Category Archives: djing

Dance is like a block of chocolate

I have some things I want to say about the intersection of dance and audio-visual media, but I don’t have time to make a whole, proper argument. Fuck, I took 100 000 words to talk about these issues in my phd dissertation, so I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to write about this succinctly.

But let me note the ideas that happened to me today. Firstly, someone else made a very interesting observation.

Jerry linked up an interesting video on Facebook.


MOTION #04 – Ledru Rollin by motionparis

(MOTION #04 – Ledru Rollin)

And he wrote:

Via BrotherSwing. This is a pretty slick video featuring Melanie Ohl. However this does highlight an interesting conundrum with these kinds of videos in that the editing is so quick that it’s hard to get a sense of how well the dancer is actually moving. I’ve seen other videos of Melanie, and she is pretty good, but the camera doesn’t stay on her for more than a few beats at a time. On one hand it does keep the casual viewer engaged, but it makes it difficult for someone trying to enjoy just the dance itself.

I’m starting to pay attention to more of this stuff as I’m making my own foray into the netherworld videography with my new camera. Plus a lot of Lindy Hoppers are now getting the opportunity to be filmed all fancy like, I’m actually working on a short video which I may post very soon.

Also, this seems to be a part of a series of videos focusing on different dancers doing different dances, so if you enjoy this, check out the user’s main page for more.

I’ve been paying (some) attention to the way dancers’ve been getting into vlogging lately (eg Mike Pedroza is using youtube and Jerry is making interviews and other fun things (again via youtube, but with his blog and FB page as the key delivery tools)) and I’m always interested in dance-musician video projects.

This is partly because I’m a dance nerd, but much more because I spent a really long time learning and reading and thinking and writing and teaching about media and audiences at uni. I’m really, really, really interested in audiences and modes of participant-consumption (no, I am not ok with the term ‘produceage’). That’s really how my phd began: how do dancers use digital media in everyday dance practice? I wrote about AV media, DJing, email lists and discussion boards, and I can’t seem to stop thinking about this stuff. I guess I just can’t get away from the idea that dancers are all about the body – the face to face interaction – and yet swing dancers are very into digital media. There are all sorts of interesting class, culture and ethnicity issues at work here.

In my own work I carefully avoided talk about Cartesian splits, because I don’t think it’s a terribly useful model. Dancers don’t divide their brains and their bodies, and to insist that dancing is always and forever a thing of the senses and the body, is to devalue the work of choreography and the social labour of production and consumption surrounding the dance floor… or those three minutes on the dance floor. Just as I feel that it does musicians a disservice to dismiss the best jazz as ‘creative magic’, I think it is a mistake to talk about dance only as creative magic happening in the body.

I think that the dancers who achieve the greatest things do spend a lot of time thinking about dance, and how dance works, but they spend even more time on the dance floor, moving, and finally (and always?) they are thinking with their bodies. So I don’t like that idea of a mind/body dichotomy. And we do need to consider the idea that thinking about dance can happen via digital media as well.

I know I’m not the only one who can’t watch dance videos before bed because they keep me awake. I’d always joked about ‘Pavlov’s lindy hopper‘, but then I came across an article by Beatriz Calvo-Merino, Julie Gre`zes, Daniel E. Glaser, Richard E. Passingham, and Patrick Haggard called ‘Seeing or Doing? Influence of Visual and Motor Familiarity in Action Observation’. Basically, if you wire up a dancer’s brain and then observe them watching a particular dance choreography, the same bits of their brain fire as they would when that dancer was themselves dancing that choreography. CRAZY. So – and I extrapolate wildly and without substantiation here – when I’m watching solo charleston videos before bed, my brain starts firing, and it’s as though I’m dancing that charleston. And then we all know how long it takes to calm down after a bit of crazy charleston. I’m also beginning to suspect that a DJ (who is also a dancer) experiences the same brain-work while they’re DJing and watching the floor. So a DJ who watches the floor should – boy, this is getting precarious – should be a better DJ for this doppelgängering effect. Yes, I know doppelgänger probably isn’t the right word or term to describe this. Mirroring – the term Calvo-Merino et al use – is far more useful.

So, yes, let’s talk about this in terms of ‘thinking with the body’. That idea is useful when we think about choreography – and probably even teaching dance – because it gives the observer a way to feel what is going on in the body of the dancer who is being observed.

Yes, yes, but what has this to do with Jerry’s original post?

This is what I wrote in response to Jerry’s facebook post above:

Oh Jerry, I think I love you. This is so totally up my (media studies) alley!

There’s quite a bit of literature in cinema studies about filming dance. I guess the tension lies in filming dance-as-spectacle in itself (where you basically just set up the camera to film dancers’ whole bodies from a fixed position) _or_ filming dance-as-narrative, where you cut, pan, edit, etc to tell a more complex story about dance and through dance.

I saw a very interesting conference paper by Tommy DeFrantz a few years ago, where he talked about Hype Williams and a “black visual intonation” in music video (Believe the Hype: Hype Williams and Afrofuturist Filmmaking’, ‘Refractory’, Thomas F. DeFrantz, Published Aug 27th 2003). This was basically looking at how we might make music video (featuring black music and dance) in a way that reflects the rhythms and intonations of black music and dance itself. In the simplest terms, that might mean cutting and editing film in a particular rhythm. This immediately makes me wonder what a film cut in a ‘step step triple-step’ rhythm might look like.

Another fascinating example of this sort of thing is the Two Cousins video:

(Slow Club – Two Cousins)

On one level the choreography has been put together as a response to the song. The first ‘scene’ gives us Ryan dancing ‘in time’ to the song ‘Two Cousins’. The film then cuts immediately to a slow-mo pulled-back shot of Ryan dancing, with a busier, more exciting part of the song overlaid. There’s an interesting tension between the more exciting music, the exciting dance steps and the effect of slow motion itself.

I think two of the reasons so many people were irritated by the Slow Club video was that it cut and edited the choreography ‘out of sync’, and it also messed with the speed of the choreography – slowing things down and speeding them up. So our dancer’s eye was continually frustrated by an inability to follow the patterns of the choreography ‘in real time’. Lindy hoppers are pattern matchers, and it’s very frustrating to not get to see the entire pattern of the choreography laid out in real time, so we can comprehend the ‘story’ of the choreography itself – the repeating patterns and rhythms. Refusing to let us see the pattern builds tension (and frustration); we never get the release of closure or pattern-repeating.

In contrast, lindy hoppers tend to really love films like the original Al and Leon videos:


(Charleston — Original Al & Leon Style!!)

In these videos there are no cuts, just a few very slow pans. With no cuts, we don’t get that feeling of anxiety about ‘missing’ something that’s been ‘cut out’ of the film: we see the whole thing, in real time. We get to see the patterns and rhythms.

I’m totally fascinated by all this. I’ve written an article about how dancers’ use of AV media changed the way the original films worked as texts. We cut out the ‘dancing bits’ and watch them in isolation from the broader film narrative (which films like Hellzapoppin actually were designed for – censors cutting out the bits that broke race laws). But then we also do things like watch and rewatch, and then watch and rewatch _parts_ of that original scene, out of order. Dancers: we’re all about imposing our own narrative flow. Just like all audiences, really.

Now, to tie all this together. I think, when I wrote about this frustration that dancers feel watching the Two Cousins video, I was referring to a sort of tension (yes, I do overuse that word, but it’s a good one to describe this feeling) that you might feel if you watched this video as a dancer. The Pavlov’s lindy hopper effect kicks in, but then it’s not taken to completion; we don’t get that good old adrenaline contact high from watching this video. Mo frustration!

But this is of course all just speculation on my part. And even I’m highly skeptical. It seems far more likely that the negative comments about the Two Cousins video stemmed mostly from an intellectual and creative frustration with the cutting and ‘obscuring’ of these two gifted dancers. Finally – a high quality video of two of the most difficult-to-catch-on-film, most talented male dancers of our era – and we can’t even SEE THEM! And I’m sure we don’t even need to go into the aesthetic and creative frustrations we feel watching the Two Cousins clip.

Here is where I might insert a bit of talk about the perils of narrative cinema, Laura Mulvey, the male gaze and avant garde cinema. I could go on about how we should be deeply suspicious of submerging ourselves into narrative cinema, and how it is the opiate for our active, interrogative minds. But I can’t support that argument, because I am – unashamedly – a fan of the good story well told. And as someone getting interested in choreography, I’m extra interested in how story structure can work with music and dance to convince audiences they like what they see. I could quite happily go on and on about repetitive structures and just how useful they are for telling stories in dance, but that is way too far OFF THE TRACK even for me. So it’s back to dancers bitching.

So, really, there were lots of reasons for dancers to find the Two Cousins video frustrating. As audiences with shared values (which I guess is how non-corporeal audiences are determined – individuals become audience through shared viewing and shared viewing practices and values), it’s not surprising so many dancers were narked.

But then, it’s also possible to write about the Two Cousins video with some degree of joy as a dancer. I wrote about some of my good feelings about the video in my Two Cousins post.

But even I can’t maintain that blissed out lindy love feeling. I tried to discuss some of the issues of race and discursive and mediated power at work in this and other video performances in ‘Historical Recreation’: Fat Suits, Blackface and Dance. And I went over the details in Another look at appropriation in dance.

That last post about cultural appropriation draws on Tommy Defrantz‘ work, implicitly if not explicitly. Tommy’s work has had a profound effect on my thinking about gender, class, race, dance and power. He is one of the few academic scholars whose work on black dance history can be trusted absolutely. And he’s a dancer himself.

This whole post is leading me to the point where I link you up with this lovely video, Thomas F. DeFrantz: Buck, Wing and Jig:

Which you should then follow up with Thomas F. DeFrantz: Dance and African American Culture:

I especially like the part where he says:

Social dances are hugely important to help us understand how people live their lives. Because in the social dances we see the transformation of physical gesture that people do every day into creative practice, but we also see the fantasy life of social gesture that people don’t get to do in their everyday. …we might see social dances that let people… release all that energy in really unexpected ways.

So Defrantz at once describes social dance as a place where everyday movement is transformed into dance (this is something that gets talked about a lot in other discussions of vernacular dance – especially in LeeEllen Friedland’s work), but also as a place where fantasy lives can be lived out. So we put our ordinary everday into our social dance, but we can also make social dance a place where we live out our fantasies.

This makes lots of sense when you think about gender and dance, and I’ve written before about how social dance might give young women in particular a place to play with gender: femininity, sexuality, desire, and public displays and enactions thereof. But I have always really liked Paris is Burning as an example of shared, public, social, collaborative, creative – fantasy – play in dance. In that film, a ballroom becomes the place where any fantasy about sex, gender, power, beauty, desire, grace, creativity and artistry can be played out.

In an extension of that final point, then, when dancers get to see films like the ‘My Baby Can’t Dance’ video (which I describe in New Chic in Jass), you can see how the camera’s longer, lingering ‘gaze’ upon those dancing bodies (those talented, well-lit, well-dressed, well-known dancing bodies) provides a sort of visual and physical pleasure. I’m not talking sex, here. I’m talking about that Pavlov’s lindy hopper effect. We get the pleasure of seeing someone talented doing a choreography we really like, and we also get the physical/mental pleasure of our observing brain firing and delivering up a good dose of adrenaline.

Now, I’m treading dangerously (frighteningly) close to phenomenology here, and I have to say: do NOT want. I also think that the arguments or ideas I’ve set out here are HIGHLY spurious. You should be very, VERY skeptical of the things I am saying.

But at the same time, aren’t these very tempting, very delicious ideas? Isn’t the thought of getting a ‘contact high’ from watching a dance video a little like an unwrapped block of best Swiss chocolate? Don’t you just want to get all up in its grill?

YES.

The influence of Frankie Manning on my lindy hop history

As I mentioned in the Frankie Fest post the other day, we’re teaching Frankie Manning themed classes this month at our weekly class. That means Frankie Manning themed lindy hop in the first class, and then Frankie Manning themed solo dance in the second class. Although making the distinction between the two seems to deliberately misunderstand exactly what Frankie Manning – and jazz dance – are all about.

I’m going to see if I can write a few blog posts about Frankie Manning, or, rather, using Frankie Manning as a jumping off point for some ideas. We’ll see how well things go – I’m not all that together in the longer-form writing way at the moment.

This is a post about how Frankie Manning moved into and out of my understanding of lindy hop. This is a story of personal growth (goddess, how I hope it’s about growth), not really about Frankie himself. If you want that story, you should read his autobiography.

Oh, yeah, Frankie Manning IS the best!: late 2000s and early 2010s

Frankie95, the massive birthday party for Frankie Manning, which he just missed out on seeing, seemed to suddenly change everything. It’s true, you know, you don’t know what you’ve got til you lose it. You don’t miss the water til the well runs dry. And the Silver Shadows, the most popular, and one of the most highly skilled lindy hop performance groups in the world at the time reminded people that Frankie was wonderful:

Frankie95 day3 Performance Silver Shadows tribute to Frakie Manning:

It feels, now, that the generation of international teachers being flown to Australia to teach (people like Thomas and Alice, for example, who taught a ‘Frankie class’ at Jumptown Jam last month), who mightn’t have been into this stuff in a big way before, are suddenly falling in love with Frankie Manning all over again. Or for the first time.

I’m feeling a profound sense of déjà vu. The steps that I first learnt to dance with – pecks, stomp offs, mini-dips – are now chic again. I’m not complaining. But I think that for a lot of dancers, the technique-heavy smooth style phase and then the popularity of blues dancing gave them the technical skills to really appreciate what Frankie Manning was doing, particularly in his later years. And I also think that the influence of Steven and Virgine in Melbourne (particularly during that 2000-2004 period) was very important. While their dance style was definitely juicier and groovier, their experience with Frankie Manning definitely informed their teaching, and Frankie’s understanding of music and rhythm and dance shaped the Melbourne lindy hop scene, even indirectly.

For myself, I think that Frankie himself makes it very clear that to be able to dance well, it’s just as important to able to shake your arse for Shiny Stockings at 120bpm as it is to move your arse at 230bpm with Jumpin’ at the Woodside.

Understanding Frankie’s bum and feet and hands and everything: early 2010s Sydney

Now that I’m teaching (again – the last time I taught was ~2002), I amazed by the content Frankie was teaching beginners:

Frankie Manning teaching in Denver, CO 2007:

That little sequence is quintessential Frankie Manning. He just assumed that if you were learning lindy hop, you were going to learn a complex sequence of rhythms and steps, and that that was going to be the heart of your dancing. Most lindy hop classes I see these days assume that beginners will be learning simple movements and that this sort of rhythmic work is a ‘variation’, an optional extra for more advanced dancers.

When I first started learning, this little film shows the sort of thing we learnt – in fact, I can still remember learning pretty much this exact sequence way back in about 2000. I strongly believe that this stuff – these rhythms, this use of open position, this combining partner work with individual improvisation – is the very core, the absolute essence of lindy hop. Without it, you’re just… well, you’re just doing something else. You’re not lindy hopping.

I know that right now, I’m really only beginning to properly understand just how amazing he was, even in his 90s. There are no modern dancers today who can approach his skill level. Let alone his choreographing ability. I think we are so lucky to have had him, not just in the early days of lindy hop, but most especially in the revival, when we really needed, as a community, to be taught not only how to dance, but how to love dancing and to be good to each other.

I think these interviews with today’s lindy hoppers talking about Frankie Manning at 90, at the 2004 Herrang Dance camp make all this clear:

8 tracks: ‘New’ music for lindy hopping

‘New’ music for lindy hopping from dogpossum on 8tracks.

linky

image from Shorpy

This is (part of) a set I did last week. I wanted to combine some new stuff (the New Sheiks in particular) with some very familiar stuff (Now You Has Jazz), and to feature Clark Terry. Clark Terry needs some help covering medical bills – please do consider donating even a little bit to this fund.

The second half of this set was solid old school, but this block (excluding that last Mona’s Hot Four) went off like a frog in a sock. I had considered adding in some Gordon Webster, because his band would’ve fitted in nicely, but he’s terribly overplayed at the moment. I couldn’t resist adding in that Mona’s Hot Four song in this 8track, though. Because I love that particular band. NB the Rhythm Club All Stars band (featuring Danny Glass of course) track prompted a jam. Which nearly killed the dancers, who weren’t expecting it to be quite as fast as it was. But gee, they handled the breaks well in what was an unfamiliar song.

If you’re looking to purchase these songs, I do recommend going through the artist directly where possible. I’ve included links where possible.

title artist bpm album year length

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

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

Old Joe’s Hittin’ The Jug Rhythm Club All Stars 269 Introducing The Rhythm Club All Stars 2008 2:43

Now You Has Jazz Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, others 168 The Great American Songbook 4:12

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

Mumbles Clark Terry, Ed Thigpen, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown 192 Oscar Peterson Trio + One: Clark Terry 1964 2:04

Lonely One In This Town Leigh Barker and the New Sheiks (Matt Boden, Don Stewart, Alastair McGrath-Kerr, Eamon McNelis, Heather Stewart) 124 The Sales Tax 2012 3:28

Satchel Mouth Baby Catherine Russell 135 Strictly Romancin’ 2012 3:20

Puttin’ On The Ritz Mona’s Hot Four (Dennis Lichtman, Gordon Webster, Cassidy Holden, Nick Russo, Jesse Selengut, Dan Levinson, Tamar Korn) 185 Live at Mona’s 2009 7:49

blues DJing

Blues sampler from dogpossum on 8tracks.

linky
image from shorpy

I did some blues DJing last night. Here are some songs from that set. Not entirely in order. It’s really just a bunch of women singing. That’s ok by me.

Hear Me Talking To Ya? Ella Fitzgerald acc. by Roy Eldridge, WIld Bill Davis, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Gus Johnson 98 These Are The Blues 1963 3:02

Amtrak Blues Alberta Hunter (acc by Doc Cheatham, Vic Dickenson, Fran Wess, Norris Turney, Billy Butler, Gerald Cook, Aaron Bell, Jackie Williams) 95 Amtrak Blues 1978 3:24

Back Water Blues Belford
Hendricks’ Orchestra with Dinah Washington 71 Ultimate Dinah Washington 1957 4:58

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

Fine And Mellow Mal Waldron and the All-Stars (Billie Holiday, Roy Eldridge, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Milt Hinton) 79 The Sound Of Jazz 1957 6:22

Kitchen Blues Martha Davis acc. by unknown 80 BluesWomen: Girls Play And Sing The Blues 1947 3:05

Frosty Morning Blues Cecile Mclorin Salvant and the Jean-Francois Bonnel Paris Quintet 70 Cecile 2010 4:50

Jungle Blues/Love In Vain Leigh Barker and the New Sheiks (Matt Boden, Don Stewart, Alastair McGrath-Kerr, Eamon McNelis, Heather Stewart) 81 The Sales Tax 2012 5:42

An interesting post about teaching dance

Sarah wrote this post Dance Teachers Shape the Lindy Hop Community in August last year, and it’s getting quite a bit of linky at the moment (mostly c/o Jerry’s FB page). I can’t believe I missed it when she posted it, but then I’m not really that surprised as I wasn’t exactly in the most organised state of mind at the end of last year.

At any rate, that post is just rippling with issues that resonate with me, here in my seventh week of teaching weekly classes and co-managing my own teaching venue, as well as continuing with my usual dancing commitments. I haven’t really read that post with a sensible brain yet (though that didn’t stop me launching in with a swear-laden comment – sorry Sarah), but I want to address some of those issues. I’m going to have to think carefully before I write, though, because teaching politics are far more complex than DJing or social dancing politics. I did do a chapter of my thesis on teaching dance, mostly making the point that the commodification of dance through classes (ie packaging up dance and selling it to punters in classes) is ideologically loaded, and I saw gender as a key part of this. How surprising, patriarchy and capitalism holding hands. Or they would, if they weren’t afraid they’d get gay germs. One thing’s for sure: the money involved in teaching makes it a far more laden topic than DJing. So I’ll certainly be coming back to stick my foot in it. And then in my mouth. Or my desperately over-laden metaphor.

The Social Life of Urban Spaces

I’ve been interested in William H Whyte’s ‘The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces for a while, mostly because it provides a nice jumping off place for talking about dancers and DJing, but also because there are some flaws in the work which make it worth revisiting occasionally. But I hadn’t realised there was a film version of William H. Whyte: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces – The Street Corner.

Women’s History Month: some thoughts at day 6

It’s women’s history month again, and I’m listing a different woman musician from the first half of the century every day (as I explain here). Last year I did a different woman dancer every day, and that was super great fun. I’m enjoying the women musicians, but I haven’t really had a chance to research or push myself, as I’ve been away at a dance event for most of this month. And today, I’m still feeling a little tired and rough, so I’m not really ready to push myself. Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

I did decide in that first post of the month that I’d only dance as a lead this month, as a way of exploring International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month and what it means to be a woman dancing. Well, actually, I just decided that on a whim, without much thinking at all. I don’t follow much these days as I’m really trying to get my leading up to snuff, and the best way to get better at dancing is to dance. And as every lead knows, the real challenge comes on the social dance floor, when you need to come up with a series of moves, connect with your partner and attempt some sort of creativity all at the same time.
We won’t even mention the battle to maintain the fitness and aerobic capacity lindy hop demands.

I have to say, it hasn’t been hard, because I get to dance with amazing dancers, most of whom are my friends. And I’ve learnt so much in the past month or two it’s kind of scary – I suddenly find myself stretching and expanding my skills, pushing myself to try things that I’d never have tried before. But it’s certainly meant a bit of rethinking the way I operate socially at exchanges and dance weekends. My weekend pretty much felt like this:

I mean, the biggest change for me this past weekend in Melbourne was simply spending very little time with men. I have lots of lovely male friends, but I only danced with two of them this weekends, and I discovered that I just didn’t end up spending as much time catching up with blokes as I usually do. :( I think that’s mostly because I’d be chatting to some chicks, and then a song would start and one of them, or I would say “let’s dance!” and then we would, and then afterwards I’d end up mixing with chicks and chatting. Rinse repeat. This of course means that the men in the dancing scene need to man up and start with the following, because I refuse to miss out on their dancing wonderfulness! Good thing Keith and I got to DJ together, or I’d hardly have spent any quality time with a bloke at all this weekend. And that is UNACCEPTABLE.

Workshops on Sunday were fun. I learnt a LOT. And I did a private class with Ramona on Friday, which kind of broke my dancing for a bit, and then suddenly it all came back together and I was a dancing machine on Saturday night. Blues dancing: still a bit too dull for me atm. But then, only boring people are bored, and that’s doubly true of dancers – only a boring lead is bored. I need to woman up.

The DJ Dual with Keith went really well. In fact, I had the most fun DJing I’ve had in ages and ages. We ended up trading three songs until the last moment when we played alternative songs. I think we would have liked to continue for another hour or so, trading single songs, as we got more confident and figured out the skills and tactics we needed. But we’d been DJing for an hour and a half by then, so we might’ve gotten a bit tired. And I had to go in the jack and jill, and I’m not sure it would have been ok for me to DJ the competition I was in. Overall, it was nice to have a bit of a challenge, and it was nice to work with a friend I like and have lots in common with musically. But he is a bit of a sly dog, and wouldn’t tell me what he was playing next, most of the time, so I had to keep on my toes. But that was actually even more fun. DJ Dual: LIKE.

NB There were THREE women leads in the jack and jill competition, and one got through to the finals (in a group of six leads)!!11!1 That photo above is one I lifted from Faceplant – sorry I can’t remember whose it was. It’s of the J&J, I’m in there, and so is at least one of the other female leads.

Now: NEED MORE MALE FOLLOWS!!!

I ended up catching up with lots of internet friends over the weekend as well. Which is always a bit of a push, but well worth it. The best part was walking into a cafe, saying “Hello, I’m Sam, nice to meet you!” and then barrelling into an hour of solid, hardcore talking as though we’d known each other for years. Which we have, really. Just not in person. This trip I went for smaller catch ups, rather than bigger groups, because I wanted to get a chance to actually connect with everyone and I often don’t get that at bigger meet ups. But that also meant I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to. Oh well, good thing I go to Melbourne regularly! I’m planning another trip in May for the Frankie Manning birthday celebrations, so I’ll see if I can fit in the people I missed this time. But that sucks, because you’re still missing people! And then there are all the dance people I want to see off the dance floor! This is, of course, why exchanges are so much fun and so challenging – so many friends descend on one city for just one weekend you really need an enormous dance floor to connect with them all!

Righto, I’d better write up today’s jazz woman!

Essential Swing

Essential Swing from dogpossum on 8tracks.

Direct link to this 8tracks set which includes one song from each of these albums.

Our students keep asking us for music recommendations, so I’ve put together a list of albums I consider ‘essential’ swing for new dancers, or people just beginning a collection. The first draft of this list had about sixty million albums and eleventy hundred artists. But I had to keep this real. I think this list is a bit long – 19 specific albums and a heap of modern artists? Too long for someone who’s just starting to collect!

This is, really a list of music that I think would kick off a good collection. It is, of course, informed by my own musical preferences, and by the music I started my collection with (and by Reuben’s excellent list). I expect most people to argue with me about this list – that’s a good thing. We should all have strong feelings about the music we dance to, and we should all be heavily invested in musicians and their work. If we just got up and danced to any old shit, our dancing would would be totally rubbish. But this is a list of albums that I think are a good place to start a collection. My list of definitive, most important to lindy hop (or charleston, or balboa or blues or jazz) music would probably be quite different.

Putting this list together, I realised that I’ve been neglecting a lot of these staples in my own DJing. I’ve been using lots of modern bands and getting into more esoteric artists and recordings. And, frankly, I think that’s a mistake. Here’s the provocative part of this post: swing DJs today need to play more solid big band swing, and to lay off the rare-and-unusual small band esoterica.

Buying swing music is very different these days, just seven years after I started DJing. I remember hunting down that Count Basie ‘Breakfast Dance and Barbeque’ CD at a local Borders. I’d be surprised if you could find it in any music shop today…though I do see it (very rarely) in a JB Hi-fi. Actually, the only brick and mortar shop I recommend is Music Without Frontiers in Hobart. That guy who runs that shop knows EVERYTHING about all music. If he suggests something to me, I buy it, whether I know the artist or not. Because he’ll only recommend very good quality albums, by important artists. Even if I don’t love it at first, I know I’ll suddenly realise, even a year later, that this is the important album I needed to hear.

Most of the first albums I bought were CDs purchased online through amazon, my collecting prompted by a sudden surge by the Australian dollar, are now available through itunes, and I can’t really imagine a good reason for not buying electronic versions. Sure, you won’t get the liner notes, and that means you won’t know who’s in the band, when songs were recorded, and in what cities, but all that information is available online in jazz discographies like Tom Lord’s Jazz Discography, or sites like www.redhotjazz.com. Actually, now I think about it, it’s quite difficult to get decent discographical information for jazz. Someone really needs to put a copy up on the torrents, because no one is going to care in a few years; jazznerds are dying off.

So, to make sure there are a few more jazznerds to replace them, here are some gateway drugs.

The beginnings of a swing music collection.
Just getting into swing dancing, and wanting a bit of music to practice to, or to just help you figure out what the music was all about? Hopefully this list will be helpful. I’m going to tip the list upside-down, chronologically speaking, so the most accessible stuff – the contemporary bands and 1950s stuff – is at the beginning. But feel free to graze the list randomly.

Where do I start?
Collecting swing can get addictive, but it can also be a bit overwhelming at first. Big band classic swing from the 1930s and 40s is probably the most important. This is a good compilation to give you a taste of the different artists in the classic big band swing family:

  • ‘An Anthology of Big Band Swing 1930-1955’ – (1993, Decca) [Amazon]

Modern bands:
A lot of new dancers like to start with 1950s recordings, or with current-day bands recreating old sounds. That’s totally cool – they’re a gateway drug!
There are lots and lots of bands doing great music all over the world today. This album is a must-have, and a very good place to begin a collection:

  • Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis ‘Live In Swing City: Swingin’ With Duke’ – (1999, Sony)
    [on Amazon;on itunes]

Here are some other bands that are popular with dancers (in no particular order):

After that, it’s a matter of following your nose. Chase down the original recording(s) of the songs on these albums and see what you like.

Music by decade:
Harlem lindy hoppers of the 1930s and 40s, like Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers were mostly into big band swing, and would go out to dance to big bands most nights of the week at big ballrooms and dance halls like the Savoy Ballroom.

This is a very basic list of good quality albums with lots of good dancing music by musicians and bands from the 1950s, 40s and 30s.

Modern era swing: 1950s

  • Count Basie Orchestra – ‘Breakfast Dance And Barbecue’ (1959, Blue Note Records)

    A high quality live recording of Basie’s big band playing favourites to an enthusiastic audience at a late night/early morning show. Features Joe Williams on vocals.

    [amazon; itunes).

  • Count Basie Orchestra – ‘Count Basie Story’ (1960, Blue Note Records)

    • A 2-disc recording of Basie’s ‘New Testament’ big band in the studio. Features many of the hits from the bands’ 1930s playbook, including ‘Jive at Five’ and ‘Shorty George’. Joe Williams on vocal again.
    [amazon; itunes]

  • Maxine Sullivan – ‘A Tribute to Andy Razaf’ (1956, Legacy)

    • A recording from later in her career, Sullivan sings with an excellent group of musicians, famous in their own right (including Buster Bailey, Milt Hinton, Dick Hyman).
    [amazon; itunes]

  • Jimmy Witherspoon – ‘Jazz Me Blues: the best of Jimmy Witherspoon’ (1998, Prestige)

    • Excellent 1950s swinging small group stuff featuring lots of great musicians (including Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins), as well as Kansas City’s famous singer.
    [amazon; itunes]

  • Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong (and Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown, etc) – ‘Ella and Louis again’ (2003, Verve)

    • 1950s small group recordings of two of the biggest names in jazz. Mostly slower, groovier feeling swing. Excellent listening, with a band featuring brilliant musicians (including Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, etc).
    [amazon; itunes]

Classic swing era: 1940s

  • Lionel Hampton Orchestra and small groups – ‘Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings’ (1996, Decca)

    • A 2 CD set featuring some of the best 1940s Lionel Hampton big band music. The 50s stuff is a little too jump blues for lindy hop, but is still lots of fun. This album comes with lovely packaging, including great liner notes. Features iconic song ‘Flying Home’.
    [amazon; itunes]

  • Charlie Barnet Orchestra- ‘Skyliner: 190-1945’ (1998, Giants of Jazz)

    • Often overlooked by modern dancers, Barnet’s big band was very popular with lindy hoppers in the swing era, and this album is a good introduction to its 1940s recordings.
    [amazon; itunes]

  • Cab Calloway and his Orchestra – ‘Are you Hep to the Jive?’ (1994, Sony)

    • Cab Calloway is probably best remembered today for his performance of ‘Minnie the Moocher’ in the Blues Brothers film, but this charismatic band leader led an excellent big band whose lyrics were usually played for laughs.
    [amazon; itunes]

  • Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra – ‘Complete Jazz Series 1941 – 1942’ (2009, Complete Jazz Series)

    • Lucky Millinder’s band with Sister Rosetta Tharpe singing is very popular with dancers, though his work with the Mills Blue Rhythm Band in the 1930s is perhaps a little better.
    [itunes]

  • Slim and Slam – ‘Groove Juice Special’ (1996, Sony) – Slim and Slam

    • Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart were recording large number of funny songs which are great for dancing throughout the 30s and 40s, and then into the 50s. They’re very popular with dancers today.
    [amazon; itunes]

Classic swing era: 1930s

  • Count Basie and his Orchestra – ‘Count Basie – the Complete Decca Recordings, 1937-1939’


    • A 3-CD collection of the 1930s hits by one of the best-known band leaders of the swing era. This is a big set, so it’s worth previewing the songs to find ones you like. Popular songs include ‘Topsy’, ‘One O’Clock Jump’ and ‘Jive at Five’.
    [itunes; amazon]

  • Ella Fitzgerald and her Orchestra- ‘Ella Fitzgerald Live at the Savoy 1939-1940’ (2007, Hep Records)

    • Features Ella leading (and not singing much) with the Chick Webb band just after he died. This is a brilliant series of live recordings which really capture the feel of the Savoy Ballroom, home to lindy hop!
    [amazon]

  • Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra – Lunceford Special 1939-1940 (2001, Sony)

    • Lunceford’s 1930s big band is very popular with dancers, and this is a great collection of Lunceford songs from just one year, including dancers’ favourite ‘For Dancers Only’.
    [amazon; itunes)]

  • Billie Holiday ‘Lady Day Swings!’ (2002, Sony)

    • Billie Holiday in the late 30s and early 40s, mostly with Teddy Wilson’s Orchestra. Holiday can be a bit tricky for dancing because she does complicated things with timing, but the bands are great and the songs are all very famous.
    [amazon; itunes]

  • Benny Goodman’s Orchestra ‘Sing Sing Sing’ (1987, RCA/Bluebird)

    • Goodman is famous for both is small and big bands, but this is a good introduction to his 1930s big band recordings. Includes the songs ‘Bugle Call Rag’ and ‘Roll ’em’.
    [amazon; itunes]

Jazz era: 1920s
There’re lots and lots of very excellent artists and albums in this group, but I haven’t gone into them here, as I don’t really think they’re a great place to begin if you’re looking for music for lindy hop. I do think this a group worthy of its own post, so….

Places to buy music:
It’s always best to buy albums directly from bands if you can, so checking their websites is a good start.

Digital downloads:
– itunes
– CDbaby for modern bands, and some older stuff
– bandcamp
– emusic if you have access to an account

Online shopping:
– amazon for CDs
– cduniverse for CDs

Brick and mortar shops:
– Music without Frontiers in Hobart
– ordering at your local music shop (often cheaper and faster to buy online yourself)

DJing is not politically neutral

Lots of DJs talk a lot about mac and great their products are. I use mac products. I’m not in love with them the way many mac users are, but I certainly enjoy using them more than the Microsoft products I’ve used, and I’ve not explored Linux or other options. But how should I feel about apple now that I’ve listened to Mike Daisey’s story about factories in manufacturing China? This This American Life story explores the issue in detail, doing more than shouting about awful working conditions in sweatshops to explore why western communities feel ok about buying products from and supporting companies which use sweat shops.

I think this is an interesting topic for DJs. We tend to think of ourselves as workmanlike people, just playing the music, or doing our art for the sake of the dancers, who’re doing their art. But if the tools we use are created with the fairly horrific exploitation of others, is it really art? Can we really justify what we’re doing as being in any way a good thing?

I’m not sure what to think or how to act. Living in the global north (ie in a developed, wealthy country), being a part of demograph is which is empowered by the exploitation of others, I think that the first thing I have to do is recognise my own privilege. How is my life made easier by the difficulties of others? My own privilege comes from the disadvantaging of other people. It’s not a neutral thing, the happy happenstance of my own or my parents’ or my grandparents’ hard work and good fortune. I live this life because other people cannot.

[edit 16/3/12: apparently Daisey fabricated much of his story. I don’t think this negates the original point (that factories making electronic goods for affluent consumers exploit their workers), but the details are not as Daisey would suggest.]

[edit 18/3/12: another interesting discussion of the Daisey issue as theatre/performance and suspension of belief]