djing – Page 7 – dogpossum

Herräng report: part 1

Well, it’s 6.30am, and I’ve been awake since 5. My sleep cycle is well and truly borked. Curse you, jet lag. Why is that staying awake while flying around the world in a plane is more disruptive than staying awake dancing, eating, laughing, and talking in irregular patterns over several weeks?

I’m back from two weeks in Herräng (weeks 2 and 3), and a bit of time in Stockholm, and I’m taking a few days before I go back to work. It’d been ten years since I’d been to Herräng, and things had changed a bit. For one, things were more organised, which was a relief. The scale had also leapt: more places to eat, more people, more dance floors, more things to do. I was there to dance and DJ this time, rather than to ‘research’, so I approached each day in a different way.

I have lots of things to talk about, but I can’t quite keep hold of my thoughts, so I’m not sure how coherent this will be. Things I’d like to talk about, in no particular order:

the ‘how to DJ session’ in the library in week 3;
the way the insistence that Herräng is about lindy hop, and lindy hop is ‘such a happy dance’ makes it difficult to talk about problems or serious issues within the dance and event;
the somewhat disturbingly uncritical ‘spread the dance/grow the community’ discourse that dominates and justifies most activities (including a particular brand of cultural imperialism);
gender politics in the DJing and dancing culture of the camp (and the way critical engagement with this is forestalled by the ‘let’s just have a nice time/hedonism is us’ vibe);
the sheer joy and wonder of the Frankie Track in week 2;
teaching practice, and the balance between content and practice;
the effects of a coherent teaching approach in the Frankie Track versus the usual overall relationship between individual workshops at a dance weekend. I will say this: the Frankie Track was amazeballs because all the classes were linked by a coherent theme and concept: teaching Frankie Manning’s content, teaching classes in the way he taught classes, emphasising his priorities (MUSIC! PARTNERSHIP! SIMPLICITY! RHYTHM!), drawing on the old timers’ approach to learning dance generally…. and MORE;
the challenges and excitement of the beginners’ half week of tap in week 3;
the ebb and flow of energy and people and vibe over the course of a week;
economic factors and the effect of the Herräng Dance Camp’s decades of involvement in this small town’s economy and society;
the Swing Kids, Swing Teens and the way having children in the camp in week 2 provided social balance to the ‘hedonism’ of the camp, which was largely lost by the end of week 3;
hierarchies, power, and privilege in the camp;
the wheeling and dealing and networking and lobbying for work behind the scenes, from teachers, DJs, and organisers;
labour, work, gender, and knowledge in the Herräng economy;
mindfulness, computer literacy and online culture in camp (and how this had changed in the ten years since my last visit);
mindfulness, work, obsessive personalities, and the luxury of time in tap dance;
the argument that all DJs should learn to play a musical instrument if they want to be ‘good DJs’ (and the associated issues of power, time, labour, gender, and power);
sex, sexualisation, gender, and scoring a root;
the significance of Herräng’s place in Europe, and how this affected people’s attitudes to same-sex sex and gender. And how these progressive attitudes were ultimately subsumed or overshadowed by the overwhelming heteronormativity of modern lindy hop;
food, nutrition, body image, and the importance of the shared table at Herräng: my favourite part;
defining ‘swing’ music, and Herräng’s emphasis on classic swing era big band jazz, and how this affected DJing styles and set content, and dancers’ responses to music. Relatedly, the tension between modern day dancers’ learning to play music, the accessibility of small NOLA or hot combo style jazz versus the inaccessability of big band jazz for new musicians (ie dancers tend to play in small, hot combos which aren’t what Herräng values, but Herräng does value live music and independent creative projects very highly…. the tension needs a bit of discussion, I think);

As you can see, I have approximately one million things to write and talk about after my time in Herräng. One looming largest in my brains is DJing, as I was a staff DJ in week 2, and one of only 4 women out of 16 staff DJs in the 5 week camp. There were a number of volunteer DJs in the two weeks I was there, but not a whole bunch of them. A higher proportion of them were women than men.
I have a few things to say about how gender, networks of association and labour, and the professional skills required of DJs (primary of which is networking, in this case) work in Herräng, but I don’t really have the brains to articulate them properly here. In sum, though, I was very surprised by how few women DJs there were, after the last couple of years in Australia where women far outnumber men in the higher, most experienced ranks of lindy hop DJs. To the point where for the last MLX I had only one male DJ on the DJ team.

My approach to hiring DJs for events is to look for the most capable, most professional, most skilled, most useful and talented DJs, regardless of gender. They need to be not too over-exposed, and yet still have a degree of popularity with dancers (ie, be ‘in demand’). They might not be quite where they should be, in terms of experience or expanse of music collection, but I’m willing to invest in someone with promise and a good, strong work ethic.
I think that the reason I end up with more women than men, is that I actively seek out DJs, rather than waiting for them to approach me, and I put quite a bit of work into long term development for DJs. My own gender is probably significant too, though I’m often described as ‘intimidating’ by other women. But I’m very yolo about that: life is too short to worry about whether you intimidate other people. And I know other DJs and DJ organisers who are both male and very approachable.

I find that male DJs are more willing to put their hands up for gigs (to approach me for gigs) than women, and that women DJs are more critical of their own DJing, needing more encouragement, and also looking for more critical feedback on their DJing. The latter makes most women much better DJs (because they are open to improving, and open to communicating about their own DJing, and less defensive about their DJing), the former makes women less excellent at developing professional networks and ‘taking risks’ by applying for jobs they might not be ready for. They tend to play it too safe, and be more intimidated by hierarchies. There are male and female exceptions to these things, but very few. Very, very few.

My approach involves long term planning and development, including encouraging newer DJs, providing references and recommendations for new DJs with smaller events (so they can get the experience I need for the bigger events I work for), and keeping my local scene networks healthy – talking to people in different scenes to keep my finger on which DJs are looking and sounding good, and good to work with.
I’m also very keen on providing working conditions which make DJing more accessible for people: friendlier, safer, healthier, clearer (guidelines, etc), equitable pay, an open DJ recruitment process (so people know who to contact and how if they want to DJ, rather than using a quiet system of personal networks), and I am quite aggressive about getting feedback on my own work, and on the DJs’ experiences, so I can keep improving things. I think this transparency is the most important part of encouraging diversity in the DJing team: I am open about my ideas, process, and thinking.

Dargoff was the DJ coordinator for Herräng, and he was just a joy to work with. I don’t know his policies or approach to booking DJs for Herräng, so I can’t comment on them here, but I couldn’t find fault with his work. There are, however, broader systemic issues which make it harder for women to get into these higher profile DJing gigs which require active, fairly aggressive strategies from organisers to overcome. I simply don’t know enough about how Herräng works to be able to comment on this, though. And I don’t even know who organised the DJs in previous years. But I do have some ideas about international DJing culture, and most particularly DJing networks and interpersonal and professional associations which might be useful in this discussion. Again, my lack of experience here makes me reluctant to comment more. I have some ideas, but I just don’t think I know enough to start speculating.

So, when it comes to my experiences DJing at Herräng, I give it a big thumbs up, and I give all my fellow DJs, Dargoff, the huge sound crew, and the event organisers a big huzzah. It was a really great experience, and while challenging in some moments (looong sets are loooong), I would absolutely leap at a chance to do it again. I feel privileged and honoured to be a staff DJ at an event I admire so much, and I learnt SO MUCH about DJing over the two weeks I was there. I also made some new and good friends, and realised I have a lot to learn about the international DJing scene.

I also realised Australia is really isolated from the rest of the lindy hop world. This makes it harder for DJs to crack the higher echelons of DJing, but it has also had effects on our approach to labour and pay and professionalism. Overall, though, I’d say that Australia has quite a few DJs who are not only as good as, but better than some of the DJs I heard in Herräng, and that our lindy hop scene as a whole is something to be proud of. We aren’t a cultural backwater, we’re just a really distant tributary.

Here: no vaginas.

Remind me to write a post about the ‘how to DJ swing music for dancers’ panel discussion at Herrang last night.
I have a few things to say about gender, power, privilege, and time.

DJing thoughts

Because of the goddamm Swing Kids soundtrack, this was the only version of ‘Beir Mir Bist Du Schoen’ I’d DJ for years.

Benny Goodman Quartet (Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Martha Tilton) in 1937

This sort of song is one of the reasons I love Benny Goodman’s small groups. I don’t actually own very much Goodman Orchestra stuff at all, but I have all the small group recordings. Love that shit. And when he adds Basie’s rhythm section – !!!

somewhat crazed moment of concern

I don’t know if I’ve told you already, but I’m going to be a staff DJ at Herrang this year. Week 2, if you’re curious. Which isn’t the ‘cool week’. Apparently week 3 is ‘cool week’, so it’s a good thing I’m not on that week, as one thing I’m not (nor ever have been) is ‘cool’. I’m too old, too fat, too hairy, too argumentative, and too likely to laugh at a bum joke. Which means that week 2 will probably be ‘old, fat, hairy, argumentative, bum jokes’ week at the DJ booth. Which is pretty much the same as saying week 2 will be ‘jazz week’ at the Herrang DJ booth.

I’m quite looking forward to being the ‘baby DJ’, noodling along in the shadows of the big name, experienced DJs who’re headlining. I’m also shitting myself a bit. Here: fear. Mostly because I haven’t done much DJing of late, what with all the teaching and event organising, and, to be honest, the hardcore dancing like a crazy person at social events. The last year or two has been the Time Of Crazy Fool Dancing for me: dancing until my plantar fascia explodes and my body dehydrates into a pathetic prune of a thing. But I figure I’ll get on top of it before July. And I’ve been DJing for ten years, so I can probably pull this off. Right? RIGHT?!

Part of me is quite worried that I won’t be playing music that’s ‘cool’ or ‘fashionable’ or ‘popular’ this year. But the most of me keeps reminding that little pathetic part of me that it’s no good trying to be something I’m not. “Just do what you do, Peer Group Pressure Me.” Just do what I do. Whatever that is. I’m also a bit worried that I’ll be playing music that’s too slow. Whatever that means.

So, of course, my response to all this terribly rational* worry is to listen to all my music at once. Because of course that’ll work. But when I calm down a bit, I figure I can just listen to my favourite artists, and just remind myself that I do actually have some good music, that I do like quite a lot of it, and that I’m not too bad at working a crowd.
Of course, I’ll have to DJ for hours and hours at a stretch, so I’d better work on my stamina. Hurrumph.

Really, the only possible solution to all this is:

BASIE. ELLINGTON. ARMSTRONG. LUNCEFORD. GOODMAN.

*NOT

8tracks: I took requests

I took requests from dogpossum on 8tracks Radio.

So there was (yet another) fuck up at MLX, and I had to quickly fill in a bit of set time in the back room to cope with some overflow. Basically, what was going to become the blues room had to become a lindy hop room until the main room was ready. The DJ rostered on didn’t have and never had DJed lindy hop. I only had my (new, and first ever) iphone to hand. And I’ve never DJed from my phone. And I had no idea what sort of music was on there.

So I sat down, just randomly selected a song that was on the first playlist I found (my current favourite version of ‘Ain’t Misbehavin”), and did some sound testing. One minute later, the room was crowded with impatient dancers. I was all ‘I got no clue here’. Inspiration struck: “Hello! This is the first and only time I will ever take requests, so what have you got?” People who know me were thunderstruck. I never take requests. Ever. But then the requests came thick and fast. I used the mic to introduce each song, and to point out who’d requested it, so the dancers’d know who to blame.

“Ellington!”
“Done.”

‘Greatest there is’. Not a song for everyone, but a song I love.
No one could come up with another song after that, so I just slotted in my current favourite Armstrong song, ‘Snafu’, because I thought its unusual style would suit the weirdness of that late Ellington song.

After every song I’d announce over the mic: “Hello! I am taking requests. So bring em. First and last time I’ll do this.”

“A good medium tempo warm up song by a big band!”
“Got it”

B-sharp Boston again.

“Goo ster”
“What?”
“Goods drag?”
“Goon Drag?”
“Yes!”
“It’s on.”

“ummm” *sings incoherent melody*
(into the mic) “You will need to do more than sing the melody – I need a name, peeps.” So I chose for her.

‘Goin’ Out the Back Way’ because Ellington is my go-to man, and the sound gear in that room is so good I can play everything on it.

“A slower modern song with a female singer so I can dance slow”
“Righto”

LOVE Cecile McLorin Salvant. At least three people came up to ask who this was. It’s just a wonderful song.

“Sixteen tonnes”
(I briefly reconsider offer to take requests. Then realise…) “Sorry, don’t have it. Anything else?”
“Summertime!”
“Have it.” (into mic) “This one’s a request, but I don’t know what it’s like, so if it’s rubbish, I’ll mute it and we’ll skip to the next song.

Summertime. Pretty good, uptempo version that I wasn’t too familiar with, but turned out to be great for lindy hopping, actually. Bet he was disappointed, as he’s a solid blues dancer.

“Good request, that guy. What’s next?”
“CJAM BLUES!”
“You heard three different versions last night, and the band played it in the evening gig tonight.”
“I WANT IT!”
“Righto.”

LCJO. Room goes nuts with glee.

“Bag’s Groove”
“For real? It’s pretty mellow, and everyone’s pumping.”
“Bag’s Groove!”
“ok.”

Room gets its supergroove on. Main room opens. This room empties, and a blues DJ takes over.

THE END.

It was mega fun.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra (Ed Wade, Charlie Teagarden, Jack Teagarden, Artie Shaw, Jack Cordaro, Mutt Hayes, Roy Bargy, Carl Kress, Artie Miller, Stan King) 131 1936 The Complete Okeh and Brunswick Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer and Jack Teagarden Sessions (1924-1936) (Mosaic disc 07) 3:22
The Greatest There Is Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 133 1949 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 2:44
Snafu Esquire All-American Award Winners (Louis Armstrong, Neal Hefti, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Don Byas, Billy Strayhorn, Remo Palmieri, Chubby Jackson, Sonny Greer) 144 1946 The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 03) 4:14
B-Sharp Boston Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 126 1949 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 2:55
The Goon Drag (Gone Wid De Goon) Sam Price and his Texas Blusicians 138 1941 Sam Price 1929-1941 3:19
Goin’ Out The Back Way Johnny Hodges and his Orchestra (Ray Nance, Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Blanton, Sonny Greer) 155 1941 The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 12) 2:44
Anything Goes Cecile Mclorin Salvant and the Jean-Francois Bonnel Paris Quintet 117 2010 Cecile 4:46
Summertime Hep Chaps 137 2009 Swingin’ On Nothing 4:02
C-Jam Blues Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis 143 1999 Live In Swing City: Swingin’ With Duke 3:34
Bag’s Groove Swing Session (Levon, Jean-Loup Muller, Manu Hagmann, Julien Cotting, Rene Hagman) 120 2006 Leapfrog 4:58

8tracks: Little MLX late night set

Little MLX late night lindy hop from dogpossum on 8tracks Radio.

So, I DJed a few sets at MLX this past weekend. The second one was in the back room, which became a lindy hop room while the main room became a blues room with a live band. Yeah, don’t ask me about that. It is meant to be a lindy exchange, but heck, I just book the DJs.

Anyway, it meant that there was a smaller crowd at that late night, and the back room had a much smaller lindy hopping crowd than MLX usually sees. For me, it made for a really lovely DJing experience. I like the layout of the room, the sound is great, and it meant that I could do a more intimate, personal set than I’d do in a huge room full of lindy hoppers. I started at 1.30 or 2am or something, and the crowd was quite tired. The crowd was quite lovely – almost all the DJs were in there rocking out (which I took as a great compliment), the numbers fluctuated as the band did sets or had breaks, and the dancing experience and ability of the crowd really varied – from people who’ve been dancing one hundred years, to total noobs. It was actually fabulous to play for that group, and the reshuffle meant that no parts of the room had been staked out as ‘cats corner’ or any of that shit. Just a good old fashioned dance party.

Alice, who was on before me, played a really nice set. So I figured, heck, I’ll just play a bunch of songs I like. Love. No pressure to make people crazy. Just play good songs that I love. The last half hour is a bit shit, I reckon, because I was exhausted and kind of lost focus. I also changed it up a bit as the crowd really changed in that last part of the night.

Anyway, here it is:

title artist bpm year album song length

Turn It Over Bus Moten and his Men (Richard Smith, Ben Webster, Johnny Rodgers, Lloyd Anderson, Jesse Price) 148 1949 Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 3) 2:38

Yacht Club Swing Fats Waller and his Rhythm (Herman Autrey, Gene Sedric, Al Casey, Cedric Wallace, Slick Jones) 177 1938 The Middle Years – Part 2 (1938-1940) (disc 01) 3:02

Central Time Pokey LaFarge 198 2013 Pokey LaFarge 3:00

You Got to Give Me Some Midnight Serenaders (David Evans, Dee Settlemier, Doug Sammons, Garner Pruitt, Henry Bogdan, Pete Lampe) 187 2007 Magnolia 4:02

You Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya Luke Winslow-King (Rich Levison, Cassidy Holden, Shaye Cohn) 142 2009 2:12

Jumpy Nerves Wingy Manone and his Orchestra (Chu Berry, Buster Bailey, Conrad Lanoue, Zeb Julian, Jules Cassard, Cozy Cole) 177 1939 Classic Chu Berry Columbia And Victor Sessions (Mosaic disc 05) 2:53

West End Blues Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five (Fred Robinson, Jimmy Strong, Earl Hines, Mancy Carr, Zutty Singleton) 85 1928 The Complete Hot Five And Hot Seven Recordings [Disc 4] 3:22

Wild Man Blues Johnny Dodds and his Chicago Boys (Charlie Shavers, Lil Armstrong, Teddy Bunn, John Kirby, O’Neil Spencer) 174 1938 The Myth Of New Orleans 3:11

Stompin’ At The Savoy Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra 162 1936 Swingsation: Charlie Barnet and Jimmy Dorsey 3:12

Perdido – Take 1 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 130 1942 The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 13) 3:09

Hootie Boogie (1945) Jay McShann 148 1945 Jay McShann: Complete Jazz Series 1944 – 1946 2:55

Chicken Shack Boogie Lionel Hampton and his Sextet (Benny Bailey, Johnny Board, Gene Morris, Wes Montgomery, Roy Johnson, Earl Walker) 124 1949 Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings 3:16

Joog, Joog Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 146 1949 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 3:01

A Viper’s Moan Willie Bryant and his Orchestra (Teddy Wilson, Cozy Cole) 153 1935 Willie Bryant 1935-1936 3:26

I’se A Muggin’ Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys (Jonah Jones, Raymond Smith, Bobby Bennett, Mack Walker, John Washington) 161 1936 Stuff Smith: Complete Jazz Series 1936 – 1939 3:14

Peckin’ Johnny Hodges and his Orchestra (Cootie Williams, Barney Bigard, Otto Hardwick, Harry Carney, Fred Guy, Hayes Alvis, Sonny Greer, Duke Ellington, Buddy Clark) 165 1937 The Duke’s Men: Small Groups Vol. 1 (Disc 2) 3:10

With a Smile and a Song (-1) Teddy Hill and his Orchestra (Hot Lips Page, Pee Wee Russell, Chu Berry, Sally Gooding) 110 1937 Classic Chu Berry Columbia And Victor Sessions (Mosaic disc 03) 3:10

B-Sharp Boston Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 126 1949 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 2:55

Corner Pocket Count Basie and his Orchestra 137 1955 Complete Clef/Verve Count Basie Fifties Studio Recordings (Mosaic disc 05) 5:18

Corina, Corina Jimmy Witherspoon with Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Vernon Alley, Mel Lewis 140 1959 The ‘Spoon Concerts 3:22

Hound Dog Big Mama Thornton 125 1965 American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1965 (disc 05) 3:20

I Ain’t Mad At You Mildred Anderson 158 1960 No More In Life 3:04

On Revival Day Carrie Smith acc. by George Kelly, Ram Ramirez, Billy Butler 189 1977 When You’re Down and Out 3:49

La La Blues Pokey LaFarge 201 Riverboat Soul 3:42

Short Dress Gal Shotgun Jazz Band 138 2013 Don’t Give Up The Ship 3:10

San Francisco Bay Blues Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band with Barbara Dane 160 1964 Blues Over Bodega 3:42

My Baby Just Cares For Me Nina Simone 120 The Great Nina Simone 3:38

As I was playing ‘Yacht Club Swing’ I was explaining to a friend sitting next to me why I love that part where it goes deee-dooo-dee-doo. A minute later, another DJed plopped next to me to explain why he loved the part where it goes do-do-do-dee. Fats Waller brings all the nerds to the yard.

Pokey Lafarge. Love. I don’t know how I’d dance to this song, and neither did anyone else, really. Except those guys doing bal which kind of slipped into 2-step. They had it going on. Great party song, though.
I love Pokey Lafarge so close to Luke Winslow-King. I love Luke W-K.

Then I played Jumpy Nerves because people’d been complaining about how they hate In The Mood. So I was totally pranking them with that song (which features the ‘in the mood’ riff).

Relistening now, I have no idea how ‘West End Blues’ fitted into the vibe. But at the time, it was just perfect. A room full of lindy hoppers dancing slowly to the best recording of a blues song of all time. It was quite magical. They didn’t ‘blues dance’, they just danced. Except for that one chick who crumpled up her nose and said to me, really loudly, across the DJ table “AH! There is a whole room of this next door!” And I LOLed and said “I doubt the Hot Five is playing next door. If it was – I’d be there!” Anyway, this song went down perfectly.

I think this sort of odd transition worked because the population of the room was fluctuating so much. I’d have a packed room for three songs, then it’d empty as the band started its next set. Then a couple of songs in an emptier room, then a sudden influx.

Love ‘Wild Man Blues’. I’m definitely playing a particular type of set here, from Wingy Manone on for the next ten or 12 songs.

This is my favourite version of ‘Stompin At the Savoy’. As I was playing this, a Canadian dancer yelled to me “I love this song! I learnt to do the shim sham to it!” And loled, because I did too, and because we’d just finished teaching the shim sham using this song.

‘Perdido’ because we are all Lennart. And because there were a HEAP of solo folks in the room at that time, rocking out their rhythm variations in a pretty hard core way. It was like the room was suddenly all about jazz. A friend called it a ‘good jazz session’. Yes.

And then ‘Hootie’s boogie’ because that’s the other song Lennart uses to teach with a lot.

‘Chicken Shack Boogie’ because peeps were tired, and I love following up Hootie’s Boogie with this we love teaching 6-count partner stuff to boogie because it’s fun.

‘Joog Joog’ because MOAR ELLINGTON. A couple of dancers looked up at me with crumpled brows when the intro began, and I gave them the reassuring thumbs up, because it is a great dancing song.

‘Viper’s Moan’ because Teddy Wilson, and because some of the people in the room didn’t know much of what I was playing, and I figured they needed something familiar to hang onto. Also it is great. And I like the way we move between such different piano styles from Jay McShann to Hamp’s band to Ellington and then to Willie Bryant’s band.

…after that things went a bit ordinary, I reckon. I was tired, I had had a particularly shitty night dealing with admin problems, and I was just a bit over it all. So I didn’t do my best work. But that first part of the set makes me happy.

Treat your DJs good: get more chicks

I read some thing on vernacular jazz dance about the lack of female DJs at European swing dance events…which I now realise was a response to my joke post about women DJs, which was actually Olive and Astrid in Fringe, being science nerds.

This past MSF (which is one of the two biggest Australian events), we had these DJs:

(c/o KatGalang)

me (I’m a woman btw)
Kat Galang (woman)
Alice Roberts (woman)
Barb Heggan (woman)
Allie Payne (woman)
Manon van Pagee (woman)

Mike Healey
Trev Hutchison
Gas Fernandez
Keith Hsuan
Tim Jones
Matt Greenwood

That’s 50% wimminz, 50% menz.
I was the DJ coordinator. I don’t think about gender when I’m putting together DJ teams. I look for:
– mad skills (ie can work a room, keeping the floor full is just entry level requirement)
– professionalism (answer emails promptly, on time, have the right gear, get their shit together, on time, etc)
– personable and easy to work with (grumpy poos can get fucked)
– good music collection
– experienced (I don’t use new DJs for big events)

Any DJ who gives me shit is immediately blackballed – eg if they send me nasty emails because I didn’t hire them (yes, this happens about every second event); if they’re nasty to _anyone_, if they do something I asked them not to (eg play soul in a swing set, dance during their set, etc etc), if they miss sets or are late to sets, etc etc. This last set is the most important criteria for me. This job is kind of tiring and annoying, and I just don’t need some dick giving me shit at 2am on the third night of an exchange. If I’ve told you to play fucking swing, play fucking swing and shut that funk down.

I don’t think it’s an accident that I get good men:women ratios. Most of the local DJs in most local Australian scenes are women. But they rarely step up to national level events – they’re under-represented. I think that’s because they’re not confident about stepping up, and aren’t supported (I’ve written about this a LOT, so you may want to search for more posts on this if you’re looking for some rants).

Why do some Australian events have massively more male DJs than men? The events that have these imbalances almost always also have pretty shitful working conditions and pay deals for their DJs, and they almost always have pretty awful approaches to DJ recruitment/hiring. They just hire randomly. They hire DJs who approach _them_. Seriously, why would you do that? If you want good DJs, you chase THEM. Don’t give them a chance to approach you – woo them! This means that they get the pushy blokes on their roster. And they miss out on the less confident ninjas.
There are times when events have fewer women DJs than men and the organisers have done everything right. Some years and some events, this is just how things pan out. But if you don’t have a good female:male DJ ratio for your event year after year, _you’re_ doing something wrong.

Why should you chase DJs? Isn’t that more work? Yes. But fuck, do you want good DJs or do you want people who pimp themselves out aggressively? Also: don’t be a lazy arse. Get your shit in gear.

Once you get your DJs, treat ’em right.

(c/o KatGalang)

I treat my DJs with respect. Even if I’m exhausted. Because YOLO, so you bloody well owe it to people to treat them right. And being nice to people makes you feel nice. WIN.

I pay DJs as much as I can, and I agitate for better pay ever year. btw the base line for a decent event is now: a free pass, plus at least $25 per hour. The best deal is a free pass + $30 per hour. I think this is total rubbish. DJs deliver the bulk of music at Australian events, yet is has the lowest value. WRONG TOWN. I don’t think we pay our DJs anywhere near enough, so I keep banging on to organisers about improving pay.

I’m also very strict about working conditions for DJs – safe, clean work spaces. Good notice on set times. If you’re booked for a set, I pay you for it, even if it’s cancelled. If you pay longer, you’re paid for that. Your name is plastered over the PR material. You get lots of public props. Prompt pay, in cash. Don’t harass your DJs. Make sure they’re not being harassed by the punters, and if they are, shut that shit down. If a DJ has a problem, YOU solve it – they just handball it up to you. BAM!

If I can’t manage these things (sometimes shit happens), I make sure I fix it as SOON as I can. And I apologise. I chase down DJs after events for feedback, and I assume that we can always improve things.

(c/o DJTrev)

I’m also always on the look out for new talent. Yes, I do favour experienced people, and because our national scene is so small, you’re going to see the same names on my lists. But that’s because they’re good. I don’t do nepotism. I do awesomism: if you’re awesome, I’ll hassle you until you DJ for me.
When I find new talent for big events, I only use them if they have experience with smaller events. They have to have been DJing for a few years, and dancing for longer. I have to have seen/heard them DJ before.
I try to give all the DJs I hire a lot of support – I deal with their problems, etc etc. And I try to make sure newer DJs have support too – maybe an experienced DJ buddy, or perhaps they need more time to set up before a set. Or maybe they need a bit of a pep talk. Or some quiet time. Whatever it is, I try to make it work. I think that if I want ninja DJs, I need to invest in ninja DJ development.
I also try to make sure the experienced people don’t get too burnt out. But that’s hard – we have too few DJs to work all our events. I also try to offer them interesting set briefs, and I encourage interesting set ideas.

So, basically, if you treat your DJs well, and get up off your arse and hunt down some peeps with mad skills, you’ll get good gender ratios in your DJ line up.

OMG JUST LIKE REAL LIFE

Fully fats

Fully fat from dogpossum on 8tracks Radio.

title – year – artist – bpm – length

You Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya – 2009 – Luke Winslow-King (Rich Levison, Cassidy Holden, Shaye Cohn) – 142 – 2:12

Truckin’ – 2012 – Paul Asaro And The Fat Babies (Andy Schumm, John Otto, Beau Sample, Jake Sanders, Alex Hall) – 189 – 4:27 – What a Heavenly Dream: The Fats Waller Rhythm Project

Shortnin’ Bread – 1941 – Fats Waller and His Rhythm (John Hamilton, Gene Sedric, Al Casey, Cedric Wallace, Slick Jones) – 195 – 2:41 – The Last Years (1940-1943) (disc 02)

The Girl I Left Behind Me – 1941 – Bob Wills – 206 – 2:40 – San Antonio Rose [disc 10]

Bearcat Shuffle – 1936 – Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy (Mary Lou Williams) – 160 – 3:01 – The Lady Who Swings the Band – Mary Lou Williams with Any Kirk and his Clouds of Joy

Peckin’ – 1937 – Johnny Hodges and his Orchestra (Cootie Williams, Barney Bigard, Otto Hardwick, Harry Carney, Duke Ellington, Fred Guy, Hayes Alvis, Sonny Greer, Buddy Clark) – 165 – 3:10 – The Duke’s Men: Small Groups Vol. 1 (Disc 2)

Fat And Greasy – 1935 – Fats Waller and his Rhythm (Herman Autrey, C.E. Smith, Eddie Anderson, Fred Robinson, George Wilson, Rudy Powell, Gene Sedric, George James, Emmett Matthews, Fred Skerritt, Hank Duncan, James Smith, Charles Turner) – 162 – 3:11 – I’m Gonna Sit Right Down: The Early Years, Part 2 (disc 02)

Here Comes Your Pappy (With The Wrong Kind Of Load) – 1936 – Putney Dandridge – 177 – 2:37 – Complete Recordings Putney Dandridge 1935 – 1936

Stomp It Out Gate – 1938 – Rosetta Howard acc. by Harlem Hamfats (Herb Morand, Odell Rand, Horace Malcolm, Joe McCoy, Charlie McCoy, John Lindsay, Fred Flynn) – 142 – 3:06 – Harlem Hamfats Vol. 4 1938-1939

Give Me Some Skin – 1941 – Lionel Hampton and his Sextette (Karl George, Marshal Royal, Sir Charles Thompson, Ray Perry, Irving Ashby, Vernon Alley, Shadow Wilson, Ruble Blakey) – 138 – 3:16 – The Complete Lionel Hampton Victor Sessions 1937-1941 (Mosaic disc 05)

Sent For You Yesterday – Benny Goodman – 158 – 3:04 – China Boy
St. Louis Blues – 1939 – Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra – 183 – 4:46 – Ella Fitzgerald In The Groove

Jive At Five – 2013 – Mint Julep Jazz Band – 171 – 3:23 Durham On Saturday Night

Splanky – 1966 – Count Basie and his Orchestra – 157 – 3:52 – Live at the Sands

B-Sharp Boston – 1949 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra – 126 – 2:55 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950

No Regrets – 1936 – Billie Holiday and her Orchestra (Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Cozy Cole) – 130 – 2:38 – Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday On Columbia (1933-1944) (Disc 01)

Sugar – 1946 – Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven (Vic Dickenson, Barney Bigard, Charlie Beale, Leonard Feather, Allan REuss, Red Callender, Zutty Singleton) – 138 – 3:26 – The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 03)

Laff, Slam, Laff – 1945 – Slam Stewart Quartet (Erroll Garner, Mike Bryan, Harold ‘Doc’ West) – 156 – 2:59 – Bowin’ Singin’ Slam
Stompin’ At The Savoy – 1944 – Teddy Wilson Sextet (Emmett Berry, Benny Morton, Edmond Hall, Slam Stewart, Big Sid Catlett) – 182 – 3:52 – Teddy Wilson: The Complete Associated Transcriptions 1944

Chasing Shadows – 1935 – Louis Prima, Pee Wee Russell, Frank Pinero, Garry McAdams, Jack Ryan, Sam Weiss – 170 – 3:04 – Louis Prima Volume 1
The Spinach Song – 2004 – Terra Hazelton (feat. Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards) – 165 – 4:57 – Anybody’s Baby

Me, I Get High on Reefer – 2010 – The Two Man Gentlemen Band – 200 – 2:17 – ¡Dos Amigos, Una Fiesta!

Shave ’em Dry – 1997 – Asylum Street Spankers – 131 – 4:21 – Nasty Novelties

This is the set I did on Sunday night at the late night dance during MSF. It was a cracking night. The workshops had been fun, and people finally felt they could stay up late and dance like fools. The evening dance had been a crowded event (1600 people bought tickets!) and there hadn’t been too many opportunities for dancing. So the late night was where it was at.

(photo c/o Trev

This was a challenging set for me. I was at the back of the room, at floor level, in a loooong narrow room. In that photo of Trev’s above, you can _just_ see the DJ, right at the back, silhouetted against that bright square. That’s either me or Kat DJing at a table [EDIT: Kat says that Trev says that that’s her DJing, not me. So I’d have been DANCING! SCORE!]
I could see perhaps 20 people of the 200 in the room. And those 20 were at the ‘back’ of the room – the newer dancers. I’m used to playing with the show offs and more experienced dancers right in front of me. During those sets, I have to keep reminding myself to watch the _whole_ floor, not just those peeps. But on Sunday I had to keep standing on a chair so I could see even perhaps just a few body parts of that same crowd.

I was following Kat Galang, who is relentless. She comes in hard and fast, pounds the dancers, then goes out with a bang. She makes people CRAZY with adrenaline. Fucking best dancing fun. Can be a challenge following, as a DJ, as she leaves the dancers utterly shagged. And I’ve found that if I chill it out too much (to give dancers a rest), they just sit down, realise how shagged they are, then pass out. So I have to keep things a bit sprightly so I don’t lose them. But if I pounded it the way she did, they’d probably die of heart attacks. So the goal is good energy, working shorter waves with lots of resting points, but keeping things exciting and interesting.

Here is what I noticed:
Because I couldn’t really see anyone’s bodies or faces, I couldn’t read the crowd. I couldn’t even really tell if the floor was empty or full, because I couldn’t SEE it. So I had to go with my instincts and… well, I guess I was going by my nose, and making sure I walked the room a lot.
I definitely benefitted from that particular time slot – peeps were ready to rock out.

Righto, what did I play?
First off, I love that Luke Winslow King song. Galang had played quite a few good NOLA tracks, by modern bands, and LWK is a NOLA boy, Cassidy Holden does lots of NOLA bands. So that echoed her work. It’s a moderate tempo, but it sprongs along with that gorgeous steel string guitar giving a nice western swing edge. The trinkly piano reminded everyone that this was still NOLA. Sort of. Best song. Only bad thing about it is that it’s TOO SHORT.

Fats Waller is in my brain a lot atm as we teach with him a fair bit, and I’ve found he’s really, really interesting for good solo dance work. So I wanted to DJ him a lot. He’s so light and funny, but he’s also so technically stunning, and the arrangements are rippingly good – really perfect for the complexities allowed by solo dance.
So I played that Fat Babies version of ‘Truckin”, to segue from the LWK, and to get to more Fats.

Then I played my favourite Fats Song, ‘Shortnin’ Bread’. I was being a smartarse playing Fats after a Fats ‘cover’. Shortnin’ Bread is FABULOUS.

I was still thinking about LWK and western swing, and I wanted to get the energy back up to Kat levels, so I played that great Bob Wills song. I love Bob Wills. LOVE HIM. That song is fuck-off great.

Then I chilled it out a bit with some Andy Kirk. This is a song everyone knows (well, the old sticks do), so it’s nice and comfortable. I teach with a lot, and think of it as a mellow, friendly song. Still nice and right in the middle of my favourite style.

More chillaxin’, with ‘Peckin”. But this version builds and gets pretty wiggedy wacked in the middle, so it’s a good way to get to other stuff. It’s always fun to dance to, and again, it’s familiar. So these two were ‘safe’ songs for the dancers. I was also watching Skye working the room, and I wanted to make sure there were some more relaxed songs for the newer dancers to pounce on him for. I really liked that Skye worked the back part of the room, too, rather than just sticking with the ‘cool’ kids. That was nice.

More Fats. Current favourite teaching song. This one is fucking great for the Al and Leon shim sham. It sounds like Leon James’ dancing.
The beat (the guitar/drums) gets a bit more uppy-downy, bouncy-stompy, which is what I wanted to set up for the next song. The vocal style is also something I wanted to set up for the next song. Also, this song is THE BEST.

Putney Dandridge. I haven’t been able to chase down the specs for this song, but the band sounds so much like the group who did stuff 2nd March 1936 – Putney Dandridge and his Orchestra (Richard Clarke, Johnny Russell, Teddy Wilson, Arnold Adams, Ernest Hill, Cozy Cole) – that I think it might be them. And look at that band. Yes PLEASE.
This song fucking rocks. Dandridge’s vocals are best. BEST. I love the way he brings that sprongy, bouncy-stompy rhythm to the song. Loveity love love.

But peeps needed a bit of a rest, so I went to this nice Hamfats song. Mike Faltesek played this once in Melbourne and every time I play it now, people rush up to ask what it is. It’s great. Nice, slower tempo, but with a good, stampy rhythm. Nothing too complex, but great, great dancing.

I was beginning to think I needed to change the styles up a bit at this point. It felt like I’d done enough of that particular style, and I needed to get a bit more solidly classic swing, or to head towards the 1940s. Lionel Hampton feels like good, solid top-40 style lindy hopping swing to me. And I love this song at the moment. I like the lyrics (“You know much about ‘lectricity? I know ’nuff to leave it alone!”). It’s a great, medium tempo dancing song. Great, catchy melody. Yes.

This stuff reminds me of Count Basie. And ‘Sent for you yesterday’ reminds me of Basie (of course). So I played the Goodman version, because it’s unexpected. It has what I think of as a ‘building’ vibe – I play it when I want to set things up for a performance, or to build the room back up to high energy stuff.

So from there I went straight to the Savoy with Ella and Chick’s band. This one is a bit overplayed these days, and I was going to play something else like ‘Everybody Rock’ from those concerts, but I thought “Heck, I’m doing ‘top-40 lindy hop classic swing. So _do_ that.”

I was still thinking about Basie. But I wanted to chill people out a bit (they were really kind of shagged at this point). I do like this Mint Julep Band, and this version of ‘Jive at Five’ isn’t as smooth and groovy as the 1950s Basie versions, but the band has a guitarist I really like, and I wanted a hi-fi vibe to set up for the next song. So I played this version rather than the Basie 1939 one.

At this point Trev had come over to chat for a couple of songs (he was looking a bit pale, actually, and I was a bit worried that he might _really_ need a sit down – he’d been dancing like a fool for ages). I said “I need something really classic Basie… you know, like Easy Does It.” And then we both thought of the Live at the Sands version of Splanky at the same time. That nice in-the-pocket Basie sound, but with a bit of punchy energy, as the band responded the more modern music around them.

WIN!

I always think of the Big 18’s Easy Does It, Splanky, and this lovely Ellington song in the same group. B-Sharp Boston is tops. Ellington’s band did some great lindy hopping music in 1949 – really solid, classic swing. Just before they started doing some really wiggedy wacked stuff. And this is what I wanted. Solid swing, easy tempo, nice, clear melody. But if you listen carefully, the drummer is actually doing some really interesting things with brushes (?) and shuffley stuff, which quietly intimates what’s to come for the band.

Thinking about later Ellington going nuts, I was reminded of Billie Holiday, of course. She was doing such radical things with timing, and she really was super important. I find dancers often puzzle a bit over Holiday’s timing, but this crowd was totally ok with such relatively minor challenges. And I was thinking ahead to the Slam Gaillard song I wanted to play, which really does do wiggedy things with timing.

I love matching the Louis Armstrong version of Sugar with that Billie Holiday song. Because I associate Sugar with Holiday. I love the song. And this recording is interesting, for the name (the Hot Seven in 1946?) – it’s part of a lovely lump of 1940s Armstrong stuff which really rocks. And when you put Holiday and Armstrong next to each other like this, you really understand how they were both revolutionary in their approach to _swing_. True genius. Armstrong’s trumpet and Holiday’s vocals – it’s the same thing. And of course, in the back of my mind, Lester Young is connecting Holiday and Basie.

Finally we get to Slam. This song is teh sheeet. I love dancing to it on my own. It’s complicated. It’s interesting. It has a good, solid beat. Until that beat gets screwed with a bit. Again, the band is edging towards modernism. It’s only 1945, but you can hear Errol Garner beginning to think about the future; the space between the beats that swing requires, is getting stretched a bit, and kind of pulled in different directions.

Teddy Wilson. Oh, I love you. And with Slam Stewart in the band. Just the year before. This is good, tight chamber jazz. A little group of big talents, doing a very solid, safe swing classic. But they make it tight and interesting. Unlike Benny Goodman, it feels like there’s a bit more maneouverability here. The band feels like they’re allowed to be a bit softer. Less a super group like Goodman’s small group, more a super good group doing something really nice. This is one of my favourite shim sham songs. In fact, this is my favourite sort of music. Complex, tight, yet super swinging.

Right. Change it up! Less cerebral, more stomping. I love early Louis Prima, and I love this song because there’s a Putney Dandridge version that’s more widely played (Fatima played it at Hullabaloo! It was the only song in her set that I had a copy of and knew well. Sheesh. She’s a gun). This uptempo version isn’t quite as tight as it could be, but it has a lot of energy and fun. I do like the Chicago boybands (LOVE the Mound City Blue Blowers), but this one isn’t as esoteric as some of the MCBB, so it’s a bit more accessible.

Then I changed gear without the clutch. It felt like I’d been to fancy and complex. Time to just pull out the pub jazz (thanks for that line, Georgia). Shouting, stomping arse kicker chick music. Made the dancers crazy.

Then I extended the innuendo/euphemism theme with this great song about another type of green. I played this song mostly so I could see Trev mime smoking reefer and then trucking. I was not disappointed.

Loling at Trev, I lined up the next song and he yelled ‘you should play Shave em Dry next’, but he was joking. I wasn’t joking.

Shave em Dry is a good one, because it was overplayed to DEATH in about 2006, mostly for blues dancers. There were quite a few groans from the experienced dancers, and Trev shook his head in disappointment. I admit it: this was a cheap play for laughs. But at the same time, I was taking the piss. And yet not – what’s not to love about a woman singing about being big and fat and loving to fuck real good?
I play it a lot at the Roxbury at home, matching it with the Two Man Gentlemen Band and other shouty rude bands. I think that this stuff really embodies the Sydney lindy hop/rockabilly/rock n roll crossover community. The fight and fuck-off-fun attitude of rockabilly matched up with some spanking rhythm and musicianship of lindy hop.

Then I handed it all over to Keith, who made us dance like fools.

….You know, reading this back, I realise that all this explanation of what I was doing is in retrospect. When I’m actually DJing, I’m just going with what feels nice. I’m just making shit up on the fly.

I do think that you need to have a good idea of how to work a room, and how to balance tempos and things so you don’t kill people, but really, you’re working on the fly. I think that if I didn’t have so much experience working this particular event, I’d have struggled mightily without being able to see the dance floor. That was horrible. And I’m also pretty sure I would have done a better job working the room if I’d been able to see. But I think that the compromise was that I did a better job combining songs and working my collection, playing a wider, more interesting and less familiar set of combinations.

edit: reading this again, later on (now I’m home in Sydney again), I’m struck by how important my interaction with other DJs was that night. Kat, me and Keith were the DJs for that gig. Here are two of them:

(photo c/o Kat)

One of the things I love about big exchanges, is getting to work with and spend time with other DJs. People like Trev and Keith and Kat and Alice and… all those other great doods. I’ve learnt so much from sitting in on their sets (ie just sitting next to them, listening to them think their way through a set or respond to what they see on the floor). In fact, the most interesting sit-in I’ve done has been with a blues DJ, Manon, who is such a clever, observant DJ. I just don’t understand blues DJing, so Manon’s observations are so interesting.

I love sharing ideas about dancing and music, and I love the sorts of DJ in-jokes that get around. Rickrolling someone with C-Jam Blues, just as they step onto the dance floor with a famuss dancer. Playing their favourite song in the set before they’re DJing. Pulling out yet _another_ Fats Waller track, because all the other kids are doing it. I just find it all so inspiring and interesting. And I love hearing their latest loves – the songs they’re really into at the moment and just busting to play.
It’s where I get the best ideas for DJing and my own new music. I mean, Kat has THE best version of ‘For Dancers Only’ by Bob Crosby’s band – I can never remember to hunt it down myself, and every time she plays it, by last third I’m running at her to gush. And I play that Jimmie Noone 1930s songs ‘Blues Galore’ because Trev played it at MLX in about… 2006?… and I just love it. And Keith and I, because we also run events together, are always scheming a good scheme, coming up with a ridiculous plan for some sort of DJ-centred event. The climax of which was us two doing a ‘DJ jam’ set together one night, where we shared a plate of home-made-hommus-and-veggies while we pounded a couple of hours of music together, swapping songs back and forth.

#TeamSuperDJFriends. I’ve got the feels for you.

Shouting 8 track

Shouting from dogpossum on 8tracks Radio.

name artist bpm length album year

Intro / Time’s Gettin’ Tougher Than Tough – Jimmy Witherspoon with Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Vernon Alley, Mel Lewis – 134 – 3:35 – The ‘Spoon Concerts – 1959

Splanky Count Basie and his Orchestra – 120 – 4:15 – Breakfast Dance And Barbecue – 1959

Roll ‘Em Pete – Big Joe Turner, Joe Newman, Lawrence Brown, Pete Brown, Frank Wess, Pete Johnson, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Cliff Leeman – 186 – 3:45 – The Boss Of The Blues – 1956

Wee Baby Blues – Count Basie and his Orchestra (Mahalia Jackson) – 64 – 3:14 – Live In Antibes 1968 – 1968

Cherry Red – Big Joe Turner, Joe Newman, Lawrence Brown, Pete Brown, Frank Wess, Pete Johnson, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Cliff Leeman – 96 – 3:25 The Boss Of The Blues – 1956

Every Day I Have The Blues – Count Basie and his Orchestra (Joe Williams) – 116 – 3:49 – Breakfast Dance And Barbecue – 1959

St. Louis Blues Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Nottingham, Lawrence Brown, Pete Brown, Seldon Powell, Pete Johnson, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Cliff Leeman – 154 – 4:20 – The Boss Of The Blues – 1956

Big Fine Girl – Jimmy Witherspoon with Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Vernon Alley, Mel Lewis – 156 – 4:55 – The ‘Spoon Concerts – 1959

Stormy Monday Blues – Count Basie and his Orchestra (Mahalia Jackson) – 121 – 3:50 – Live In Antibes 1968 – 1968

Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho – Mahalia Jackson – 130 – 2:13 – Live At Newport 1958 – 1958

Someone told me…

…Skye read(s) my blog and I felt like this
tumblr_mid5r9sxwB1qcgwn4o1_500

only with more squeeing in my pants*.

(image c/o carrionlaughing)

On a completely different tack, but still here in this post because yolo, bro, yolo…I play quite a lot of Big Joe Turner and Count Basie when I’m DJing. That’s like saying “I do a lot of Frankie moves when I lindy hop”, as though there was any other way of doing it. But there’s something about Turner shouting his guts out over some stamping fucking piano. That shit gets me hot. Hot in the ‘dances like a fool til she dehydrates’ way. The only way that really means anything, right?

imgres

‘Boss of the Blues’ is not a pretentious album. It’s not particularly sophisticated. It’s not rare, it’s not unusual. It’s not delicate, not by any stretch of the imagination. It’s loud, it’s shouty. Sometimes Turner shouts so loudly into the microphone the sound distorts. And while he’s shouting that loudly, the brass section is blowing their guts out and it’s just all noise. The sort of noise that gets into your guts and makes you feel extremely strong, inarticulate feelings. This is party music. Loud, shouting party music. And slow, night time party music where you’re pretty sure you’re gonna get a really good fuck by the end of it. **

This is the sort of album that beckons in rock n roll with a stamping, shouting jump blues rhythm. It’s not some shitty modern day neo band. It’s a bunch of dirty old musicians playing dirty old music in a way that lets us know that things are changing, and yet still exactly the same.

This is not the sort of album that will impress your old scratchy DJ nerd friends, or score you any snobby pants old school dancer points. But it’s an album every lindy hopper, every blues dancer, every swing DJ, every blues DJ should have.

If I’m playing a song from ‘Boss Of The Blues’ (which I do most sets), set up by a bit of new testament Basie, I like to follow up with something from the The Spoon Concerts:
imgres-1

Why yes, I do like a dirty old man shouting about big legged women and money and being hard done by.

And if I still haven’t gotten it out of my system, I add something from this:

imgres-2

Because ‘Breakfast Dance and Barbecue’ was one of (if not the) first album I bought specifically for DJing for dancers. It’s all live, it’s all recorded late at night, everyone is trashed, but everyone is truly great.

I feel that the 1950s were a truly great era for good, solid lindy hopping music. The technology had finally gotten good, musicians weren’t being lynched in the street, bop and rock and roll were pushing jazz about in the playground, forcing it to get its shit together. People like Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Witherspoon, Count Basie pushed back.

*If there’s one thing I’ve never pretended to be, it’s cool, calm and sophisticated.
**Listen to that version of ‘Cherry Red’ and tell me you don’t agree.

[edit: soundtrack for this post here]