lindy hop and other dances – Page 83

zora neale hurston

I keep returning to Zora Neale Hurston.

Negro dancing is a dynamic suggestion. No matter how violent it may appear to the beholder, every posture gives the impression that the dancer will do much more. For example, the performer flexes one knee sharply, assumes a ferocious face mask, thrusts the upper part of the body forward with clenched fists, elbows taut as in hard running or grasping a thrusting blade. That is all. But the spectator himself adds the picture of ferocious assault, hears the drums and finds himself keeping time with the music and tensing himself for the struggle. It is compelling insinuation. That is the very reason the spectator is held so rapt. He is participating in the performance himself â€“ carrying out the suggestions of the performer.
The difference in the two arts is: the white dancer attempts to express fully; the Negro is restrained, but succeeds in gripping the beholder by forcing him to finish the action the performer suggests. Since no art can ever express all the variations conceivable, the Negro must be considered the greater artist, his dancing is realistic suggestion, and that is about all a great artist can do (Zora Neal Hurston)

Hurston, Zora Neale, “Characteristics of Negro Expression” The Jazz Cadence of American Culture. Ed. Robert G. Oâ€™Meally, 1998. New York: Columbia University Press, 298-310.
(I can’t find the original date for this right now – will look later).
I like this discussion of performer/spectator interaction, and the necessity of spectators participating in the performance. This is call-and-response at another level.

blackfaces and performing identity. again.

EDIT: Sorry there are so many typos/bung urls, etc. I just wrote and posted this without editing, and now I can’t be arsed – Zac Efron is calling.

Dancing the cakewalk was very popular just before the turn of the century and afterwards. It had evolved from slavery, when blacks mimicked the formal dances of the whites, sometimes, evidently, to the delight of the slave owners. Clearly, the blacks were doing some subtle things unseen by the whites, who doubtless were amused by these ‘inferior’ blacks attempting their dances. The cakewalk had resilience, however, and toward the end of the century fashionable whites were doing it. So here was a black dance parodying white dance danced by trendy whites. Finally, black dancers, responding to the new popularity of the dance, displayed it, improvised on it, and ended up dancing a black dance parodying white dance danced by whites now danced by blacks. Singing a song in black skin in blackface is part of the same structure; the black dancers are doing something else in their cakewalk, and so is the singer (Gayle Pemberton (from The Jazz Cadence of American Life, p 279))

I am endlessly fascinated by the idea of performing identity – slipping on a mask, stepping into a costume, painting on skin. I’m particularly interested in the scope for performance offered by dance and song – singing black, singing white, singing gentile, singing jew; dancing black, dancing white, dancing class, dancing gender. There’s quite a bit written on it, including by me in regards to gender performance (with specific reference to swivels in a swingout, women leading and women solo dancing in a lindy-dominated scene). There’s stuff written about white bands ‘playing black’ in recordings and on radio, and about jewish musicians playing gentile or black or… this is where it gets complicated. I think I like this idea because we are all performing identity at any time (and I always think of Judith Butler here), but we are only occasionally explicitly engaged in performing a specific identity or persona.
Imitation and impersonation in dance fascinate me (and I dedicated chunks of chapters to the issue in my PhD), in part because the line between imitation-as-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery and impersonation-as-ridicule-or-derision is so thin if there at all. Sometimes the perfect imitation intended as compliment is read as derision. Sometimes a performance gains its very value through the delicate tipping point – is this derision? Is it flattery? Are we laughing at this dancer, with them? I’ve taken great pleasure (and satisfaction) myself in imitating dancers who’ve irritated me, and then integrating that imitation into a dance so that it only reads as derision if you read on the slant. Safety in subterfuge and all.
I think that issues of power are indelibly inked in performances of identity, particularly in regards to race and class. Its particularly true of cakewalk, and disturbingly true of blackface and minstrelsy. Minstrelsy is a topic which has attracted great scholarly attention, and there is material written about black artists performing in blackface. I am interested in the way this putting-on of identity (and race and class) begins to blur and confuse when we drill down, as Pemberton’s paragraph implies. I like it that we can’t quite be sure of what is going on. I like this element of confusion and of deceit and of slippery meaning. It is a type of power in itself, particularly when the performer is disenfranchised by the setting, the society, the culture. It reminds me of the great pleasure of a lie well told.
The only thing better than a good story well told is a bold lie well embroidered. And not found out. I like the tension of deceit, I like the boldness of a pile of bullshit presented in conversation or public assembly. I like its creative edge, I like the way it breaks the rules and tips over our ideas of what is ‘true’ and what is ‘good’. We all know that a story is better told with a little embellishment, and a good part of the bettering lies in the knowledge that there is some untruth here. Something made up. Something sneaky.
I think this is why I am particularly fond of the story about Marshall Stearns and cats corner. The story goes: Stearns, in the course of his research into African American dance in the 1950s, was told a series of stories about the Savoy ballroom and of ballroom culture in Harlem in the 20s and 30s. He was told that if an untried novice dared take to the floor in ‘cats corner’ (where all the very best dancers danced), they would be taken outside and beaten. He was also told a number of other stories of dubious veracity. Some years later ageing dancers told another version of the story, with the important aside: oh, they was having a game with Stearns; it was exaggerated, it wasn’t like that.
Now, my favourite part of this whole story is that we aren’t quite sure where the deceit begins. Or where the untruth leaves off. Was the original story exaggerated, a lie? Was the later amendment another lie? I also like it that the researcher (whose book Jazz Dance is the authoritative text on the subject) is the butt of the joke, whichever way it lies. He has no way of knowing what was true and what was not. His research – his data – is ‘corrupted’ by the subjects. The power of the researcher in-the-field is neatly undone by a few layers of maybe and perhaps-not.
This of course reminds me of a brief discussion on twitter a little while ago, where a friend asked ‘does the subject have a duty to participate in research which is of benefit to the whole community’ (I paraphrase here, because I’ve forgotten the wording). I thought immediately of this story of cats corner, and of my own wrestling with the ‘power’ of the researcher and the ‘might’ of the research. I eventually decided that to suggest that researchers have a ‘right’ to data, or that subjects have a ‘responsibility’ to participate is to enshrine the power of researcher (white, middle class, male… or otherwise empowered) and the disempowerment of the subject. And, above all, this thinking values particular types of knowledge and discourse above all others – the written word, the published page, the institutionalised speaker and voice. A large part of my thesis was spent discussing the importance of dance as public discourse for the utterly disenfranchised African slaves who had absolutely no access to public discourse. ‘Meaning went underground’. Meaning became slippery and dependent upon particular knowledge and experience for its ‘proper’ deconstruction/construction.
I think that I like the idea of a research subject lying to a researcher. I like the way its purpose was no doubt (but then, entirely questionably) for humour’s sake – for a joke, a laugh at the expense of the naive. A joke eventually to be found out, and then (hopefully) to be shared again. Because it is the finding out of the joke, of the deceit, of the lie, that makes it work. If a joke, a deceit, goes unnoticed, it isn’t a lie; it’s a truth. And I suppose this is where it is most powerful. And dangerous.
I came across that Pemberton quote today and was reminded of the issue. There was a brief question about blacks in blackface on twitter, and that set me thinking about it again…
Of course, I need to just add that all this is interesting when you think about jazz. Jazz is about improvisation (making stuff up) within a broader, shared structure. In the case of jazz, this shared structure is the score or melody or riff (or whatever). In terms of social interaction, it is culture and social norm. In dance, it is the partner structure (lindy hop) or the sounds of steel heels on wood (tap) or… I am most interested in jazz music and dance because improvisation – innovation, making things up, creativity – is an essential part of the formal system. Without it, we are just listening to dull old lists of rules. With improvisation (which includes impersonation and performances of other people) there is light and laughter and excitement. And interest. Lots of interest.
I talked about performance and gender here in reference to Beyonce and all the single ladies, Armstrong and performing blackness/masculinity and the power of satire and humour. More Armstrong and gender/class/ethnicity stuff here, here and here.
I wrote about hot and cool and cakewalk (and contrasting layers of meaning) here.
There’s also some talk about gender and performance in dance here and here.

8 songs about food

8 songs with lyrics about ‘eating’. And when I say ‘eating’, I mean ‘sex’. Well, mostly. Some are actually songs about food. Probably. But not the Fats Waller ones.
There are approximately 60 squillion billion jazz and blues songs about ‘food’ and ‘eating’. These are only 8, but 8 that I really like, or that we sign around our house, or that are just plain good.
Bessie Smith’s ‘Gimme a Pigfoot’ is the best, because it’s a song about simple culinary and social pleasures – a pigfoot and a bottle of beer. And she’s not going to be payin’ 25c to go in NOwhere.

8 1930s Ellington tracks that’d pwn Bechet in a ninja fight

As if Bechet and Ellington’d ever get into a ninja fight!
As if this is the final list of Ellington orsm!
8 of my favourite songs from Ellington’s (small and large) 1930s bands.
1. Jungle Nights In Harlem Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 1930
2. Shout ‘Em Aunt Tillie Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 1930
3. Rockin’ In Rhythm The Harlem Footwarmers with Duke Ellington 1930
4. It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) Duke Ellington and his Orchestra with Ivie Anderson 1932
5. Stompy Jones Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 1934
6. Digga Digga Do (M 187-2) Cootie Williams and his Rug Cutters 1937
7. The Back Room Romp Rex Stewart and his 52nd Street Stompers 1937
8. Top And Bottom Cootie Williams and his Rug Cutters 1939

instead of twitter

Looking at this complicated DJ roster, I’m wondering how I get myself into these things.

in which we ask ‘why ya buggin?!’ and then learn to whom the house actually belongs

Last night I did one of the most challenging gigs I’ve ever done. It was for a very large event – around one thousand punters and dozens of performers, including a large band, two troupes of swing dancers, heaps of burlesque dancers and some international MC talent. My role was fairly extensive: warming the room at the beginning of the night before the burlesque performers; handling the music for an hour’s worth of burlesque and lindy hop performances; DJing a (very crowded) smokey back room full of non-dancers. I was also required for a couple of hours of rehearsals in the late afternoon before the event began.
The first bit – the room warming – was the easiest. I’ve done this sort of thing many times before, and it went well. I played the usual high-energy, hi-fi swinging jazz, so it’s not worth giving you the set list, really. There was a designated dance floor with a series of graduated standing areas overlooking the dance floor and the stage. This bit went well – swing dancers (of all stripes) getting down in the usual way. I think I did a pretty good job getting a crowd of mostly non-dancers wearing full ‘gangster’ getup excited. But there were delays and the main act started half an hour late. This can be challenging, especially as I was being updated every five minutes: “one more song, one more song.” So I was working on a song-by-song basis, and couldn’t really manage the energy in a more complex way. Crudely put, if the performance was the climax, I was keeping these guys on the brink for an uncomfortably long time. If I’d known there’d be so long a delay, I’d have let them down a bit, then worked them up again. But then, that’s the way these things go sometimes, and it taught me something.
The performances were nerve wracking. Me plus a light guy carefully managing a series of complicated lighting effects and music for ten different performances, with a bunch of spruiking and MCing in between each. The bit that made this so nerve-wracking was that each performer had a different cue – some entered with their music, some had the music begin after they were in position, etc etc etc. In itself, challenging, but not freak out stuff. But the running sheet I’d been given didn’t include all these cues and some of the cues had been changed. These sorts of things could have been ironed out in rehearsals, but the rehearsals weren’t managed, and there was no real communication between the performers and the tech doods (including me).
Watching the lighting guy (a young fella who obviously loved what he was doing) work, I was absolutely stunned by his skills. He was working with performers who ranged from those who really didn’t know what they wanted to the super-professional. The first act included a shadow screen set up, which then transitioned to standard spotlight/varying light scheme set up. And he managed it marvelously. Though he turned to me with a ‘omfg, that was tense’ expression at the end. I was really impressed by the way this bloke synchronised the lighting, the music and the performance. He was literally moving along with the music and performer, the way he worked the lighting clearly an extension of what he felt in the music. As you might imagine, the performers’ ability to articulate their creative intentions was absolutely pivotal here. But he was the type of young bloke who worked well with women, and also had really good people skills.
At this point, I have to say: I’m not keen on burlesque. Sure, some of those women (and there were all, but one, women) had some mad choreographic skills, some kickass technical movement/technique skills, but not all of them. And, ultimately, this was about revealing and displaying and exhibiting the female body for titillation. Only a couple really had control over the audience, really working the responses and manipulating them effectively. Only one really used more than one layer of meaning in their performance.
Having seen these women backstage in their pre-show jitters, then rehearsing, then finally performing, I was able to see a little more than the final ‘product’, and this gave me a bit of critical distance. While most of the acts really didn’t have that sensual/provocative/erotic edge that makes you forget what you’re doing and _respond_, having the distance of the tech booth/rehearsal process allowed me to step back and technically assess what I saw rather than to respond. I know there are arguments for burlesque as women reclaiming sensual performance or using bodies and femininity for control, and I am also very much aware of the fact that there is also a vast range of types of burlesque, but, ultimately, there is some seriously gendered shit going on here. And these are women’s bodies displayed for an erotic gaze which is, essentially, male (for all the reasons Laura Mulvey described). And I’m not comfortable with this.
I am, however, far more comfortable with some of the blues dance and multi-layered performances of the jazz dance vernacular. There, humour is an essential defuser and complicator of the erotic frisson. The power dynamic is far more complex, and far more interestingly negotiated. I guess I’m also more used to women in lindy hop and charleston, where their bodies are displayed, but in acts of athleticism and strength, in partnership with men (who’s bodies are equally on display). The historical context and content of these dances is also more complicated; while you might make an argument for burlesque today as decontextualised and potentially more liberatory or transgressive, its roots are –absolutely – in the objectification and commodification of the sexualised female body. And burlesque cannot, ultimately, easily escape this. At this point, I have to just signpost, briefly, the queer eye. Or rather, the awesomeness of badass dykes at this event, and their responses to the burlesque costuming and performance. 1) It was different; 2) It was less problematic. I also have to say: the women in the audience knew how to cheer the boy burlesque performer, but the response to the women performers was more subdued. I think it’s the humour that makes the difference: it releases the tension of the eroticism.
From the performances, I was to have a 30 minute break, but this didn’t happen. I just ran for a toilet break, then it was off to the back room, where I was down to do an hour of DJing for a crowd of drinkers, ‘casino’ players and dancers. The DJ in there had the room in a frenzy. It was amazing. Within a song, I was mad keen to dance – I wanted to forget DJing completely and just dance like a fool. I wanted to jump into that crowd and go nuts. But the DJ had another gig to go to, and I was supposed to take on. But it was a real challenge. He was playing a range of 50s-70s soul/funk/early RnB, etc. All amazing stuff – nothing ordinary or really familiar. Etta James tracks I’d never heard. Freeking awesome original versions of songs I only knew in white-ified jump blues-made-into-rock-n-roll incarnations. In other words, fucking great music, but a difficult place to begin when you’re billed as a ‘swing’ DJ.
I have tried moving from this stuff to jazz before, and it’s really, really difficult. The flattened out tempos of swing – the swing – often feels too ‘smooth’ and laid back for the dancers after the jagged, up-and-down energy of kicking rock and roll. The melodies can also be too complex.
So I began with a bit of Etta James, then some Aretha Franklin. Sell out stuff – nothing new or unfamiliar. I had no idea where to go from there. So I tried my usual transition-to-swing stuff (a bit of funkified 50s/60s high energy groove). I felt the energy drop immediately. Then I went to the swing. Man, that floor emptied. Five songs later, I was desperate. I’d been asked specifically to play swing. But even neo swing wasn’t going to work here. The good, solid chunking lindy hopping favourites weren’t working. There were very few lindy hoppers in the room, but there wasn’t room on the floor for them to dance. And when they did dance, the other non-dancing punters would clear a spontaneous circle around them, which wasn’t what I wanted – I wanted 100% crowded-floor dancing action. And then I thought, ‘hells, what’s the jazz version of badass, kicking 50s/60s/70s RnB/funkity/soul rock-n-roll?’
It seems charleston is the best dance after all.
For the next hour I played nothing but hi-fi 20s-style hot jazz. Stuff that makes me want to charleston til I wish I’d worn two bras instead of one. Because that shit was the badassery of the prohibition era. The room was full of chicks in fringed dresses and blokes in suits and fedoras. And smoke. And there were blackjack tables and beer on the floor. It was a fairly skanky place, with a raised level where punters could sit and drink and watch. At one point the room was packed with chicks making up charleston, blokes who looked like they’d been reading The Sartorialist fancifying their footwork and badass dykes in awesome suits trying to pass me their number. It was the funnest of fun gigs ever.
I came in with Zonky, because I figured most people would know the ‘Inspector Gadget’ riff. And because the New Orleans Jazz Vipers do that sort of punk-street-jazz thing so well. It was a bit long, but it had the sort of chunky 1-2, 1-2 rhythm that makes me want to fling my arms in the air like I just don’t care. People really, really liked it. It’s 200bpm, which is twice as fast as your average pop song.
By this stage I’d realised that the sound set up was flawed. After the wonderfulness of the main room, I realised why the preceding DJ had pointed out the dodgy gain/master relationship. Information I passed onto the following DJ, who struggled even more than I did. This made me decide that I was only going to play hi-fi repro stuff. After the difficult earlier songs, I wasn’t brave enough to try the lo-fi. But I didn’t mind – I’ve been buying lots of repro stuff lately, and I wanted to see how it would go down. Vince Giordano, master of repro hot jazz, was the perfect option.
Shake That Thing made people shake their things. As Skeets Tolbert said, “stuff’s out, stuff that’s never been out before”. A room full of women in corsets and stockings amounted to a room full of boob-outage. It was awe-inspiring. There was a gang of dykes in a combination of formidable bosom/corset, suit/moustache costume who really dug the 20s thing and were actually very nice to me, cheering me on (which I needed in the early stages). There was a guy who had a Tesla moustache, an ivory-topped cane and bowler hat who was a whisker away from perfect cake walking awesomeness. There was plenty of high-action prancing and elaborate posing in the crowd, and it was just fabulous. At the beginning of that song a bunch of lindy hoppers burst into the room and charlestoned their stuff out. It was a definite high point in my DJing career: a room of mixed punters in hardcore 20s costume dancing like crazy maniacs to the hottest music I know.
Then I figured I’d ease off a bit, energy wise, and play some Midnight Serenaders, a band I figured would absolutely fit in with this crowd. Same sparse, 1-2 rhythm, spankin’ trumpet solos, hot jazz action.
I wanted to go a little quirky here, and to break the ‘no cheese’ rule, so I played some Janet Klein, because I like the way the words of I ain’t that kind of a baby contrasted with You Got To give me some. It’s cutesy, but in a modern way; heavy on the retro, but with a punky aesthetic. And because I was talking dirty, I had to go with some Asylum Street Spankers and the ubiquitous Shave em Dry. It was a pretty dirty, dirtier than the crowd were expecting, I think. But some in the room knew the band, and the live recording adds energy to the room. The stomping beat is infectious and the mood is generally heaps of fun.
By then I’d been sitting a little lower on the tempos, and I wanted to kick the energy back up again, to capitalise on the boost Shave em Dry always gives. This version of Digadigadoo is absolutely rocking. It’s super fast, and super fun. I’ve DJed it for dancers a few times before, and even though it’s really long, it keeps them dancing like nuts. It worked a treat with these guys too. but they were absolutely shagged by the end. So Minor Drag for a rest. More NOJV. Yes, I played a lot of them. But that’s because they rock. I wanted to do some Loose Marbles, but I didn’t know their action well enough to risk it on such a chancy crowd. MD was a bit too long, and a bit too minor key to really work. So I went with If You’re a Viper to use the drug references as a cheap win. But it wasn’t so successful. Note to self: if you think a song tries a little too hard and doesn’t quite win you over, it won’t work on a crowd of non-dancers either.
I like this version of Stevedore Stomp (Duke Heitger). I wanted to see if a slightly swingier edge would work with this crowd. It went down well, but apparently they don’t hold no truck with that new-fangled rhythm. They were really quite tired by then, though, so I dropped it down with another punt – the MS’s version of Handyman. Which people liked, but I didn’t like all that on-dance-floor snogging and sexing up. So I chunked it back up with some more Giordano. And teh orsm. By this stage the next DJ was ready to go, so I played one more to give him time to plug in properly, and then I was off. And went straight to the bar where a nice barman refilled my 2L water bottle, goddess bless him.
Yes, I did play two versions of Shake That Thing. I’ve done that a couple of times lately. Because I am, basically, lazy. And a bad DJ. But it’s a really good song, and I like the two different treatments. I was looking for a version of Charleston or Charleston is the best dance after all, but I was, frankly, too fucking tired after six hours of DJing, to find it.
So, overall, it was a really fun set. Started really badly, was heartbreaking to bust that preceding DJ’s fucking awesome vibe, but finished well. If only lindy hoppers would hack a set that fast. Guess it takes a bunch of alcohol, pin-striped suits and masses of magnificent bosom to bring out our inner badassery, I guess.
This is the (mini) set:
Zonky New Orleans Jazz Vipers 203 2006 Hope You’re Comin’ Back 5:06
Shake That Thing Vince Giordano 230 2004 The Aviator 2:59
You Got to Give Me Some Midnight Serenaders 190 2007 Magnolia 4:02
I Ainâ€™t That Kind of a Baby Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys 159 2008 Ready For You 2:59
Shave ’em Dry Asylum Street Spankers 131 1997 Nasty Novelties 4:21
Digadoo Firecracker Jazz Band 247 2005 The Firecracker Jazz Band 5:20
Blue Drag New Orleans Jazz Vipers 181 2002 The New Orleans Jazz Vipers 4:23
If You’re A Viper New Orleans Jazz Vipers 156 2004 Live On Frenchmen Street 3:57
Stevedore Stomp Duke Heitger And His Swing Band 239 2000 Rhythm Is Our Business 4:18
My Handyman Midnight Serenaders 95 2007 Magnolia 5:11
Quality Shout Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks Orchestra 232 1993 Quality Shout 3:03
Shake That Thing Mora’s Modern Rhythmists 227 2006 Devil’s Serenade 2:58
If I’d had any idea I’d be playing this stuff, I’d have spent more time on it than I did on the neo. But I had no clue. If I could do it over, I’d come in loud and proud with some skankin’ charleston. I’d stick to the hot stuff, lay off the swing and keep the tempos high. I’d use the same sort of stuff. In a perfect world, I’d use the original recordings as well as newer stuff. But the newer guys, the guys who’re into the hot jazz – the punker-street-jazz guys – really encapsulated the energy of that event. The neo swing world has more in common with punk than swing jazz, and hot 20s jazz really has more in common with punk than swing, attitude-wise. It’s just built for showing off, and doesn’t have the shmaltzy edge some swing can have.
It was a long, hard night, I didn’t do quite as well as I would have liked sometimes, I worked really hard in challenging conditions, and I realised my DJing skills were quite specific: I can work a room full of people who know how to dance. But I’m challenged by a room of non-dancing drinkers, especially as my music is so unfamiliar. Non-swing dancers are challenged by the swing, I think. Another small, but very important thing I learnt: lindy hoppers like space between the songs to stop and talk and change partners – at least 5 seconds. Non dancers don’t know what to do with the gap. Though I ended up getting applause at the end of songs they liked, which was weird, but I guess that’s what you do with some dead air when you like something.

Leo Mathisen, Duke Heitger, etc etc etc

What? There’s a Leo Mathisen CD I don’t own?!

Leo Mathisen: 1938-40 Leoâ€™s Idea from Little Beat Records is the one Mathisen CD from this (very awesome) label that I don’t own. And I WANT it!

But I also want more Duke Heitger. I have a copy of Rhythm Is Our Business from emusic, and the more I play it, the more I like it. Some of these recreationist doods can really suck, but re-listening has convinced me that there’s something good going on here. But one album just isn’t enough.
I also want:

Prince of Wails. The title track is a fave, and I’m keen to hear how this small group recreates teh orsm of Moten’s group… in fact, I’m back to loving Moten in a big way.

Krazy Kapers as it looks a little more swingy and hence a little more all-purpose.

What is This Thing Called Love because the track listing is freeking A1.

I’ve had nothing but fabulous experiences with Jazz By Mail – super-fast postage times (though I’ve had a couple of CD covers get a little crushed in their light-weight cardboard boxes – nothing major, though), reasonable prices. And I’m especially keen on their Stomp Off Records stuff – an indy label chock full of top notch hawt jazz artists.

midnight serenaders and janet klein

I am currently extremely nuts for the Portland band Midnight Serenaders‘ album Sweet Nothin’s (even though I’m unsure about that inverted comma in the title).
I bought the album from emusic this month and have been listening to it over and over. I played three songs from it at the after party I DJed on Saturday (though the first was to an empty room as I tested the sound gear): Swing Brother, Swing, Sweet Nothin’s and Who Walks in When I Walk Out?. They all went down a treat.
I really like this band: some of the musicians have bluegrass/jugband/ole timey roots, some jazz, and the steel guitarist used to be in Helmet. The female singer plays the ukelele, an instrument I have mixed feelings about. I’m not keen on the Aussie folky/community ukelele sound, but I do like it in an Hawaiian, jazznick context. I’m also fond of the way this band combines the ‘street jazz’ sound that’s very popular with some American dancers atm (a la the Loose Marbles, Cangalossi Cards, etc) with a more sophisticated studio mix. They also remind me of the Hot Club of Cowtown, which can only be an awesomely good thing.
I haven’t bought their other album Magnolia, yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

I’ve also just bought some songs from Janet Klein‘s second album Ready For You which has a similar style, but leans a little more heavily on the cutsey recreation of 20s girl singers. Klein has other albums, but I’m not so struck on the Paradise Wobble album on emusic, which is mostly vocals and ukele. I prefer Klein with the band balancing out the cutesy with some badass instrumental action.
I played That’s What You Think from Ready For You at that same after party, and it also went down a treat.
Though I have a feeling both these albums will work with dancers, I’m pretty sure the after party was kind of a loaded option: this was a crowd of post-ball dancers with a couple of drinks under their belts and a serious interest in part-aying. The presence of a few Melbourne dancers also reminded me of the seriously slow average tempos in Sydney – come on, gang, let’s get lindy hopping!
EDIT: I just bought Magnolia from the Midnight Serenaders, via CDBaby’s downloads. It was supercheap ($9.99 US/$11.92 AU) and supereasy… which isn’t a good thing for our bank account… The little I’ve heard of the album is fuuuully sick.

Armstrong and Middleton for the win

The awesomeness that is Louis Armstrong and his All Stars in 1956. Velma Middleton features prominently as the badass performer she was. Image stoled from here. Looks like Kid Ory in the background on trombone, but I could be (and probably am) mistaken.
I have a bunch of this All Star action from Armstrong, but I rarely DJ it. It is fully sick, though.
This version of All that meat (and no potatoes) is ok, but not fabulous.

They do a version of Reckless Blues which I quite like. The interesting thing about that song is that Armstrong first recorded it with Bessie Smith in 1925, then again with Middleton in 1957.

Just to demonstrate Middleton’s awesomeness, here she is with Luis Russell’s orchestra in 1942:

recent djing (is this politics?)

I haven’t been terribly happy with my DJing lately. I think part of the problem has been that I’ve been acquiring vast blobs of music from emusic and not properly assimilating them before DJing. I’ve been doing a lot of DJing (once a week at least, often more) and I haven’t had a chance to spend time with my music getting to know it properly. I’ve also done some sets at venues with very difficult sound (churchpit is the main offender here – the speakers/amp just can’t handle the huge hall), so I’ve not been able to DJ the older stuff I really love with any confidence. All this has lead to my doing sets which are ‘easy’ and lacking inspiration.

(that fabulous photo is from this site).
These fairly uninteresting sets have leaned a little too heavily on the jump blues, and blues structures generally. There’s also been far too much Jimmy Witherspoon. But I’ve also been flogging the New Orleans revival stuff like the proverbial, and recent recreationist NOR stuff at that. Not making for terribly great sets, right?
The set below is one I did at CanberrÃ¤ng the weekend before last.
CanberrÃ¤ng 7 August 2009 9:00-10:30pm
Blue Monday Jay McShann and his Band with Jimmy Witherspoon 125 1957 Goin’ To Kansas City Blues 3:40
Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra with Sonny Parker 134 1949 Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings 3:24
King Porter Stomp Kansas City Band 170 1997 KC After Dark 4:38
Gimme A Pigfoot Lavern Baker 120 1958 La Vern Baker Sings Bessie Smith 3:11
Big Fine Girl Jimmy Witherspoon with Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Vernon Alley, Mel Lewis 156 1959 The ‘Spoon Concerts 4:55
C-Jam Blues Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis 143 1999 Live In Swing City: Swingin’ With Duke 3:34
Blues In Hoss’s Flat Count Basie and his Orchestra 144 1958 Chairman Of The Board [Bonus Tracks] 3:13
Sent For You Yesterday Count Basie and his Orchestra with Joe Williams 163 1960 The Count Basie Story (Disc 2) 3:10
Roll ‘Em Pete Count Basie and his Orchestra with Joe Williams 215 1957 At Newport 3:01
I Ain’t Mad At You Mildred Anderson 158 1960 No More In Life 3:04
Rag Mop Bob Crosby and the Bobcats 164 1950 Bob Crosby and the Bobcats: The Complete Standard Transcript 2:15
The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else Boilermaker Jazz Band 161 2006 You Do Something To Me 3:46
Paper Moon Monica Trapaga with Bob Barnard, Paul Furniss, David Blenkhorn, Peter Locke, David Seidel, Andrew Dickeson, Monica Trapaga 140 2006 Sugar 4:05
Tishomingo Blues Carol Ralph 128 2005 Swinging Jazz Portrait 4:15
If You’re A Viper New Orleans Jazz Vipers 156 2004 Live On Frenchmen Street 3:57
Lavender Coffin Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra with Sonny Parker and Joe James 134 1949 Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings 2:47
On Revival Day Lavern Baker 144 1958 Lavern Sings Bessie Smith 3:16
The Jumpin’ Blues Jay McShann and his Band with Jimmy Witherspoon 155 1957 Goin’ To Kansas City Blues 3:04
It was actually just the right set to play for that crowd at that time. It was the second set of the night (and weekend) at a crowded bar/restaurant where there wasn’t much room for dancing. The venue management was ~~a bit~~ very intrusive, commenting on the music (and turning the volume up and down!) and generally making things difficult. It was a mixed crowd of dancers, but not a whole lot of experienced dancers who’re interested in older music. There wasn’t really room to bust out with badass lindy hop either. So I went for the ‘partyhardy’ beer-and-laughs approach. I quite like this sort of set for starting off a weekend – loud, shouting choruses, simple rhythms, call and response sections, familiar songs, lots of energy, lots of hi-fi. It went down very well.

(Image lifted from here.
EDIT: If you’re liking this Bill Steber photo, I’ve linked to a few more here.)
After I’d warmed them up a bit, I shifted to the NOR stuff (well, that’s how I’m thinking of it, even though it’s not strictly accurate for most of these bands). That went down quite well as well. I also tried to get with the wave, moving up and down through the tempos, which I’ve not been doing so well lately.
Overall, I was happy with the set – it did as it should, the organisers were happy with it, the venue manager was happy with it, the dancers had fun. It wasn’t totally awesome for lindy hop, but then there wasn’t really room for awesome lindy hop. It was a beer and laughs partyhardy set.
But this is the sort of stuff I’ve been DJing lately, and I’m just not happy with it. As a dancer I’d be very disappointed. Partly because it’s just the same old same old; there’s nothing new or interesting there.
In contrast, here’s a set I did at the Churchpit gig last Friday:
Swingpit 14 August 2009 10:30pm-midnight
Solid as a Rock Count Basie and his Orchestra with The Deep River Boys 140 1950 Count Basie and His Orchestra 1950-1951 3:04
Oh! Gram’pa Cab Calloway and his Orchestra 147 1947 Are You Hep To The Jive? 3:04
Shout, Sister, Shout Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Buster Bailey 140 1941 Apollo Jump 2:45
Just Kiddin’ Around Artie Shaw and his Orchestra 159 1941 Self Portrait (Disc 3) 3:21
Davenport Blues Adrian Rollini and his Orchestra with Jack Teagarden 136 1934 Father Of Jazz Trombone 3:14
Madame Dynamite Eddie Condon and his Orchestra (Pee Wee Russell, Eddie Condon, Sidney Catlett) 176 1933 Classic Sessions 1927-49 (Volume 2) 2:56
Summit Ridge Drive Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five 128 1940 Self Portrait (Disc 2) 3:21
A Viper’s Moan Willie Bryant and his Orchestra with Teddy Wilson, Cozy Cole 153 1935 Willie Bryant 1935-1936 3:26
Hot Spot Blues Leo Mathisen’s Orkester 167 1942 Leo Mathiesen 1942-43 Terrific Rhythm 3:06
Joog, Joog Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 146 1949 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 3:01
Paper Moon Monica Trapaga with Bob Barnard, Paul Furniss, David Blenkhorn, Peter Locke, David Seidel, Andrew Dickeson, Monica Trapaga 140 2006 Sugar 4:05
Gimme A Pigfoot Lavern Baker 120 1958 La Vern Baker Sings Bessie Smith 3:11
Keep On Churnin’ (01-09-52) Wynonie Harris 146 1952 Complete Jazz Series 1950 – 1952 2:56
Sent For You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today) Count Basie and his Orchestra with Jimmy Rushing 172 1952 Complete Clef/Verve Count Basie Fifties Studio Recordings (Disc 2) 3:13
Big Fat Mama Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra with Trevor Bacon, Buster Bailey 135 1941 Apollo Jump 3:09
Bearcat Shuffle Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy with Mary Lou Williams 160 1936 The Lady Who Swings the Band – Mary Lou Williams with Any Kirk and his Clouds of Joy 3:01
Peckin’ Johnny Hodges and his Orchestra 165 1937 The Duke’s Men: Small Groups Vol. 1 (Disc 2) 3:10
Truckin’ Henry ‘Red’ Allen and His Orchestra 171 1935 Henry Red Allen â€˜Swing Out’ 2:54
The Basement Blues (low-downer than any low down blues) Nobel Sissle and his Orchestra with Sidney Bechet 153 1931 Ken Burns Jazz Collection: Sidney Bechet 3:16
Georgia Bo Bo Graeme Bell and his Australian Jazz Band 137 1952 Graeme Bell the AMI Australian Recordings 2:40
Bli-Blip Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five 140 2007 Moppin’ And Boppin’ 2:44
Flat Foot Floogie Carol Ralph 186 2005 Swinging Jazz Portrait 3:44
Massachusetts Maxine Sullivan 147 1956 A Tribute To Andy Razaf 3:19
Blues In Hoss’s Flat Count Basie and his Orchestra 144 1958 Chairman Of The Board [Bonus Tracks] 3:13
John Silver Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra 155 1938 Swingsation: Charlie Barnet and Jimmy Dorsey 3:15
Turn It Over Bus Moten and his Men 148 1949 Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 3) 2:38
Don’t Falter At The Altar Cab Calloway 138 Are You Hep To The Jive? 2:44
All This Beef And Big Ripe Tomatoes Julia Lee, Cleophus Berry, William ‘Bill’ Nolan, Franz Bruce, Clairborne Graves, Elmer W. Price 143 1951 Kansas City Star (disc 5) 2:09
Laughing In Rhythm Slim Gaillard and his Peruvians 142 1951 Laughing In Rhythm: The Best Of The Verve Years 2:56
Algiers Stomp Mills Blue Rhythm Band with Henry ‘Red’ Allen, J.C. Higgenbotham, George Washington, Edgar Hayes, Lucky Millinder 219 1936 Mills Blue Rhythm Band: Harlem Heat 3:08
I Diddle Dinah Washington 153 Dinah Washington with Quincy Jones 3:05
This is a regular fortnightly event in a large church hall. The sound can be really, really difficult as the speakers/amp just aren’t big enough for this big, echoey space, but this time the room had been rearranged and the sound was a bit better. It’s usually a newer crowd of dancers – people who’ve only been dancing less than six months or so. It can include more experienced, hard core dancers, though. The hall actually has a great floor and is really good for spreading out with big, fat lindy. But there’s no bar and it really is a bit churchpit. But there you go.
I quite like doing these sorts of gigs with the newer dancers because newer dancers tend not to have any preconceptions or biases about the music. They’re only just beginning to get to know the dance, and they’re usually a-flush with post-class endorphines and excitement. They just love dancing. Most of the ones who do this class regularly also bring their own beer and snacks and make a bit of a party of it, which is also nice. I like DJing for these guys because they tend to just dance when the music moves them. And I’ve found with this crowd (as with the Funpit doods in Melbourne) that they respond best to four-on-the-floor straight-ahead swing. The less NOR the better. They like a bit of jump blues or 12-bar blues structure stuff, but they really go off with the ‘proper’ swing. They’re suprisingly willing to tackle higher tempos and are far more flexible about this than many experienced dancers (mostly because no one’s yet told them that something’s ‘too fast’). They don’t actually say any of these things – I’m just working on what I see.
That night I followed Miss Bonnet, who was DJing one of her (if not the) first sets. She did a great job – lots of favourites, good working of tempos and volume, nice combinations of styles. I danced. I wanted to keep up her good energy, so I came in with something familiar – Solid as a Rock – something at a nice, easy tempo, with lots of clapping and fun vocals. I also wanted to segue to some older, solid swing stuff, and this is a nice, tricky way of getting there.
I’ve been listening to my music on the bus using an ipod lately, and it’s really helped me get back into my own music. I’ve also been thinking about DJing more lately, and actually done some practice. I’m also dancing more myself, and that’s been really important. I’m not sure I did such an awesome job with the wave, tempo-wise, though. The floor was full all night, though, and I Noticed that the dancers favoured the solid swing/four-on-the-floor stuff above all else. Which just goes to show – lindy hop is built for that action. It swings, it’s simpler rhythmically (and in terms of arrangement), and it matches the stuff students learn in class. The class before had been doing 20s charleston and a range of charleston variations to faster music (though not to what I’d term ‘charleston music’), so they were set up for faster, solid beats.
I challenged myself to avoid the stuff I’d played in that CanberrÃ¤ng set, though I did cave with Lavern Baker and Wynonie Harris, then the Basie with Rushing, but then it was back to business with a bit of Lunceford transitioning back to Andy Kirk goodness. The Wynonie Harris is very popular here atm, and it’s actually great for shifting gears and injecting some energy into the room. Instead of thinking ‘oh, I’ll just continue on to more of this blues-type stuff’, I thought ‘I’ll just inject this here, then get back to business’. And it worked. I currently love, love, love that Davenport Blues by Rollini and his band, partly because I have this THING for Jack Teagarden. And because I’m listening to quite a bit of hot Chicago action at the moment (finally – I move north from New Orleans!), I followed up with Madame Dynamite, which I also love. These are new songs to me, but much loved. I’ve found both go down really, really well with dancers.
It’s round about there that I was working a sort of emotional wave – Artie Shaw had taken things up and people were nuts, but because there were a lot of noobs, I figured a little rest with the mellower Rollini was in order. During the Shaw song a few doods had gotten going with some Madison, which suited the song perfectly and spread like a virus as people started joining in and learning the fairly simple routine. It was actually a lovely moment, as all sorts of people got into it and had a really fun time. It lifted the energy in the room noticeably, and I felt the ‘lindy hop vibe’, the ‘let’s get serious’ vibe. So I figured I’d keep to the olden days stuff and work that vibe.

(The Madison takes on.)
Most of the songs I played are old favourites – no surprises with A Viper’s Moan. But this is a new crowd of dancers, and I’ve found that most of the ‘old favourites’ like VM aren’t played much here at all. Which is fine by me, as I love that shit – they’re not favourites for nothing. Anyways, I moved wave-like from Rollini through to Joog Joog.
Hot Spot is something I rediscovered lately. Mathisen is a Danish musician who sounds a lot like Fats Waller, and I lovelovelove his (marvelously restored) CDs I bought from Little Beat Records. So I gave this a whirl. The recording isn’t so great for that particular space – the higher and lower parts get lost – but it’s such a fun song, it worked out ok. It’s the type of song that’d work well with a stroll I think.
But Joog Joog was a return to the vocals and also signalled my change in style.
Paper Moon is by a local singer (as in, from my actual suburb), and goes down well. The band in that recording are freaking A1 as well. I think of that as a real beginner’s song, because I learnt to dance to it in Brisbane in 1998. Then came that brief reversion moment.
Then back to Lunceford and then to Kirk. Peckin’ and Truckin’ went down a treat – I love those two played together, for obvious reasons. Then some Noble Sissle (yay!). Georgia Bo Bo is another Aussie act, but this didn’t work quite so well with the crowd. NOR. Bah. So some Campus Five to recover.
This crowd of noobs was getting pretty tired by now, but they were really doing well – two hours of classes then so much social dancing is tricky when you have no dance fitness. The next chunk is a bit random. I thought John Silver, my pirate song would work. Fail. People danced to every single song from here, and the floor was full. Algiers Stomp was a response to a request for ‘bal’, and actually sparked so much interest I regretted not playing more faster songs earlier. That’ll teach me to go with my preconceptions rather than actually working the crowd.
It was a nice night, actually. There were quite a few out of towners visiting, and rather than doing a proper ‘welcome dance’, we paused so they could be introduced. Which was also nice, because the crowd were feeling very friendly and spontaneously applauded. Unusual, but actually very friendly. There was also a birthday, and the two birthday kids had requested a special song which was played between the two DJ sets. This can go either way, particularly when people supply their own song. But they’d worked out a sort of mini routine, and it was pretty fun. We all then carried on with the usual ‘happy birthday’ jam, and it was a friendly, fun one. At one point I back announced the Carol Ralph song, because she’s playing at the dance this Saturday. I don’t usually do this sort of thing, but I really like Ralph, and her music is always really popular with dancers. On that particular night Flat Foot Floogie went down a treat (as it usually does), so I figured people might like to know that she was playing a dance with her band, and that CDs would be available.
Overall, I was happy with this set, happier than I’ve been with my DJing in ages. A return to my preferred musical styles. The Squeeze sat behind me programming on his laptop through all this, not dancing or even talking to anyone. He had a lovely time. And I kept making him pay attention to how “four-on-the-floor is the BEST!” It wasn’t the best set I’ve ever done, and I didn’t push any boundaries, music-wise, but I hope this is a return to the good stuff of yore. And that I’ll stay hard enough to play it. Or, more importantly, I’ll work on my DJing and music knowledge a bit more so that I can make it work, regardless.
I have a bit of DJing this Saturday – doing band breaks for the Carol Ralph dance and then a set at the after party. I hope it goes well. I’m mostly just happy to get into the gig for free!