djing – Page 7 – dogpossum

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:

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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]

Goats: THROWN!

Imperial Swing from dogpossum on 8tracks Radio.

Last weekend I DJed my first proper lindy hop set since November, and it was super fine. It was the first set of the night at Imperial Swing, a social gig put on by Swing Out Sydney. TOTAL FUN. It’s a great venue, and the sound system is pretty damn special. The DJ after me – Kat – is now my new favourite DJ. She was ON FIRE. Here’s the set list, because a friend asked for it. I aim to please.

Anyways, this set is pretty much what I think of as a ‘potato chip’ set: these are the sorts of songs you can just eat down by the handful. Nothing too crazy or confronting, lots of familiar stuff (C Jam Blues!), lots of energy. I was aiming for a high-energy party feel, and wanted to keep the tempos kind of reasonable as the crowd included some very new dancers. I figured familiar was also good, as many of the regular dancers who’d arrived were feeling a bit unsure of themselves in a queer space, so I wanted to help them find their feet. And, you know, we overplay C Jam Blues because IT’S A GREAT SONG.

title year artist album name song length (links -> where you can buy the album direct from the artist)

Blue Monday 1957 Jay McShann and his Band (Jimmy Witherspoon) 125 Goin’ To Kansas City Blues 3:40

Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop 1945 Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra 135 Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings 3:21

C-Jam Blues 1999 Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis 143 Live In Swing City: Swingin’ With Duke 3:34

Blues In Hoss’s Flat 1958 Count Basie and his Orchestra 144 Chairman Of The Board [Bonus Tracks] 3:13

The Spinach Song 2004 Terra Hazelton (feat. Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards) 165 Anybody’s Baby 4:57

Percolatin’ Blues 2011 Smoking Time Jazz Club 135 Lina’s Blues 4:14

I Like Pie 2012 Gordon Webster (with Aurora Nealand, Jesse Selengut, Gordon Au, Dan Levinson, Matt Musselman, Cassidy Holden, Rob Adkins, Jeremy Noller, Steven Mitchell) 162 Live In Rochester 5:38

Sales Tax 2012 Leigh Barker and the New Sheiks (Matt Boden, Don Stewart, Alastair McGrath-Kerr, Eamon McNelis, Heather Stewart) 132 The Sales Tax 3:43

Good Rockin’ Tonight 1959 Jimmy Witherspoon with Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Vernon Alley, Mel Lewis 160 The ‘Spoon Concerts 2:27

Don’t You Miss Your Baby 1980 Jimmy Witherspoon and Panama Francis’ Savoy Sutans 145 Jimmy Witherspoon and Panama Francis’ Savoy Sultans 3:56

Milenberg Joys 2010 Gordon Webster (with Jesse Selengut, Matt Musselman, Cassidy Holden, Rob Adkins, Jeremy Noller, Adrian Cunningham) 194 Live In Philadelphia 3:45

It’s Your Last Chance To Dance 2007 Preservation Hall 179 The Hurricane Sessions 4:31

Mr Gentle and Mr Cool 2005 John Hallam and Jeff Barnhart 173 Mr. Gentle and Mr. Hot 3:23

Tempo de Luxe 1940 Harry James 130 New York World’s Fair, 1940 – The Blue Room, Hotel Lincoln, 3:19
Savoy 1942 Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra (Trevor Bacon) 166 Anthology Of Big Band Swing (Disc 2) 3:05

St. Louis Blues 1939 Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra 183 Ella Fitzgerald In The Groove 4:46

Keep On Churnin’ 1952 Wynonie Harris 146 Wynonie Harris: Complete Jazz Series 1950 – 1952 2:56

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

Here’s what I was thinking as I was DJing:

‘Blue Monday’ is a song I often start sets with. It’s an easy tempo, has lots of energy, and a very simple structure. It worked well for me here as the music in the free lesson before the dance was mostly neo, and I needed a good transition to my more old-schooly music. Also: shouting.

‘Hey! Ba-ba-re-bop’. You know why I played this.

‘C Jam Blues’. By this point I had a lot of energy happening, and the room had settled into proper social dancing after the class. I decided I wanted to come in pretty hard with the energy (rather than easing into things), as I only had an hour. There were enough people in the room who could dance comfortably, so I figured I’d ring Pavlov’s Bell and get the kids jumping about a bit.

‘Blues In Hoss’ Flat’. I love following C Jam Blues with this. It’s the perfect Ellington-Basie one-two punch. BAM! Things were cooking at this point. A mass of people arrived in a big flow, so I needed to get really serious.

‘The Spinach Song’. Enough of that big band wall of sound! I wanted to get to some NOLA action eventually, so I needed a good transition. This song is a brilliant transition from that Kansas city blues shouter sort of vibe that ‘Blues in Hoss’s Flat’ sets up. It also echoed the Witherspoon song. But the instrumentation leans a bit more towards old school.

‘Percolatin’ Blues’. I felt as though the previous song was the crest of the first energy hill, so I needed a chillout song. Those previous songs had kind of battered people emotionally with their big, intense feelings, and I needed to give people an in to the dance floor if they’d not gotten up yet. So I dropped the tempos and the intensity so peeps could dip their toes in if they’d just arrived or finally recovered from the class and felt ready to try again. This was about twenty minutes into the set, which is the end of the first third, where I’m usually thinking we’re cresting.

Ok, enough with the molly coddling. Time to pump the energy up again. I’d said I’d play this in talk on FB, and it’s still massively popular. Personally, I’m totally over this version of ‘I Like Pie’. I’m tired of the mugging lyrics, and I’m tired of the fairly boring chorus. But each time I listen to it, I fall in love with Gordon’s piano. That shit is hot. Anyways, this was a crowd-pleaser.

But things were kind of loud and intense, and I saw quite a few tired people looking for a break after two longer songs. So I did ‘Sales Tax’. I think I made a slight misjudgement with this one. I needed to keep the energy up, but with a slightly different sound. Anyways, it wasn’t quite right. It was around this point that I realised there was some serious problem happening with the sound system. The sound was too loud at the front and not loud enough at the back. The sound guy had disappeared, so I couldn’t ask him.

‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’ – a live version. I went with more Witherspoon because I wanted to kick things up with some higher tempo shouting live fun. But I was quite distracted by the technical problem, so I’m not sure it was the perfect choice (though as the song progressed it turned out to be the perfect choice). But about 30 seconds in, a seriously loud alarm started beeping in the DJ booth. The dancers couldn’t hear it, but it was LOUD. The sound guy came running down and tried to fix things. Apparently someone had turned off all the music in the pub. On Saturday night in an inner city queer pub. Nice one. It WASN’T ME.

Anyways, I was kind of shaken by that, so I just lined up the next song I had in mind, and had to physically move myself out of the way, away from my laptop and the sound gear. So the next Witherspoon – another Witherspoon – was a random choice. I’d almost played it instead of ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’, but didn’t. It turned out to be a really good choice, but I felt as though I’d lost control of things for a second there. Anyways, by the end of the song, the alarm was off, I was back at the laptop and it was time to get into things again.

By the end of that song, it was time to hit that crest again. The energy really chugs along in that Panama Francis band’s version of a standard, but Witherspoon adds a really interesting alternative to the Jimmy Rushing version we hear all the time. And I was feeling a bit smarty pants, referring back to that Basie song with Witherspoon again.

‘Milenberg Joys’. I much prefer this to the Pie and Cake song. It rocks. It pulled the energy (and tempos) up. I’d have gone faster again, but the crowd wasn’t quite up to it. There were still a lot of new dancers, and the dancers who’d been around for a while didn’t really have the skills to tackle the massively higher tempos. The room felt hot, though, and people were kind of going crazy. There were quite a few glazed crazy-eyes in the room, which was pleasing.

So I did the obvious thing after this with Preservation Hall. I’m kind of over this song. I think it’s overplayed, and unlike C Jam Blues, I don’t think it’s quite versatile enough to warrant the overplaying. But it provided a nice climax to the energy in the room. And, long song. is long.

‘Mr Gentle and Mr Cool’ is a lovely, lovely song that an Adelaidean DJ, Jarryd, put me onto. I’m obsessed with it. It actually reminds me of the Preservation Hall Hot 4 album in the piano, so in my mind it was a lovely match to the song before. I’m not sure peeps who don’t know that Pres Hall small group album would have caught the connection, but, who cares! Anyways, it’s a chillaxed, more complex song, but it still has some tempo on it, so it doesn’t let things die.

By this point I was done with that modern NOLA sound. I needed something older and funner. I’m a bit nuts about this Harry James song. It was recorded live at the World’s Fair in 1940. It starts really mellow and kind of sweet. But mid-way it picks up with a bang! and becomes a fucking brilliant dance song.
I’m interested in the World Fair from that year for a few reasons. Firstly, there’s footage of people dancing together at the Fair. And they’re all women. WIN!

The Fair did, of course, feature lindy hoppers from the Savoy doing performances, but apparently this was a pretty shitty gig. Reading through my copy of The Man Who Recorded the World, a book about Alan Lomax, I discovered that he’d designed the music bits of that World Fair as a series of ‘everyday’ music spaces – jook joints featuring blues music, town halls playing bluegrass, etc etc etc. He’d wanted to recreate the contexts he’d recorded music in during his ethnographic work. But the Fair organisers reneged on his plans and forced the ‘mock Savoy’ into the plan, and abandoned Lomax’s much more interesting ideas. I suspect this shift was partly to blame for the shitty time the Savoy dancers had at the Fair (I have, incidentally, written a bit about this stuff in the post a snot-addled, animated wander through san francisco).

More usefully to dancers on the night, ‘Tempo deLuxe’ is what I think of as a ‘builder’ – it starts mellow and gets crazy. A good transition from the mellower song before to the fun I wanted to do next.

‘Savoy’ is, of course, a song about the Savoy Ballroom. See what I did there? It’s also a stock standard. And a jolly good song with lots of fun in it.

I’ve been playing that version of ‘St Louis Blues’ for years and years and years. It’s truly fabulous, AND it was recorded live at the Savoy ballroom. See?

Ok, so things feel exciting in the room. I was building energy for the dancers, but also because we were about to have a performance by Pretty Strong Woman, who does weight-lifting burlesque stuff. And I like to set up the energy for performers.

After all that Savoy stuff I went with Wyonie Harris because the crowd had quite a few rock n rollers, and I wanted to at least throw them part of a bone. Not much of a bone, though. Mildred Anderson was a similar token effort. Both of these are great songs, but they lean towards jump blues, and I find them great cross-over songs when I’m playing a mixed lindy hop/rock n roll crowd. These two are a bit slower, too, so they’re more accessible.

And then I was done!

Fun times! And as I said, Kat played a cracker of a set after me. She really did brilliant work. And I danced like a fool til the rock n roll/neo DJs came on at midnight, and then I went home. After I saw Kira Hu-la-la do a brilliant motorhead type burlesque show. Oh, how I LOLed at her clever jokes. GOATS: THROWN!

Busy Hamface, busies herself

You’d think nothing had been happening round here.
But everything has been happening.

Firstly, we had to finish off classes for the year. We were so tired out, it was a relief, and yet it’s a poo to interrupt the learnz. But knowing when to rest is important.

Secondly, we had MLX. The biggest event in Australia. I was coordinating the DJs. I got into bed at 6am on Saturday and Sunday because I was having so much fun DANCING. Pilates has made masses of difference to my stamina – dancing is just so much less work because I use my body more efficiently. The music – live and DJed – was beyond compare. It was a massive weekend, and all the organisers and DJs should be very, very proud of themselves.

Thirdly, I arrived home on Monday, utterly shagged, my knees destroyed, and had to get shit together for the Little Big Weekend with Ramona, which started that Thursday. I was running this one on my own, and it was pretty much 100% sorted. Except for those little things I discovered on about, oh SUNDAY. But that’s how running events works – you discover little errors or mistakes or problems, you solve them, you rock.
I have to say, this was a seriously successful weekend.
Ramona did the Ramona thing: she was ridiculously professional and excellent company. Being in a range of classes with her, it was made very clear that there’s a real difference between being a regular teacher and being a world class teacher with ten years of teaching under your belt. The classes were fantastically structured and executed, and Ramona’s physical abilities were so far beyond what I’ve seen in workshops with other international teachers this year, I was blown away. And then, the class content!
I asked Ramona to teach things that I was really interested in, and then she DID. A class in soft shoe, a class in blackbottom, a class focussing on three different character dancers (Snake Hips, Josephine Baker and… mental blank). It was a solo weekend (!!), and the material was really quite eccentric. The classes sold out in 48 hours, we opened new spaces, the classes sold out again. And then to see a large group of people just lapping up this strange, bizarro wonderment, working hard, laughing and just relishing the Ramonaness…. it was a real delight.
After the workshop day, we had a christmas party (I didn’t run that one), then a late night party (I didn’t run that one either), and the late night party was A M A Z I N G. My standards were high after MLX. But I would even say that this was better than the late nights there. That could just be local pride. But, seriously, it was just fabulous.
There were a few other sessions on the weekend – a training session for a performance troupe, a ‘masters’ private class (masters = hardcore solo jazz nerds) and a small teacher training session – and Ramona was a real trooper. The work load must have been so tiring, but she kept rocking. And I’ve heard report after report from attendees gushing about the classes. I myself feel so inspired and invigorated. We taught on the Monday immediately after the weekend and got to test some things from the teacher training. It was exciting and inspiring and satisfying!

So, the Little Big Weekend with Ramona: wonderful.

Thirdly, Alice and I had two classes to teach on the Monday after the weekend, as part one of a three night block at a larger venue. We did a 1920s partner session (boy we wanted to do blackbottom!), then the first in a series we’re calling ‘beautiful basics’. This first basics class was looking at rhythm in lindy hop. It was a really nice coincidence to see Ramona emphasising rhythm so fiercely in her classes. We’d planned this class ages ago because we’re really into rhythm in our solo and lindy hop dancing, so Ramona’s approach helped confirm our feelings.

We worked very carefully on a class that began with a strong solo component (looking at the ‘step step triple step, step step triple step’ lindy hop rhythm, gradually adding in new fundamental rhythms – stomp off, kick ball change, hold), getting the students to dance out those rhythms in combinations. The goals were to work on bounce, on timing (syncopation, swing, etc) and on combining and changing rhythms.
We spent about three quarters of the class on that, and the students worked very hard – we were so impressed. Then we had them partner up, and we worked on putting those rhythms into swing outs. Swing out after swing out. The goal was to show how rhythms can be the core part of a swing out, and that shapes or ‘moves’ aren’t necessarily the most important part (though of course that’s fun stuff too).
It was really thrilling to see them suddenly go “Ah-ha!” when they understood how working on the rhythms on their own were an essential part of rocking their partner stuff. And their swing outs! It was really inspiring. So that class was a lot of work, but a lot of fun.
Next week we’re expanding that concept of ‘beautiful basics’ with a class looking at ‘making space for rhythm in lindy hop’. In that class we’ll take some basic steps or shapes (swing outs, under arm turns, etc) in a very basic ‘routine’, and then look at how we can make those basic steps a framework for rhythm or jazz steps. So the goal is to create swing outs or shapes that are flexible and relaxed, and to help students figure out how their connection with their partner can be open to improvisation.
I was quite struck by how this week’s class, which was quite simple in concept (make your swing out a jazz step and dance on your own, then rhythm-it-up, then make it into partner work again) could be so useful. The key was the practice and experimentation. And it was really nice to see the students then taking each of those rhythms and varying their shapes or emphases. Hopefully this next class will be just as useful. The goal with this one is to help students see how the most basic lindy hop ‘moves’ can be frameworks or outlines for more complex, textured dancing. The key is to be relaxed and self-reflexive, understanding how your own movements affect your partner’s, and how to be open to invention and improvisation.

Fourthly, I had pilates last night, after a day of busy appointments. I love pilates. It feels like a nice, gentle, low-impact, relaxing workout. My knees don’t hurt, I don’t sweat that much, I can be calm and properly mindful and in my body. And by GEEZ the work has improved my lindy hop.

And now it’s Wednesday, and I have no obligations! Well, I have stacks of post-event admin to do, but I’m giving myself a break, as I’m totally buggered. So of course I’m taking this time to write and write, rather than going out and doing something calming and non-dance related.

Tomorrow, of course, it’s on again. There’s a GREAT gig featuring three bands on tomorrow night at 505. The New Sheiks are from Melbourne (I squeed about their latest album here), and I’m really looking forward to hearing them. Then there are the Finer Cuts, who are from Sydney, and who played the christmas party. Most of their band members also played the late night Speakeasy party and were fabulous. And the final name on that bill is Pugsley Buzzard, who used to live in Sydney, but is now Melbourne based.
I’m really looking forward to the gig. I’m totally and completely over DJs (sorry, DJs) – live music is rocking my boat.

But, now, I have to add a caveat. The DJs at MLX made me realise that it’s really only ordinary DJs that I’m tired of. The quality of DJing at MLX was so vastly far beyond the ordinary DJs I hear, and have heard at other events during the year, it makes it clear that skillz are not universal. My own DJing, sadly, was not really up to snuff. I think I did an ok, job, but I definitely wasn’t up to my past standards. Assessing my own work, particularly on the Friday late night in the lindy hop room, I think I’d put me on the non-crucial sets next year.
In retrospect… heck, thinking about my DJing now, the problems are: I don’t DJ hardcore events enough these days, so I’m out of practice; I spend more time thinking about dancing than DJing, and am not on top of my own music; I’m not inspired, and I’m not nerding up my way through vast quantities of music each week. Basically, teaching and my own dance work have pushed DJing to the back of my mind. For now. I think this is a good thing. I’d much rather use band than DJs, and I’d much rather be dancing than sitting on my clack watching other people dancing. I’m also 38 now, so I reckon I should do the hardcore dancing now before my body totally asplodes. Time enough for DJing later.

So I’ve had a crazy couple of weeks. It’s been really, really great. I had a massage when I got back from MLX, which really helped, but I do feel as though I’ve pushed my dodgy knees a bit further than I should have. Curse you genetics! Now I’m thinking about next year, and about events in the future. I have some schemes, and some ideas for other events. I’d like to do something completely different and unusual. Something that we don’t see in Australian jazz dance. Now I just need some funding (to the arts grants!), some business skills (to the TAFE!) and a crack team of people to help me pull these things off. I love having the chance to combine my academic experience with my dance love. I figure all that time applying for and getting grants and scholarships during my postgrad years is going to be very useful in the near future.

Dancing, you are the finest. Organising and planning, you are the equal-finest.

No news

[rage edit]HEY, if you’d like to give me a serve about being some sort of elitist, how’s about you a) read some of this blog, b) read my comment below. Because I am onto your shit, and I will NOT tolerate it. While I’m at it I DO HAVE A CLUE ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ETHNICITY, CLASS AND CULTURAL CAPITAL IN LINDY HOP, YOU IDIOTS.[/]

I’d write a post about gender and DJing, but nothing has changed since the last time I wrote about it. Women do most of the local DJing, men dominate the DJ line ups at big events. Women DJs problem solve collaboratively, male DJs don’t. Men mansplain technical problems to me when I’m DJing (even if they know nothing about sound gear). There are one or two exceptions.

I’d write a post about labour and pay in the lindy hop world, but nothing has changed since the last time I wrote about it. Teachers, DJs and volunteers are overworked, underpaid and exploited. Dancers refuse to pay more than $40 for a big live band playing for four hours, even though they’re getting the best goddamn dancing of their lives in a restored ball room with the best musicians in the country. Fuckers still make volunteers work for hours and hours, and DJs still aren’t being paid properly by large events (if at all). No, comping entry is NOT THE SAME AS PAYING.

LINDY HOPPERS: stop being such bloody tight arses. Pay more money for live music. Pay more for events run by dancers, just so you can dance. $6 for a DJed gig? IT IS NOT ENOUGH. $20 for a live band in a large, clean space with a good dance floor? INSUFFICIENT. Refusing to pay more than $10 for a four or five hour late night party featuring two rooms of music, six DJs, free food and requiring about 25 people’s worth of labour? YOU ARE TOO TIGHT, DANCERS.

Just in case you thought things were totally fucked, they’re not. This past weekend I counted three or four women who only lead, who I had not seen out social dancing before. They were all wearing nice waistcoats and trousers and jackets and ties and were PWNING ALL. Male leads: you need to level up, because the sisters PWN YOU; your half-arsed leading, your lack of triple steps, your bullshit lazy arse lack of bounce is being shown up. It’s not too late: GO TO CLASS. LEARN ALL THE THINGS. GET GOOD. Male follows: GET ON THE GODDAMN FLOOR.

Preservation Hall Hot 4 with Duke DeJan

This is my favourite Preservation Hall Jazz Band album. It’s called Preservation Hall Hot 4
“with Duke DeJan” and I like it because it’s a smaller group, and while they’re definitely trucking along, it’s a calmer, quieter album. Their version of ‘Dinah’ is my most favourite, probably because I used to run to it every morning, back in the olden days, when my knees could hack both lindy hop and running. Ah running, I miss you so :(:::

I should write a post about Pres Hall at some stage, but for now, the basics are: this is a band that’s been around for squillions of years, and is really the ‘house band’ for the Preservation Hall in New Orleans. The personnel have changed over the years, but the core ethos – play good music – has not. They have a jillion albums, and if you like jazz, you really should buy them all. I especially like the album with Del McCoury’s band, but you mightn’t – there’s a lot of stringy old timey action there. I also like the Preservation: An album benefitting Preservation Hall and the Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program album, but the Hurricane Sessions one is good too.

Dancers tend to favour their version of ‘Shake That Thing’ (from the album Shake that thing), ‘Last Chance to Dance’ and ‘Sugar Blues’ (from the Hurricane Sessions album). But I prefer this quieter, gentler album. It’s really quite a different type of jazz – less of that raucous collective improvisation. More of that quieter, listening-to-each-other stuff.