Category Archives: music

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[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.

prints, jazz and community practice?

Remember that A snot-addled, animated wander through San Francisco I wrote a little while ago? Well the Riverwalk Jazz people read it and thought it was so great they did their own show on San Francisco jazz.

You know that’s a joke, right? Good, just checking.

Anyways, it’s an interesting episode, and the highlight is of course the live material by Jim Cullum’s band.

Above image is from the RWJ page linked above, and they credit it with “Handbill for Turk Murphy Band at Earthquake McGoon’s, San Francisco. Image courtesy oldhandbills.com”. Here’s the direct link they forgot to add. I think this handbill is actually the most interesting part of this story, mostly because I’m a nut for promotional ephemera, particularly the sort that involves some sort of creative work. I’m very interested in Redback Graphix, an Australian printing cooperative business with radical political roots that I remember from the 80s in Queensland, and I’m also a big fan of 1920s art prints as well. And then I do have a passion for 70s, 80s and 90s music PR posters and print making. Here is where I’m tempted to insert a sad little whinge about digital media sucking the life out of print media and art, but that would be ridiculous, because digital media has brought me things like that Old Handbills website, digital archives of Australian prints, and of course lots of new ideas and information about printing.

NB While I’m crapping on about RWJ, I have to say, again, how very disappointed I was by their bullshit work on women in jazz history for Women’s History Month this year (and last year). Just one story, out of a month’s worth, on the topic, and the same boring old musicians. Even I managed more, and I’m hardly a jazz historian, and certainly don’t have their resources to draw on.

small group time

I love small swing groups, and Riverwalk Jazz are doing a show on them this week called Goodman, Shaw & Dorsey: Big Band Leaders and Their Small Combos. It features a few of my favourite small groups, most of which make for good (though fairly precise, and dare I say it, uptight) dancing.

That Riverwalk Jazz show reminded me of an 8tracks I did a while ago, which is mostly small groups. I’m really a fool for a small group, I think mostly because I dance to small groups more often IRL. But also because I like the way you can hear every instrument in a small band, and the smaller format lets musicians work together in a team, yet still as individuals:

songs by singers with small bands from dogpossum on 8tracks.

The Riverwalk Jazz discussion of small groups has also made me think about the Ozcats, who’re a very good Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats tribute band in Sydney. I’ve only seen them play twice, and not for over a year, but they were the best Australian band I’ve ever danced to. A heap of older blokes staring at their scores from seats on the stage, rocking out. I’d love to have them at a dance event again. They play this sort of music:

(linky)