the very best Basie action. It’s fast (though this wasn’t the version I thought I played, which is about 270 odd bpm), it’s fun and it’s crazy. It’s also been stamped as a ‘jam song’. I didn’t intend a jam, I just wanted to play an arse-kicking, fun, crazy fast song to close my set. As bigpants comments in that Swing Talk thread, though (and I really like this line):

“We interrupt the regular broadcast for this important jam announcement”
Maybe you shocked the jam into us. It worked.

If only I could say that I planned this. But I’m afraid it was sheer fluke.
One of my favourite parts of the night was playing Blues in the Groove (I’m on a(nother) Lunceford kick atm) and seeing people run to the floor. I blame that version of Flying Home – it’s slower but gets people all worked up. And you have to love balboans – they get in there and work it at all tempos.
Another highlight was playing that version of For Dancers Only – it’s off a new album I saw pimped on SwingDJs recently and which I absolutely LOVE. I think Gracenote has the wrong name for the album, but it looks like that to the right there.
As you can see from the Amazon link, it’s crazy cheap. And worth it for that version of FDO alone (incidentally, Dan played a version of Wham last night – I am currently loving that song atm. Lunceford and Hamp are my men).
Then Dan played his first Melbourne gig and did a neat job. We had a bit of a scuffle over who’d play what. The best bit of DJing first is that you get to play what you like, while the second DJ can’t repeat anything. Tough luck if you dig the same stuff (though that rocks because you get to dance to the stuff that way). But then, the first DJ has to suffer through thinking ‘why didn’t I play that?!’ in the second set. Actually, I enjoyed DJed with Trev at the Speegs at MLX – we have similar tastes, but different collections, and of course, different ways of putting a set together. I played the first set, he the second, me the third, and it was really nice rubbing in/bewailing our choices.
And just in case you thought I was the nerdiest DJ in the whole world, go look at this link and see I’m not. WHY didn’t I find that clip before I wrote that stuff about youtube?
Rightio. Enough postage for you there, Trev?
I have a job application to write, so I’m outy.
LCJO image stolen from here.

hm

I’m doing a set this Friday night (second set, if you’re interested, preceded by one of my least favourite DJs) and I’m not really on top of my music. I have been too busy reading and writing and haven’t spent enough time listening to music. I don’t listen to music when I’m working because it either distracts me or I just stop hearing it after a while.

cover bands

Ok, so this is some freaking amazing fan action. Check out this post from Solomon on the SwingDJs board:

(Posted by Solomon: Wed Jan 31, 2007 07:20)
Post subject: Seeking recommendations of pre-Swing big band recordings
I’m always writing new arrangements to expand the reportoire of my ten-piece orchestra, and right now I want to do so by regressing in time. Currently most of my book is stuff from the late 1930s to the mid 1960s, with a special emphasis on late 1950s (New Testament Basie etc.) I want to start doing a bunch of music from the period 1915-1935.
Therefore, I’m asking for recommendations (“requests”, if you will) of recordings from that period that I should take a listen to! Here are my parameters. Because of the size of my band (three reeds, three brass, four rhythm), I’m going to focus on songs with great written arrangements rather than collective improvisation. In other words, I’m more interested in pre-Swing big band repertoire (or small-group repertoire with a minimum of group improvisation) than polyphonic New Orleans hot jazz. I’m also looking for instrumental music rather than vocals.
For example, here are some artists I’m thinking of (with examples of the sort of song I mean)
Duke Ellington (The Mooche, Saturday Night Function, Black Beauty, many others)
Benny Moten (Moten Swing)
Jimmie Lunceford (Flaming Reeds And Screaming Brass, White Heat, Stomp It Off)
Fletcher Henderson (King Porter Stomp, Sugar Foot Stomp)
Jelly Roll Morton (Deep Creek, New Orleans Bump)
Fats Waller (The Minor Drag)
King Oliver (Struggle Buggy)
Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra (Casa Loma Stomp, San Sue Strut)
Mound City Blue Blowers (Hello Lola!)
Reuben Reeves (Yellow Five)
By the way, I love vocal music, and I love New Orleans-style group improvisation. It’s just that my band is not well-suited to playing that kind of stuff.
Oh, and also, I’d especially appreciate stuff that’s between 120bpm and 220bpm… it seems much easier to come up with great stuff outside of that range, as you can see from my list above. But feel free to suggest songs at any tempo, as long as they were recorded before 1936.
Thanks in advance! I look forward to seeing what suggestions you guys can come up with.
Solomon

And when you read that in light of this interesting post on onlinefandom
It’s a bit late for me to be touching the computer (I have to have a mandatory 2 hour cool off period or else I’m up all night IMing buddies overseas, buying music on amazon and writing shit on international discussion boards), so I won’t write anything more.
… but that’s some really interesting shit. Especially when it was Solomon who transcribed the Keep Punchin’ music for the Big Apple (he wasn’t the only one, but his version is the better of his and JW’s). Solomon is also a keen dancer and dance teacher as well as DJ and pianist. He’s also a mathematician.

Jimmie Lunceford Rhythm is our Business

I’m currently enjoying (another) Jimmie Lunceford album called Rhythm is our Business. I can’t find a link to it, I’m afraid. It seems that quite a few of these CDs I’m picking up second hand are actually ones that you could mail order or get as one of those monthly music club deals. So they’re not on amazon or the other major music sites. Which sucks, because they’re actually really great compilations – some unusual stuff that isn’t on the more usual CDs.
Anyway, this Lunceford one is really neat. It has a few of my favourites (Hitting the Bottle (which I LOVE), Organ Grinder’s Swing (great fun for dancing but goes over like a lead balloon with Melbournians because it has those tinkly ‘organ’ bits), Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam) (fun lindy fun)), but also a couple of new things that I didn’t have before. Perhaps the most interesting version of Black and Tan Fantasy I’ve heard so far. Most of the versions I have are by Ellington (as you’d expect), with a few other ordinary versions. But I really like this Lunceford one – it has a different intro and the initial trumpet solo feels quite different.
I’m a big fan of second hand CD shops, and regularly turn up nice surprises. Nice cheap surprises.
I was going to post a clip which I remember as Black and Tan Fantasy, but is actually something else (East St Louis Toodle-oo or something) with the Five Hot Shots or the Berry Brothers or somebody dancing…
…look, I’m having trouble remembering, ok?
Anyway, because I couldn’t find any of those things on youtube (one search is enough), here’s the Nicholas Brothers, who frickin’ rock.

And because the 70s were a very strange place, here’s the Nicholas Brothers with the Jacksons.

And because I can’t keep away from youtube, here’s something else:

Yes, there were skips dancing lindy in the 30s. Though I’m not sure Dean Collins counts as a skip – he was Jewish. That’s some serious jazz action he and Jewell McGowan are pulling out, west coast lindy style.
The best bit of that clip is right near the end where the white dood sings Darktown Strutters’ Ball – that’s some seriously dodgy racial politics right there.

this is a bit of a test


hmf. well, that didn’t work. If you go here you can hear the song I’m currently (well, eternally) obsessing about. Duke Ellington’s Stompy Jones, recorded on Victor in 1938. It’s 200bpms. Nice for lindy hopping. There’s also a version by Sidney Bechet which I don’t like quite as much – I get a bit too much of the Bechet action.
There’s a big chunk in Gunther Shuller’s book about this song and its rhythmic complexities. I just like it cause it’s bouncy and feels like it’s going somewhere. I don’t think I’ve ever DJed it.
…I did just write a bit about why it’s nice, but MT went wacked and I lost it. So just imagine.

it’s difficult to not think ‘oh, this Basie song would be good here’

It’s always difficult DJing for a crowd of lindy hoppers on a very hot night in a very hot room. Especially when they’re Melbournians, who tend to forget how to deal with hot weather, even though we have really hot summers. I think it’s all the rain and wind and cold in the winter.
But last night I was up for the first set, and over the course of yesterday revised my loose plans for the set. I had a quick look through my slower stuff – I knew I wouldn’t get terribly high bpms – but reminded myself of my favourite highenergy, fun slower stuff. Just because you’re playing slower music, don’t mean you should let the dancers get too lethargic. My goal was to keep the energy up so the dancers continually felt like they really wanted to dance fast and crazy. I wanted to build them up gradually, kind using the smaller wave idea, not only in terms of tempo (where you move from slower to medium to faster stuff in a general progression) but also in terms of mood (where you build up the energy and excitement, then quieten it down, progressively). But at the same time as I was working on these shorter waves, I also wanted to work on a broader, ‘big picture’ type wave, where I was gradually working up the energy in the room, even though I was giving them rests with the down parts of the mini-waves. It worked quite well, I think.
This was the first set, as I’ve said, and that means that the crowd was largely beginners from the class (though not super-beginners – more people with some lindy who’re loving dancing, but can’t quite hack mega tempos or really complicated melodies and rhythms yet). The more experienced dancers came in about a third of the way through the set, and that always builds the energy in the room, in part because their example invigorates the newer dancers watching them, but also because they really use the music (meaning, they’re beyond just thinking ‘move-move-move’ and can build in extra responses to the music within a move). Newer dancers can hear this stuff, but they don’t often have the physical ability to make this feeling flesh).
I do find, though (unfortunately) that the newer dancers tend to cede the floor to the more advanced dancers as they feel a bit intimidated. I guess that’s one aspect of a scene with more advanced dancers, but it’s also one of the less pleasant parts of the Melbourne scene – there’s a very clear heirarchy enforced by the system of performance troups, competitions, teaching cadetships and teaching roles, and of course, the supporting emails, websites and other assorted media and discourse. Nor do many of those more experienced dancers work to undo that heirarchy by asking newer people to dance.
So you can see on the set list below that the more experienced dancers came in at about Everyday I have the Blues.
There were a couple of eggs in there – If it don’t fit don’t force it just sounded shit on the sound system. CBD sucks arse – all my piano-only or sparser arrangements end up sounding like shit. It has to have a big, full orchestra to fill the room. I do not know why – I try to fix it with the levels, but that doesn’t work. I guess I need to get onto the whole equaliser thing, but…
I really wanted to play a bit of Jay McShann after I’m just a ladies’ man man by Witherspoon, because I liked the way Witherspoon’s dirtiness responded to Barrel House Annie’s crudeness, and because they’re both kind of solid, uptempo blues tracks – good stompin’ dancing fun. Witherspoon also got his start singing with McShann’s band, so it seemed appropriate. I did want to play a bit more McShann, as he passed away recently, but the little section kind of faltered with the poor quality. I’m just a ladies’ man did go down really well, though.
I pulled a few stunts during this set… stunts, as in DJing tricks. I played some old favourites, speckled through the set. These included Blues in hoss’s flat which we haven’t heard in a while, and which was overplayed earlier this year (mostly by me), Shout Sister Shout (whose unnoticed vulgarity and double entendre work really pleases me and seemed a good lead in to If it don’t fit), Be Careful (even if you can’t be good) which was me having a joke with myself – it’s an old favourite, I regard it as a ‘safety’ song as it’s good quality, is good, easy dancing (and has some nice musically bits), but I really like the synchronicity of the lyrics (“be careful… even if you can’t be good). This track is also edging into jump blues/early rock n roll in 1951, which kind of worked as a musical progression from the styles of the previous songs (a sort of timeline of the development of blues to rock n roll) – a point only a supernerd DJ would care about, but which actually works really well with dancers, as it leads them naturally between styles, rather than sort of dumping a nasty stylistic shift on them.
I wanted to get to Six Appeal, which is a Campus Five song I’m busily overplaying, and have noticed goes down really with dancers, and figured Shoo Fly Pie (another song riddled with overlooked inuendo) was a nice step. I had toyed with playing the Campus Five version of Why don’t you do right (the ‘Jessica Rabbit song’), but that’s too low a tempo and kind of kills it. Six appeal is more fun anyway.
I really like the way Campus Five play that older, echoes-of-Orleans style in Six Appeal – I think it’s the trumpet and the clarinet that make me think this way. Plus the odd bit of interesting percussion/drum work. From here the obvious choice seemed Bechet – he’s got that revivalist trad jazz sound that still swings. And Blues my naughty sweetie gives to me is very popular with Melbournians today so I figured it was a good choice.
From there, I had to play Joshua fit de battle of jericho as it really develops that New Orleans sound, and I really like that combination of songs. I like the way Blues my naughty sweetie works the crowd up, energy-wise with the stompy piano/base, but adds in a bit of sauciness with the trumpet (no, it’s not Louis Armstrong, though I always think it is). This song is great. It kind of feels like Western saloon honky tonk, but with a bit of saucy (and terribly cool) bluesy swing to give it a sense of humour. When the clarinet comes in (it could be a sax – I can’t be arsed checking), its work with the trumpet really lets you know where the naughty is at.
And Joshua really takes up the energy blues my naughty sweetie has been gradually building up and works it up a level – kind of the climax, really. Though it depends on the crowd. This combination of songs has gone arse up for me in the past, but the mellow tempos and the general vibe was working with me – I think the Campus Five got people in the mood, in a less confronting, twenty first century way, which made people more amenable to the quite-in-your-face yelling and shouting and almost unswingness of Joshua.
I’m generally not a big fan of Jesus songs (I do not like Wade in the water, for example) but Joshua seems a little more irreverent – I think funeral march rather than baptism. Kind of the way Lavender Coffin (another crowd pleaser I dropped in earlier to score cheap points) does. It’s about death and martyrs and saints and the bible, but in an old testament way. Kind of gloriously bloody, and with a bit of gospel-as-used-by-African-American slaves – a bit of tactical resistance from within an institution, where you know dark humour is the flip side of that slap stick clowning for the white folks.
Of course, Jericho has some sweet trumpet and clarinet as well. And you really feel like stomping along with this song – it has a nice, stompy rhythm. The ‘improvised’ bit at the end feels nicely chaotic and wild, but still purposeful and organised (if that makes sense).
And then I rounded it off with Ridin’ on the L&N, which I love dearly – I love the lyrics in these Hampton track (fuck, I LOVE Hamp more than anything – no one does stompy, going somewhere rhythms like him):

A man named Mose,
With (was?) a great big nose,
Was sleepin’ on a pile of clothes,
Conductor came and rang the bell,
The porter hollered ‘well well well’
I’m riding,
Riding on the L & N
Ain’t jivin’
Riding on the L & N
So long!

I did play this song particularly for a couple of balboa nuts I saw just getting into their groove with Jericho, and I know this song goes down well with balboa doods. That wide-handed piano and driving rhythm pleases them. I had considered Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen, the version by the Goodman small group (which features Hamp as well) with Martha Tilton, but that’s a little light and tinkly and I was getting a bit of a stompy groove on.
Basically, I wanted something with that ‘building up’ feeling, to work on the existing energy, but not a crazy all-out speeding lindy hop track. It was too hot, and I didn’t want the dancers spent on a track just before the end of my set – I wanted them all hot and ready and worked up.
Savoy Blues brought the tempos down again, but got all the less experienced (and post-christmas indulgant types) back onto the floor. It’s a song that’s kind of getting pretty popular, I love it (Kid Ory again, though a later period I think (at least a later feel – I don’t have the date for that song unfortunately)), and it kept up that stompy move yo ass! feel.
People were pretty much going nuts in that last bracket, which was impressive, as they’d not been able to hack a lot of pounding earlier on in the set.
That version of Splanky was a birthday dance, and was right for the people dancing in the circle.
Overall, it was nice to work from the enthusiastic newer dancers to the old sticks who can be much pickier, but can like a wider range of tempos and styles (if I’m lucky – depending on the crowd). Those newer doods just love to dance, and for whom I like to play some of the old faves, or play the better quality stuff so they can really hear swinging jazz at its best.
[rant] I do not, at all, in any way, subscribe to the idea that we should play neo swing for new dancers. That stuff sucks arse for dancing, doesn’t swing at all, and encourages bad dancing habits. It’s technically pretty poor musicianship (for the most part), and I refuse to add any to my collection. Beyond that, it’s more the case that people take up swing dancing for swing music and the influence of people like Jamie Cullen and (sigh) Robbie Williams than Royal Crown Revue or Cherry Poppin’ Daddies.[/rant]
I began with the Campus Five because I quite like that song, I needed something hifi and safe to test the set up before I got hardcore, and because it feels like the band are kind of ‘testing’ a melody, over a solid, obvious beat – good stuff for a warm up dance. I played Jump Ditty then because I’m very fond of it, even though I suspect that cooler types than I think it’s naff. And it always goes down well with a crowd of newer dancers – it feels like fun. The lyrics are a good thing – I’ve found that dropping in vocals is a good idea with newer dancers.
I played Massachussetts because it feels really swingy and gets me in the mood for dancing – Maxine really swings, and yet the rhythm is really clear and swingingly nice. It’s a nice bridge between the groovy and the solidly swinging old school. The musicians are top notch, and as a smaller combo, you can really appreciate each instrument individually. Unfortunately, everything on this album sounds like shit at CBD – all base and treble. Even when I up the mids. I think this is indicative of the problems with CBD generally – you lose definition in the middle range. And it SUCKS. I will work on learning how to fix it.
I like B Sharp Boston a whole lot, hi fi Ellington, feels like it’s going somewhere, kind of sassy. Still a good warm up song (ie not too challenging or fast or scary), but really great, musically. Blip Blip was a crowd-pleaser, and because I was thinking of Ellington (he did a great original version with Ray Nance on vocals before this Ella one). Slip of the lip sounded like arse – same problem of too much high, lows… but I think it’s indicative of many of the Ellington recordings I have from this period, only made worse by CBD’s system. It’s a shame as it’s a really fun song. Too fast for that crowd in that temperature at that time of night, though. So I went back to hifi (a safety strategy), with the wonderful Jive at Five, then thought I’d follow with a Basie track by a big band other than Basie’s orchestra. Which was a good thing, as I then played two Basie tracks in a row – two very safe, crowd-pleasing favourites.
But really, Basie makes for such great dancing music, it’s difficult to not think ‘oh, this Basie song would be good here’ – his stuff is so varied, so swingingly great for dancing.
After all that DJing, I tried to dance like a fool, but the temperature, post-christmas fatness and unfitness and so on prevented. Needless to say, riding home was difficult.
Fuck it was hot yesterday (and my laptop is burning my legs now!)
Oomph Fa Fa – Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five- 129 – 2003 – Jammin’ the Blues
Jump Ditty! – Joe Carroll and The Ray Bryant Quintet – 134 – Red Kat Swing 1
Massachusetts – Maxine Sullivan – 144 – 2006 – A Tribute To Andy Razaf
B-Sharp Boston – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – 126 – 1949 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950
Bli-Blip – Ella Fitzgerald – 132 – 1956 – Ella Fitzgerald Day Dream: Best Of The Duke Ellington Songbook
A Slip Of The Lip – Duke Ellington with Ray Nance – 150 – 1942 – The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 13)
Jive At Five – Count Basie and His Orchestra – 147 – 1960 – The Count Basie Story (Disc 1)
Easy Does It – Big 18
Every Day I Have The Blues – Count Basie – 116 – 1959 – Breakfast Dance And Barbecue
Blues In Hoss’ Flat – Count Basie – 142 – 1995 – Big Band Renaissance Disc 1
Walk ‘Em – Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra – 131 – 1946 – Walk ‘Em
Back Room Romp – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra – 155 – 2000 – Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington
Lavender Coffin – Lionel Hampton, etc – 138 – 1949 – Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun
Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee – Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra – 130 – 1949 – Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun
Le Jazz Hot – Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra – 144 – 1939 – Lunceford Special 1939-40
Shout, Sister, Shout – Lucky Millinder – 140 – Apollo Jump
If It Don’t Fit (Don’t Force It) – Barrel House Annie – 148 – 1937 – Raunchy Business: Hot Nuts and Lollypops
I’m Just A Lady’s Man – Jimmy Witherspoon – 144 – 2002 – Goin’ Around In Circles
Be Careful (If You Can’t Be Good) – Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra – 121 – 1951 – Walk ‘Em
Shoo Fly Pie – June Christy – 128 – Red Kat Swing 1
Six Appeal – Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five – 141 – 2004 – Crazy Rhythm
Blues My Naughty Sweetie – Sidney Bechet – 140 – 1951 – The Blue Note Years
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho – Kid Ory And His Creole Jazz Band – 160 – 1946 – Kid Ory and his Creole Jazz Band 1944-46
Ridin’ On The L&N – Lionel Hampton and His Quartet- 170 – 1946 – Lionel Hampton Story 3: Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Savoy Blues – Kid Ory – 134 – 2002 – Golden Greats: Greatest Dixieland Jazz Disc 3
Splanky – Count Basie – 125 – 1957 – Complete Atomic Basie, the