Category Archives: music

MSF2011: mid-exchange report

I am three days into a dance weekend. I have had blocks of sleep regularly, but they have been broken sleep, and I need lots of sleep at the best of times. My left knee aches and is swollen, my hamstrings are tighter than Benny Goodman’s trio and I haven’t eaten a vegetable in two days. I might also be teetering on the brink of irrational rage.

But I am having a very good time.
This is how dance weekends work. Just like a cult or a men’s warrior weekend. We go to one room, pound ourselves with noise, get our heart rates up, adrenaline pumping, endorphines flooding. Then we touch a whole lot of people while we listen to exciting, manically cheerful music. Is it any wonder dancers get the post-exchange blues when these things end?

I have had some really brilliant dances. I’m not entirely sure I was the one doing the brilliant dancing, but I felt brilliant. Because I was charged with adrenaline. And touching someone lovely, while we gave the music legs.

Things I now do while actually dancing on the dance floor:

  • Shout out with excitement and joy. This is surely a continuation of my over-30-couldn’t-give-a-fuck maturation. I don’t care if people think I am a fool. When the music is right and I’m feeling it and I’m in motion, and I’m really with my partner, I can’t help it if I have to let it out. People do stare. But then, why wouldn’t they?
  • Clap randomly. This began as adding claps to the rhythms my feet were making. Part of me is convinced that clapping randomly during a song makes me more Swedish. The rest of me just wants to make noise, to somehow get inside the music. I think that this is really a result of dancing to so many live bands at home, where I want to let the band know I’m paying attention. My hands get sore.
  • Let out shouts of laughter, in a strange, manic way. I’m not sure why. It’s not as though I am always finding something hilariously funny. For the most part it’s simply that I am overcome by what I am feeling, and it just barks out of me. This usually distracts my partner and makes then wonder if perhaps I shouldn’t be out on my own. This is a bit like the shouting with excitement.
  • Clap the band a lot. I’ve been quite surprised by how few people are clapping the bands this weekend. I’ve been blown away by how great the bands are. I look up at the stage, and the musicians are really watching the dancers, really emotionally engaged with us. So it’s a bit heart breaking when the dancers don’t clap the songs, or the solos. I do. I also yell out “yay!” because I want them to hear that I like them, that I’m really liking what they’re doing.
    I think that I do this because we do see so many live bands at home, and that we actually get to know the musicians quite well. They’re the type of musicians who play that sort of interactive jazz where band members really interact with each other, so they’re already engaged with the people around them, through the music. We also see them in quite social settings – small venues, where the stage is very low and close to the dance floor, or venues where the relationship between audience and band is quite casual. The Unity Hall hotel: crowded, small, packed to the rafters. The Camelot Lounge: larger, but run by arty types who like to make every show a proper relationship between performers and punters.
  • Clap DJed songs. So I’m kind of trained to clap songs. I also have a policy of clapping songs I really like, even if they are recorded songs played by a DJ. I figure there’s no point being a shitty old grump and complaining about the songs you hate. That’s no use to anyone. So I like to applaud and cheer the songs I love instead. It makes me feel good. And I hope it lets the DJ know that I like what they’re doing. Sometimes I just like to applaud a good dance, to cheer it: “Hoorah! Yay!” I’m sure this mortifies my more image conscious dance partners. But then, I’m also in a safe, friendly, familiar environment. If I’m feeling quite wonderful, why not let it out?

I really am having a heap of fun.

Mike McQuaid’s Late Hour Boys have been my favourite band so far. They played at the late night dance on Friday, after the competition night. They played ‘My Daddy Rocks Me’, my favourite Jimmie Noone song. If not that song, then one very similar, which also provoked much squee on my part. There’s a little gaggle of us ladies nursing shocking crushes on John Scurry, caresser of banjos, guitarist of squee. He has mad skillz.

linky

I didn’t mind the band last night, which had some of the same musicians, but I think I prefer the drummer from the Late Hour Boys. The band last night seemed to have some trouble connecting with the dancers until about the second set. I wondered if it was the sound or acoustics or something? I’m not a huge fan of town halls, as you tend to feel really far away from the band, and the sound is usually quite shocking, but the Collingwood Town Hall is better than many. But this lack of connection could just have been me. I wasn’t really with it, properly until a bit later as I had to do some annoying administrative stuff and solve a couple of minor problems.

I liked the way the teachers did a bit of dancing showing off to the band. That was a nice touch. Excellent thinking, Ramona.

Finally, I have to say something about the DJs this weekend. I’ve been the luckiest, luckiest person getting to work with these kids. This year I went for a smaller, leaner DJing team, offering the DJs more sets but using fewer DJs. This can be a bit difficult in Australia where we tend to use more DJs, for fewer, shorter sets (for a whole range of reasons). But MSF has a very band-heavy musical program, which is fabulous, as it means the live music is much more important than the DJed. It also means we have fewer DJed sets on offer. I’m going to have a talk to the DJs after the weekend and see if they found the extra work ok, what they’d have changed, etcetera. But from my perspective, it’s much easier juggling a smaller team of DJs, and to be able to work with a small team of very capable, reliable people who love DJing and have a real passion for the music they’re playing. We have preselected DJs for a particular musical style (MSF this year and last has really emphasised classic swinging and hot jazz by musicians from the 20s-40s, and by modern musicians), and while this isn’t always a win with newer dancers, or with dancers who don’t really dig historically grounded music and dance (I know, I know – wtf?), it actually means we can present a program of music which is consistent, and really contributes to the branding of the event in a productive way.

This year we also added in a proper blues session (last night at the late night), which was a slight deviation from the go-lindy-or-go-home vibe of last year, but really was a response to overwhelming interest from blues dancers. I was very happy with the DJs I got for those two sets. They’re good buddies, so they work well together, and they’re both very capable people who I knew would do a good job. Unfortunately I didn’t get to hear their sets as I was DJing the opposite room. This is of course one of the things we didn’t really want to do this weekend. Splitting a crowd is a bit of a shame, as it ensmallens your crowd, but also suggests, implicitly, that you aren’t offering a main room which everyone will like. I think, in retrospect, it was a good idea, though. The main room was really quite full on, exciting lindy hop, so the more chilled back room was probably a good alternative if you were feeling battered by the noise and intensity of the band and then later DJs.

Here, I need to pause and gush about Falty again. *fans self* He did a really popular, really excellent set for us last year, and this year he topped that with an even more exciting, excellent set. I danced a LOT and almost danced beyond the point when I was supposed to take over from him again (I did the first 30 minutes of the room to warm things up, he did a big block of an hour and a half or two, and then I did the last 45 minutes or so). It was brilliant. He plays exactly the sort of music I love, and I really like the way he combines new bands and old recordings. I like the way he really pushes dancers with higher tempos and high energy, then plays a few quite slower songs. He really works the whole tempo range, and a whole range of moods. Again, he’s besotted with this music, and I think this absolute devotion, as well as a real feel for the music make his sets top fun. I’m also suspecting his approach to dancing and interacting with his partner inform his DJing.
It was also really cool talking DJing with him. I learnt a lot, and I’m thinking new things about what I do when I’m DJing. YES.

…from here, I’m tempted to gush on about the other DJs individually, and in great detail. But I really need a nap and my laptop battery is running out. Think of me, will you, and wish me stamina. Because I’m going to need it.

DJ Snoopdoggydogpossum

About my DJing
I started dancing in Brisbane, Australia in about 1998, then moved to Melbourne where I started DJing in 2005. Now I live in Sydney where I DJ mostly for lindy hoppers and blues dancers. I do the odd large camp or exchange in other cities during the year, but mostly I play at local events for local dancers. I like organising dance events, and I’ve just discovered that I love performing. It’s a pity that I haven’t also discovered that I have a natural talent for performing, but I figure enthusiasm and shouting will suffice where grace and ability fall short.

I like hot jazz and swing music from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, but I also really like modern bands who recreate the sounds of those periods. I also have a shocking memory, so I’m always pleasantly surprised when I ask a DJ “What’s this great song?” and discover that I already own a copy of LCJO’s CJam Blues. I figure this excuses my overplaying particular songs in my collection. I also hope it explains my delight in songs which most of us have heard a million times before, rather than indicating a lack of imagination.

This drawing is a portrait my friend Scott Fraser drew of me for a birthday card, and I think it captures my DJing style. In a metaphoric sense, of course. The only vinyl I own is a collection of Stone Roses 12″ records, and the only martial arts I know involve paintings of generals on ponies. It is, however, an entirely accurate representation of my fashion sense. If vinyl is still cool, then I feel the wide-legged trouser is still ok.

DJing for the radio
I was asked to plan a show as the June 2011 Yehoodi Radio Guest DJ, so I put together a set of songs which I’d originally intended to be a cleverly themed collection of brilliantly rare and unusual songs (you can see the set detailshere. I discovered, unfortunately, that I don’t quite have the skills to pull this off, so I settled for a list of my favourite songs. There was quite a bit of talking in between songs. This was because I’d also just discovered I quite liked the sound of my own voice. FYI most of these talking bits were just about as long as it takes to make a cup of tea.

DJing for the radio: did like, would do again.

Bossing other DJs about
I coordinate teams of DJs for large swing dance events. At the moment I’m working on the 2011 Melbourne Lindy Exchange: Turning it up to 11 (check the FB page until the website goes live), where the idea is to convince a handful of Australia’s most arse-kickingest DJs to come make lindy hoppers dance like the crazy monkeys they are.

Most recently I’ve been Head DJ for the 2011 and 2010 Melbourne Swing Festivals, the 2009 Sydney Swing Festival and the 2009 Sydney Lindy Exchange. I was also involved in coordinating DJs for the Melbourne Lindy Exchange in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

I like putting together programs of DJed music which suit the event organisers’ musical goals but which also let DJs show off their best action. I believe in the best possible working conditions for all volunteers and DJs at dance events, and am quite happy to speak at length on this topic. Or any other topic, really. At a local level I’m currently bossing Sydney DJs for the twice-monthly Swingpit social dancing night, and you can email me if you’re interested in doing a gig.

Listen to me DJ!
If you’d like to hire me for a gig, drop me a line [dogpossum at dogpossum dot org]. If you’d to hear me DJ for dancers, you can catch me at Swingpit or Roxbury, at the infrequent Speakeasy gig, or at a lindy exchange. Or you can just listen to my 8tracks online for free.

Yehoodi radio excitement!


(image from the Powerhouse Museum).

Finally!

Years after I was first asked, I’ve finally gotten myself organised and gotten the guts to put together a set for Yehoodi radio. I know, I know, it’s silly to get worked up about these things. But that’s how I roll. Worry, obsessing, all that shit. I’m all over it. But, mostly thanks to Jesse’s patience, I’ve gotten it happening.

During my set (which goes for about four and a half hours), I do a bit of talking and explain why I chose particular songs. I couldn’t put in everything I wanted to say (who’d have thought? I like to talk as much as I like to write!), so I’ve decided to flesh out the radio show here with some details, useful links and references.

The set is on every Thursday in June on Yehoodi radio, from 4-6:30pm 7pm-4am Thursdays, then 5am-3pm, 4-6.30pm Fridays, Sydney time. I think. Maybe check yourself?.

Firstly, Here’s the set:

1. intro2-1:59

2. Davenport Blues – Adrian Rollini and his Orchestra (Jack Teagarden) – Father Of Jazz Trombone – 136 – 1934 – 3:14

3. I Like Pie I Like Cake (but I like you best of all) – The Goofus Five (Bill Moore, Adrian Rollini, Irving Brodsky, Tommy Felline, Stan King) – Goofus Five 1924-1925 – 188 – 1924 – 3:15

4. Let’s Sow A Wild Oat – Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra (Joe Poston, Alex Hill, Junie Cobb, Bill Newton, Johnny Wells, George Mitchell, Fayette Williams) – The Jimmie Noone Collection – 185 – 1928 – 3:03

5. Borneo – Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra (Bix Beiderbecke, Charlie Margulis, Bill Rank, Chet Hazlett, Irving Friedman, Lennie Hayton, Eddie Lang, Min Liebrook, Hal McDonald, Scrappy Lambert, Bill Challis) – The Complete Okeh and Brunswick Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer and Jack Teagarden Sessions (1924-1936) (disc 2) – 184 – 1928 – 3:11

6. A Mug Of Ale – Joe Venuti’s Blue Four – All Star Jazz Quartets (disc 3) – 220 – 1927 – 3:07

7. Never Had A Reason To Believe In You – Mound City Blue Blowers (Jack Teagarden, Red McKenzie, Eddie Condon, Jack Bland, Pops Foster, Josh Billings) – Father Of Jazz Trombone – 180 – 1929 – 3:03

8. 1-backannounce-B – 0:36

9. I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music – Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra (Ed Wade, Charlie Teagarden, Jack Teagarden, Johnny Mince, Jack Cordaro, Mutt Hayes, Roy Bargy, George van Eps, Artie Miller, Stan King) – The Complete Okeh and Brunswick Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer and Jack Teagarden Sessions (1924-1936) (disc 7) – 190 – 1936 – 3:14

10. I’se A Muggin’ – Le Quintette du Hot Club de France (Stéphane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt, Joseph Reinhardt, Pierre Ferret, Lucien Simoens, Freddy Taylor) – The Complete Django Reinhardt And Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France Swing/HMV Sessions 1936-1948 (disc 1) – 176 – 1936 – 3:08

11. Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone – Glenn Miller’s G.I.s (Peanuts Hucko, Mel Powell, Bernie Priven, Joe Schulman, Ray McKinley, Django Reinhardt) – Glenn Miller’s G.I.s in Paris 1945 – 182 – 1945 – 2:59

12. 2-backannounce 3 – 1:55

13. Benny’s Bugle – Benny Goodman Sextet (Cootie Williams, George Auld, Count Basie, Charlie Christian, Artie Bernstein, Harry Jaeger) – Charlie Christian: The Genius of The Electric Guitar (disc 2) – 203 – 1940 – 3:06

14. Squatty Roo – Johnny Hodges and his Orchestra (Ray Nance, Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Blanton, Sonny Greer) – The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 12) – 202 – 1941 – 2:24

15. Flying Home – Teddy Wilson Sextet (Emmett Berry, Benny Morton, Edmond Hall, Slam Stewart, Big Sid Catlett) – The Complete Associated Transcriptions – 1944 – 198 – 1944 – 4:56

16. 2B-backannounce – 0:22

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

18. Don’t Try Your Jive On Me – Una Mae Carlisle with Dave Wilkins, Bertie King, Alan Ferguson, Len Harrison, Hymie Schneider – Una Mae Carlisle: Complete Jazz Series 1938 – 1941 – 188 – 1938 – 2:52

19. That’s What You Think – Putney Dandridge and his Orchestra (Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Buster Bailey, Teddy Wilson, Lawrence Lucie, John Kirby, Walter Johnson) – Complete Jazz Series 1935 – 1936 – 185 – 1935 – 2:43

20. I’m Gonna Clap My Hands – Gene Krupa’s Swing Band (Chu Berry, Helen Ward) – Classic Chu Berry Columbia And Victor Sessions (Disc 1) – 188 – 1936 – 3:01

21. 3-backannounce 2 – 1:40

22. Warmin’ Up – Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra (Roy Eldridge, Buster Bailey, Chu Berry) – Classic Chu Berry Columbia And Victor Sessions (Disc 2) – 241 – 1936 – 3:20

23. Dancing Dogs – Mills Blue Rhythm Band (Lucky Millinder, Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Buster Bailey) – Mills Blue Rhythm Band: Harlem Heat – 228 – 1934 – 2:49

24. Lafayette – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra (Count Basie, Ben Webster, Walter Page) – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra (1929-1932): Basie Beginnings – 296 – 1932 – 2:47

25. Stompy Jones – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra – The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 07) – 200 – 1934 – 3:03

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

27. 4-backannounce – 2:41

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

29. Pound Cake – Count Basie and his Orchestra (Lester Young) – Classic Columbia, Okeh And Vocalion Lester Young With Count Basie (1936-1940) (Disc 2) – 186 – 1939 – 2:46

30. Page Mr. Trumpet 2:53 Pete Johnson Complete Jazz Series 1944 – 1946

31. 627 Stomp – Pete Johnson’s Band (Oran ‘Hot Lips’ Page, Edddie Barefield, Don Stovall, Don Byas, John Collins, Abe Bolar, A. G Godley) – Jazz – Kansas City Style – 153 – 1940 – 3:13

32. Shake It And Break It – Joe Turner with the Varsity Seven (Pete Johnson, Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins) – Complete Jazz Series 1938 – 1941 – 177 – 2:59

33. Some Of These Days – Julia Lee, Clint Weaver, Sam ‘Baby’ Lovett – Kansas City Star (disc 1) – 210 – 1946 – 2:02

34. Baby Heart Blues – Jay McShann and his Orchestra (Walter Brown) – Jumpin’ The Blues (disc 01) – 159 – 1941 – 2:47

35. Jumpin’ Little Woman – Tiny Kennedy – Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 3) – 118 – 1949 – 2:37

36. Undecided Blues – Count Basie and his Orchestra (Jimmy Rushing) – Cutting Butter – The Complete Columbia Recordings 1939 – 1942 (disc 03) – 120 – 1941 – 2:56

37. 5-backannounce – 2:01

38. I’m Going To Start A Racket – Lil Green (acc. by Simeon Henry, Jack Dupree, Big Bill Broonzy, Ransom Knowling) – 1940-1941 – 104 – 1941 – 3:00

39. My Man Jumped Salty On Me – James P. Johnson’s Hep Cats (Rosetta Crawford, Mezz Mezzrow) – History of the Blues (disc 02) – 112 – 1939 – 3:23

40. Come Easy Go Easy – Rosetta Howard acc. by the Harlem Blues Serenaders (Charlie Shavers, Buster Bailey, Lil Armstrong, Ulysses Livingston, Wellman Brand, O’Neil Spencer) – Rosetta Howard (1939-1947) – 90 – 1939 – 3:03

41. Moaning The Blues – Victoria Spivey acc by Henry ‘Red’ Allen, JC Higginbotham, Teddy Hill, Luis Russell – Henry Red Allen And His New York Orchestra (disc 1) – 97 – 1929 – 3:07

42. 6-backannounce 2 – 1:29

43. Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl – Janet Klein – Come Into My Parlor – 94 – 1998 – 2:12

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

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

46. Red Hot Band – Bob Hunt’s Duke Ellington Orchestra – What A Life! – 237 – 1999 – 2:40

47. Looking Good But Feeling Bad – Les Red Hot Reedwarmers – Apex Blues – 272 – 2007 – 3:52

48. 7-backannounce – 3:23

49. I’ll Build A Stairway To Paradise – Rufus Wainwright (I think singing with the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, or perhaps Vince Giordano’s band?) – The Aviator – 142 – 3:12

50. Let’s Do It – Terra Hazelton (feat. Jeff Healey, Marty Grosz, Dan Levinson, Vince Giordano) – Anybody’s Baby – 126 – 2004 – 4:28

51. Some Of These Days – Midnight Serenaders (David Evans, Dee Settlemier, Doug Sammons, Garner Pruitt, Henry Bogdan, Pete Lampe) – Sweet Nothin’s – 255 – 2009 – 3:29

52. Chinatown, My Chinatown – Hot Club Of Cowtown – Swingin’ Stampede – 256 – 1998 – 3:02

53. Stay A Little Longer – Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys – The Tiffany Transcriptions (vol 2) – 232 – 3:07

54. 8-backannounce – 1:14

55. Chimes at the Meeting (feat. Washboard Chaz) – Ophelia Swing Band – Swing Tunes of the 30’s & 40’s – 253 – 1977 – 3:23

56. Digadoo – Firecracker Jazz Band – The Firecracker Jazz Band – 247 – 2005 – 5:20

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

58. Better Off Dead – Linnzi Zaorski and Delta Royale (Charlie Fardella, Robert Snow, Matt Rhody, Seva Venet, Chaz Leary) – Hotsy-Totsy – 146 – 2004 – 3:51

59. 9-backannounce – 1:31

60. Do You Call That A Buddy – Chris Tanner’s Virus – With Her Dixie Eyes Blazin’ – 119 – 2001 – 6:17

61. The Love Me Or Die – C.W. Stoneking – Jungle Blues – 153 – 2008 – 3:55

62. Blue Leaf Clover – Firecracker Jazz Band – The Firecracker Jazz Band – 111 – 2005 – 4:59

63. That Too, Do – Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra (Count Basie, Jimmy Rushing) – Moten Swing – 123 – 1930 – 3:20

64. 10-backannounce – 2:59

65. It’s Tight Like That – Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra (Joe Poston, Alex Hill, Junie Cobb, Bill Newton, Johnny Wells, George Mitchell, Fayette Williams) – The Jimmie Noone Collection – 144 – 1928 – 2:49

66. Truckin’ – Henry ‘Red’ Allen and his Orchestra – Henry Red Allen ‘Swing Out’ – 171 – 1935 – 2:54

67. Murder In The Moonlight – Red McKenzie and his Rhythm Kings (Eddie Farley, Mike Riley, Slats Young, Conrad Lanoue, Eddie Condon, George Yorke, Johnny Powell) – Classic Sessions 1927-49 (Volume 2) – 193 – 1935 – 2:55

68. Joe Louis Stomp – Bill Coleman, Edgar Currance, Jean Ferrier, Oscar Aleman, Eugene d’Hellemes, Hurley Diemer – Bill Coleman In Paris 1936-1938 – 213 – 1936 – 3:14

69. Beau Koo Jack – Louis Armstrong and his Savoy Ballroom Five (Fred Robinson, Jimmy Strong, Don Redman, Earl Hines, Mancy Cara, Zutty Singleton, Alex Hill) – Hot Fives and Sevens – Volume 3 – 246 – 1928 – 3:01

70. Blues (My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me) – Wilbur De Paris and his Rampart Street Ramblers – Dr. Jazz Vol. 7 – 153 – 5:35

71. St. Louis Blues – Sidney Bechet and his New Orleans Feetwarmers (Vic Dickenson, Don Donaldson, Wilson Meyers, Wilbert Kirk) – The Sidney Bechet Story (disc 3) – 131 – 1943 – 4:49

72. 11-backannounce – 1:54

73. Reckless Blues – Louis Armstrong and his All Stars (Velma Middleton, Trummy Young Edmund Hall, Billy Kyle, Everett Barksdale, Squire Gersh, Barrett Deems) – The Complete Decca Studio Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (disc 06) – 88 – 1957 – 2:30

74. Jealous Hearted Blues – Carol Ralph – Swinging Jazz Portrait – 80 – 2005 – 3:48

75. You Help Your New Woman – Di Anne Price – 88 Steps to the Blues – 87 – 2009 – 4:36

76. What Kind Of Man Is This? – Koko Taylor – South Side Lady (Live in Netherlands 1973) (Blues Reference) – 116 – 1973 – 4:08

77. Sweet Home Chicago – David “Honeyboy” Edwards – Sun Records – The Blues Years, 1950 – 1958 CD4 – 112 – 3:01

78. Blues Stay Away – George Smith – Kansas City – Jumping The Blues From 6 To 6 – 82 – 1955 – 3:10

79. Evil Woman – Lonnie Johnson – The Bluesville Years Volume 11: Blues Is A Heart’s Sorrow – 104 – 2:34

80. Inform Me Baby – Walter Brown – Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 2) – 71 – 1949 – 2:59

81. I Ain’t No Ice Man – Cow Cow Davenport with Joe Bishop, Sam Price, Teddy Bunn, Richard Fullbright – History of the Blues (disc 02) – 89 – 1938 – 2:51

82. Hamp’s Salty Blues – Lionel Hampton and his Quartet – Lionel Hampton Story 3: Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop – 86 – 1946 – 3:10

83. 12-backannounce 2 – 1:00

84. Kitchen Blues – Martha Davis – BluesWomen: Girls Play And Sing The Blues – 80 – 1947 – 3:05

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

86. Rocks In My Bed – Ella Fitzgerald acc. by Ben Webster, Paul Smith, Stuff Smith, Barney Kessel, Joe Mondragon, Alvin Stoller – Ella Fitzgerald Day Dream: Best Of The Duke Ellington Songbook – 68 – 1956 – 3:59

87. 13-backannounce – 1:19

88. Willow Weep For Me – Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b), Buddy Rich – Ella And Louis Again – 90 – 1957 – 4:21

89. No Regrets – Cecile Mclorin Salvant and the Jean-Francois Bonnel Paris Quintet – Cecile – 134 – 2010 – 4:05

90. Sweet Lorraine – June Christy and The Kentones – Complete Peggy Lee and June Christy Capitol Transcription Sessions (Disc 1) – 138 – 1945 – 2:34

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

I put together this set with an ear to transitioning smoothly between songs. I planned it as though it was a real set I was playing for dancers. But I also thought about who was in the bands and about grouping particular styles.

1
– Adrian Rollini’s band featuring Jack Teagarden. One of my go-to songs.
– Goofus Five (featuring Adrian Rollini). My preferred version, and one Trev put me onto.
– Jimmy Noone: for whom I have great, towering feelings.
– Trumbauer’s band featuring Bix Beiderbecke and Eddie Lang, doing my FAVOURITE SONG, ‘Borneo’.
– Joe Venuti’s band.
– The Mound City Blue Blowers, featuring Jack Teagarden, and doing ‘St Louis Blues’ on youtube.
– Jack Teagarden. Beautiful voice, gorgeous trombone, not at all beautiful to look at. Would marry.

2
– Trumbauer’s band again, with more Jack Teagarden

small groups:
– Quintette of the Hot Club of France featuring Django Reinhardt.
– Glenn Miller’s G.I.s featuring Django Reinhardt and other Americans, in Paris.
– Bennie Goodman’s sextet (Count Basie, Charlie Christian, Cootie Williams)
-> the importance of Goodman’s small groups lie in their music, but also in the fact that they were mixed-race. Check out this cool clip of one of Goodman’s small groups’ performances.
– Johnny Hodges and his Orchestra – Duke Ellington’s small group, featuring Johnny Hodges. Cootie Williams played in Ellington’s band.

2b
– Teddy Wilson Sextette. Massive love for Teddie Wilson. The iconic song ‘Flying Home’ by Teddie Wilson’s sextette, featuring Slam Stewart, part of Slim and Slam, silly vocal kings.
– Fats Waller doing ‘Shortnin’ Bread’, one of my faves.

3
kicking bands with great vocals:
– Una Mae Carlisle with a small group (Carlisle recorded other songs with Slam Stewart, with Zutty Singleton (who played with Fats Waller a bit) and Lester Young (from Basie’s band!)). The piano intro reminds me of Fats Waller, and the muted trumpet solo is very Waller small band-like.
-> Carlisle as one of the first swing vocalists I liked when I started dancing.
– Putney Dandrige, with a brilliant band featuring Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Buster Bailey, Teddy Wilson, Lawrence Lucie, John Kirby and Walter Johnson. Carlisle also recorded with Buster Bailey and John Kirby. Dandridge is interesting because later in his career he was obviously imitating Fats Waller’s vocal style. And not doing a good job.
– Helen Ward singing with Gene Krupa’s band, which also features Chu Berry.

4
Bigger bands, with musicians in common:
– Teddy Wilson again, with Chu Berry in this band, as well as Buster Bailey and Roy Eldridge
– the Mills Blue Rhythm Band (with Lucky Millinder, Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Buster Bailey), doing hot hot jazz
– Bennie Moten’s band featuring Count Basie, Ben Webster, Walter Page, playing a familiar song ‘Lafayette’. I love this Kansas action.
– A Duke Ellington wonderment – my favourite Ellington song

Big band classic swing WIN:
– Jimmy Dorsey doing the BEST version of ‘Stompin at the Savoy’, my favourite shim sham song. Remember Dorsey was in the Mound City Blue Blowers at one point.
– a brilliant version of another common song, ‘St Louis Blues’, by Ella Fitzgerald (not singing) with what was Chick Webb’s band. Played live at the Savoy (hence the link to ‘Stompin at the Savoy’).

Kansas!
– Basie’s band playing ‘Pound Cake’. A classic example of solid, wickedly good Basie big band lindy hopping win. Basie of course turned up earlier, but this is the classic ‘old testament’ Basie sound, not Moten stuff, and not small Goodman Group stuff. The rhythm section is where it’s at in this song.

– Pete Johnson. YES.
– Pete Jonson AGAIN, this time featuring Hot Lips Page doing ‘627 Stomp’. Read about the 627 Local here.
– Big Joe Turner (with Pete Johnson I think)! doing ‘Shake It and Break It’, a song I love because of this performance
– Julia Lee! Brilliant home-recording session
– Jay McShann! Walter Brown! Kansas city win!
– Tiny Kennedy!
– Count Basie with Jimmy Rushing. Singing waiters. Wonderful.

5
Slower music, possibly for blues dancing. Raggedy, kick your arse vocals, attitudinal singers, excellent bands:
– Lil Green. Getting into crime to fund a better lifestyle.
– James P Johnson’s Hep Cats with Mezz Mezzrow, but more importantly, ROSETTA CRAWFORD. Cut him if he stands still, shoot him if he runs
– Rosetta Howard (!!) with the Harlem Blues Serenaders, band of amazingness: Charlie Shavers, Buster Bailey, Lil Armstrong, Ulysses Livingston, Wellman Brand, O’Neil Spencer. Having money, not having money. Whatevs.
– Victoria Spivvey, who will pwn you. With a brilliant band. Henry Red Allen. And singing a song about getting dirty that feels as though it’s a song about getting dirty.

6
Modern bands, heavy on the high energy fun (after Klein):
– Janet Klein on ukelele, defusing things with the usually-hot ‘Sugar in my bowl’
– Midnight Serenaders. Favourite modern band. Guitarist used to be in Helmet. Yes. Light, bouncing band of fun.
– Old Joe’s Hitting the Jug, not the version we know by Stuff Smith (which features in this clip of Bethany and Stephan, my current favourite lindy hopping couple), a version by Danny Glass’s band of brilliance.
– Bob Hunt. Ellington win. This song is excellently exciting fun.
– Les Red Hot Reedwarmers French. From France. Doing wonderful Jimmie Noone wonderfulness. Exciting!

7
– SQUEEEE Rufus Wainwright Stairway to Paradise. Earworm. Camp. Wonderment. Listening at home, I love to follow this song up with Wainwright doing Cohen, fucking up your gender binaries.
– Terra Hazelton, with a band of OMG GOOD. Singing a silly song with lots of innuendo, written by Cole Porter, who was queer as fuck, so a lovely campy follow up to Wainwright. Vince Giordano plays on this version, and his band was also in the Aviator, where I found the Wainwright song.
– More Midnight Serenaders. I love the first line the most. Male vocals. Lovely. I like comparing this to the Julia Lee version.
– The male singer in the Hot Club of Cowtown has a gorgeously sexy style. I always think of him when I listen to that version of ‘Some of these Days’. I like the HCC a lot. I like this western swing treatment of a hot jazz favourite. This band featured the bass player from Casey McGill’s band.
– Of course I had to follow up with Bob Wills, western swing king. The HCC have a new album out which is all Bob Wills songs. I really love this song ‘Stay a Little Longer’, and this is a great version. But this is a better version.

8
– a band I know nothing about, doing a GREAT version of a song I love, ‘Chimes at the meeting’ by Willie Bryant’s band. Teddie Wilson played with Willie Bryant’s band. Sister Pork Chop. This is a rowdy, fiddle-heavy song that connects nicely to the HCC and Bob Wills.
– Firecracker Jazz Band, who are. This is a top fun version of a very common, famous song. The trumpeter Je Widenhousei was/is in the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Anyway, Katherine Whalen (of the Zippers) reminds me, vocally, of Tamar Korn.
– The Cangelosi Cards (featuring Tamar Korn) do a version of ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’, but I think this rowdy live version is better. It features Gordon Webster on piano, and Jesse Selengut. This song is long and I’ve never played it for dancers. It is really really good.
– the vocals of this next song are interesting, and are a nice link to Korn’s interesting vocal style. ‘Better Off Dead’ is kind of of a tongue-in-cheekly-miserable song about being in a shitty relationship.

9
Australian content! Modern bands! Necrophilia! Darkness!
– Chris Tanner’s Virus. Continuing the theme of rubbish relationships. What a terrible friend.
– C W Stoneking. More awful relationships. Stoneking’s album featured some of the Virus people. They are all Melbourne folk. I love this song, but I don’t play it for dancers. I love the misery of it. See those Virus/Melbourne/Stoneking band people in Stoneking’s video for ‘Jungle Blues’ which has good misery too.
– Firecracker Jazz Band again! Not Australian. A song that feels dark, but gets a bit lighter. This is good dancing fun.
– ‘That Too Do’ is another Moten song featuring Basie, but also Jimmie Rushing. It also feels a bit dark and unhappy, but it a kind of winking-at-the-audience way.

10
silly, older songs, with vocals:
– Moten leads me to Noone. Noone. I love him. This is a brilliant little song. Is it about sex? Is it about being awesome? I’m too clueless to know. This is fun.
– Best version of ‘Truckin’. Back to Henry Red Allen. I really like it for the laconic, really laid back lyrics. They’re singing about a dance craze with very little vocal enthusiasm.
– ‘Murder in the Moonlight’ is silly. Feels like the Mound City Blue Blowers, has some of the same musicians.

Smaller bands, smelling of New Orleans:
– Then Bill Coleman, recording in France, with Oscar Aleman (not Django!). Remember those other French songs?
– Louis Armstrong and his Savoy Ballroom Five. This is hot. Hot. Hot. And this band features Zutty Singleton, Don Redman, of course, and Alex Hill, who was in the Jimmie Noone band.
– a version of ‘Blues My Naughty Sweety Gave to Me’. But by Wilbur de Paris and his Rampart Street Ramblers. It says ‘New Orleans’ to me, and that’s Louis Armstrong. de Paris was in Armstrong’s band, Jelly Roll’s band AND Ellington’s band. He’s glue. This is a good transcript version of a favourite.
– another version of ‘St Louis Blues’. By Bechet. New Orleans, yes.

11
Slower, blues dancing music:
Australian content!
…not really. Here’s what I said about this song in the Yehoodi show:

Well, this next song isn’t by an Australian musician, it’s by Louis Armstrong and his small group, including Velma Middleton, but Louis Armstrong is kind of an interesting example because Louis Armstrong Australia in about the mid-fifties, and between about 1928 and some date in the 50s, black musicians were banned from touring in Australia. And this was partly because Australia was a pretty racist place at the time, and there were fears that black musicians were bringing drugs and sex and misbehaviour to the innocent white folk of Australia. But in actual fact, it was probably more to do with pressures from the local musicians’ union, who didn’t want all these badarse musicians coming from the States and taking all their gigs.

I explore this topic in this post.

– Carol Ralph. Australian. Reminds me of Velma Middleton, from Armstrong’s small groups.
– Di Anne Price. You better help your new woman (get out of town). This is the sort of sentiment I like in my blues dancing music. More hi-fi, modern music.
– Koko Taylor. A little more soul. Assertive, sexually confident. Perhaps a little cranky.
– Sweet Home Chicago. Geetar. A natural progression from the feel of Taylor’s song.

Slower, dirtier male vocal blues:
– George Smith. Harmonica and guitar.
– Lonnie Johnson singing Evil Woman, a song women usually sing. I like the line about being too evil to sleep straight in her bed. I chose this version for the way it links up the the male vocals and sparse piano sound of the next song.
– Walter Brown (excellent voice!). Male vocal blues. More upsetting women.
– Cow Cow Davenport singing a brilliant song. All innuendo.
– Lionel Hampton’s band doing an uncharacteristically slow and mellow number. I like the feel of this one.

12
More blues. Serious. Groovier:
– Martha Davis, doing a wonderfully velvety song about ‘working’ for a man. A sparser style, which links us from the previous song quite well.
– …which sets us up nicely for Billie Holiday’s quite intense, but equally velvety classic live performance. You can see her singing it in this clip.
– Ella singing ‘Rocks in My bed’. I never find her all that convincing when she sings sadder songs – she always sounds like she’s smiling. This recording is interesting because it features Stuff Smith. It’s also really nice and slow and rocking.

13
– A song by Louis Armstrong with a band including Oscar Peterson from an album called ‘Ella and Louis Again’. Feels just like the Ella song. I’m not usually a fan of Armstrong singing, but sometimes he gets it just right. I like the way he lightens things up a bit.

Slightly faster, groovier, velvety stuff:
– Cecil McLorin Salvant, a very young French singer doing a sort-of-Billie-Holiday type performance. She has really cool delivery.
– I love this version of ‘Sweet Lorraine’, a song I love a lot. I like the way it’s often sung by women, and is a love song for a woman. This song is a bit older, and it’s a nice segue to a slightly earlier feel.
– And, finally, Duke Ellington’s band with vocals, doing a song I regularly use to shift gears while DJing, from chillaxed groovy back to chunkier old school.

A Difficult Conversation About Sexual Violence in Swing Dance Communities

[EDIT 13/6/13: It makes me very sad that this post is still relevant. It’s been linked up again, by a few different people around the place, because those people are having bad times with arseholes in their dance scenes. So I think it’s worth bumping this post again. This is such heartbreaking stuff to talk about. But we have to. We HAVE to.

Please, if you’re in strife and need some help, call one of the lines I’ve listed below. And if you want to change things in your own scene, start working on constructive plans with women, not for them. We don’t need no white knights, here. And if you’re in a bad way, and need some help, I know that services like Beyond Blue here in Australia can help if you’re having trouble with anxiety and/or depression. And god knows the only sensible response to this issue is sadness.]

[EDIT 4/4/12: I receive emails about this post, or comments on this post every couple of weeks. I published it almost a year ago. It breaks my heart that this issue is still one we need to address.

Please, if you need help, don’t hesitate to call someone. Doesn’t matter whether something happened years ago or this morning – there are people who have got your back. Give them a call.

If you’re in Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, or somewhere else, please do google ‘rape help line’.]

It was inevitable, really. But my thinking about slutwalk and my thinking about dance have finally gotten together in my brainz and become the Difficult Conversation About Sexual Violence in Swing Dance Communities. Despite my mixed feelings about slutwalk, it has meant that I’ve had more conversations about gender, violence, safety and community since it hit the media than I have in years and years. And most of those conversations have been with dancers who do not openly identify as feminist, or who aren’t otherwise politically engaged. To me, this is a marvellous thing.

Tim linked me up with this article about slutwalk by Jacinda Woodhead and Stephanie Convery, which links in turn to 4523.0 – Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2004, a 2004 ABS report on sexual assault in Australia. If you’ve been paying attention, most of the information in the report is depressingly familiar, yet in direct counterpoint to the myths surrounding sexual assault circulated in mainstream discourse. Key points for my post today are summed up on page 13 of this report:

For most victims of sexual assault reported to the police, the perpetrator is likely to be known to them. The most commonly reported location where the offence occurs is a residential setting.

This point is expanded on pg 24:

  • All available data sources indicate that over half of perpetrators of sexual assault are known to their victims. NCSS 2002 estimated that 52% of all adult victims knew the offenders in the most recent incident in the previous 12 months; 58% of female victims and 19% of male victims knew the offenders.
  • The most commonly reported location of sexual assault is residential, often the victim’s own home.

It’s important to note that these are reported assaults, and that most assaults are not reported to the police at all. The report continues (pg 13-14):

There is evidence that most victims of sexual assault do not report the crime to police, and that many do not access the services available to provide support. Factors affecting the decision to report sexual assault include the closeness of the victim-offender relationship and the victim’s perception of the seriousness of the crime.

Victims are more likely to report sexual assault to police if: the perpetrator was a stranger; the victim was physically injured; or the victim was born in Australia.

The ABS report also points out (on pg 32) that in assaults in the last 12 months, 60% did not involve alcohol, 38% did. The figures don’t indicate where the perpetrator or victim had consumed alcohol.

The following facts are also noted:

In Women’s Safety Survey 1996 data :

  • approximately one in six Australian women (16%) reported that they had experienced sexual assault at some time since the age of 15
  • one in six Australian women (15%) reported that they had been stalked during their lifetime
  • one in four Australian women (27%) reported that they had experienced sexual harassment in the previous 12 months.

It’s important to point out that men are also victims of sexual violence, though at lower rates, and with far smaller numbers of assaults reported.

It’s also important to remember that ‘sexual violence’ and sexually threatening behaviour is broader than the conventionally heterosexual definition of penetrative intercourse (where the p3nis penetrates the vag1na). So ‘rape’ or ‘assault’ leaks out beyond the heterosexual notion of ‘sex’. To talk about sexual assault, we need to expand our definitions of rape, and of sexual activity and of violence. This then allows us to talk about men as victims of assault (as well as perpetrators), and men as the victims of male and female violence. I think it’s also important to remember that the sexual abuse of children constitutes rape.

So, then, a useful point from the slutwalk protests and discussions around the place:

What you (male or female) wear is not the reason you were assaulted.

and

Yes means yes and no means no, whatever we wear, wherever we go.

and

Most assaults happen in the home (or domestic spaces), not darkened alleys, and most people are raped/assaulted by people they know. In most instances there’s no alcohol involved.

How does all this relate to dancing?

Sexual assault and harassment happens in the lindy hop world
Firstly, there have been sexual assaults in dance scenes all over the world. Most are no doubt not reported. I have personally heard of one incidence in Melbourne, where community discussion of the assault was not terribly useful, largely phrased in terms of a woman ‘being violated’. I don’t know if she knew her assailant. Perhaps the most widely discussed (in the United States and online) sex offence was Bill Borgida’s arrest for possession of illegal pornography (specifically pornography featuring children). This was discussed at length in the Yehoodi thread ‘Bill Borgida: Two Counts: Child Porn’. Borgida responded to the issue with a public letter to ‘the dance community’, also posted on Yehoodi, in the thread A letter to the Dance Community from Bill Borgida.

This second issue is particularly disturbing, as Borgida travelled internationally, visiting Australia as well as many other countries. I knew him quite well, and my own feelings about this issue are fraught. I felt furious, upset, sad, hurt, betrayed, guilty, anxious, angry, confused. I want nothing more to do with him, ever. But the responses in the open letter thread on Yehoodi are more complex. Many people feel still support him and forgive him. I cannot.

Most significantly, I’ve been stunned by many people’s regard for the possession of prnography as a relatively victimless crime. There seems to be a vast chasm between consumption and production in this thinking. They cannot seem to grasp the idea that possessing and consuming pornography featuring children is at once supporting a market for the material and endorsing its production. The production is beyond reprehensible: this is sexual assault. Of children. Many, many children, over many years. All recorded and distributed for adults’ pleasure. Possession of this material is equivalent to producing it.

I don’t want to suggest that using prnography is the same as raping, or that using prn leads to raping people. It doesn’t. But the way we use prn and produce prn, and our attitudes towards sexual activities are informed by broader issues of gender and power and identity. So sexual assault becomes a symptom of, or expression of, a perpetrator’s ideas or feelings about power. Having it, not having it, taking it, fighting it. Child abuse, then, is about perpetrators with power harming less powerful people – children. Using child prnography is about finding violent power sexually exciting. These sorts of ideas and feelings about power and other people do not stay safely partitioned in your ‘private life’.

I’ve also been suprised by many dancers’ willingness to separate what happens on the dance floor from what people do off the dance floor, or in their ‘private lives’. I can’t. I increasingly believe that the way we dance reflects our broader ideas about the world, and about the way we feel about other people. For example, the rough or inconsiderate lead is frequently socially inept or clumsy and disrespectful of women off the dance floor. I am unwilling to disassociate dance from cultural context.

But I shouldn’t be surprised. Thinking about people you know – and like – committing acts of sexualised violence on other people you know – and like! – is really difficult. It’s so difficult and horrifying that many of us would just rather not think about it at all. If we make it disappear by defining rape in a way that simply ignores most assaults, the problem become manageable and less frightening. It won’t happen to me if I don’t wear a short skirt, if I drive a car, if I don’t drink, if I don’t talk to strangers. My wife/sister/friend/lover/daughter is safe if I walk her to her car or I fight off an attacker in the street.

Dancers do not challenge sexually inappropriate behaviour often enough.

I also frequently come across the sentiment in dance discourse (online and face to face) that swing dancers are ‘good people’. Yes, many of them are. But I am certain that many of them are also capable of, and do perpetrate, sexual assault. I think this is a difficult idea to talk about in dancing. So much of what we do is dependent upon the idea that we are all ‘good people’ who just want to ‘enjoy themselves’ in ‘harmless dancing’. We also trust the person we are dancing with, who we touch, intimately, and who we work with, creatively. I find it deeply disturbing to think about being in a closed embrace with someone who is capable of sexual violence.

There is very little violence at social dance events. I’ve only ever witnessed one incidence, in extreme circumstances. But I have witnessed many incidences of bullying and sexual harassment. There are endless stories about leads who physically handle women into lifts or air steps in dangerous contexts. Or followers who do not take responsibility for their own balance or kicks. We’ve all got a story about the guy with the tent in his pants who presses too closely to uncomfortable women in the blues room. We’ve all got a story about that guy who always ‘accidentally’ does the boob swipe in class or on the dance floor. Many of us also have stories about women who perpetrate an unwelcome ‘beaver clamp’ in the blues room or spend too much time draped over men off the dance floor. Though it’s difficult to compare men’s and women’s inappropriate behaviour, and they work in different ways within a broader context of patriarchal society.

Most disturbingly, swing dance culture advocates tolerance of these sorts of actions. We are told, repeatedly that we should never say no to a dance. Women in particular are encouraged in most scenes to wait for a man to ask her to dance, and then to be so grateful for the dance she should tolerate all sorts of inappropriate behaviour just to be dancing. Women are also discouraged from dancing with other women, where they might have the opportunity to dance in a clearly nonsexual partnership. And, just as worryingly, it is very, very rare for a man to talk to his friends or other women about women’s inappropriate behaviour. Men are expected a) to enjoy sexual attention, and b) to not feel threatened by women. I mean, when I wrote, explicitly and in detail about particular men in the post Hot Male Bodies, was I crossing a line? Was that inappropriate?

This raises yet another issue in dance. What does sexualised dancing mean? Is this public or private space? Is it appropriate to take something from the dance floor and then decontextualise it, take it away from the dancer themselves? Dancers seem to negotiate this stuff every day in sophisticated ways. I mean, there are millions of amateur clips of performances, but it’s much less common to find footage of social dancing. It is as though most of us have agreed that social dancing is ‘private’, even when it’s conducted in the exact same spaces with the exact same people. If it is regarded as private, then, is that why we have so much difficulty making clear, hardline condemnations of sexual harassment on the dance floor – the tentpants, boobswipes and beaverclamps which make us so uneasy, but are so unlikely to be openly and immediately censured? After all, our broader societies find it so difficult to legislate domestic violence and sexual assault…

There are covert methods for dealing with this sexual harassment and bullying. We tee up a friend to quickly intervene and take us to the dance floor if a ‘dodgy’ person approaches. We learn to physically ‘block’ a partner who wants to get too close. We hide ourselves in a crowd to make approach from ‘undesirables’ difficult.
I’ve also learnt how to deal with men want to bully me in a professional setting. I’ve figured out, for example, how to a) not let male DJs (and they are always male) bully me into letting them DJ when and how they want when I am working to an event coordinator’s brief, b) not feel obliged to hire difficult or bullying DJs, c) make sure everyone pays entry fee when they are required to, regardless of ‘status’, d) not to end up being overworked and exploited by event organisers (either by their design or their incompetence).
It’s important to note that most volunteers at dance events are women. And that we are engaged at all levels in the management and running of events. We have also managed to develop non-confrontational methods for dealing with difficult people. Unfortunately, these methods are usually ‘invisible’, so avoiding the public demonstrations of women’s conflict resolution skills. Their invisibility also maintains the idea that swing scenes are always ‘nice’ and ‘friendly’ and ‘safe’.

I’m framing these ‘everyday’ instances of sexually inappropriate behaviour as sexual harassment and bullying for a reason. Let’s remember those points from the ABS data. Most perpetrators of sexual assault are known to their victims. If we insist that sexual violence only occurs in public places, is only perpetrated by ‘strangers’ with weapons while women risk their safety wear revealing clothes on the street, we make real rapes invisible. We hide the fact that we are more likely to be assaulted by the man who has driven us home, walked us to our door, gone out to dinner with us many times before. We also discourage women from speaking up about inappropriate actions. Don’t make a scene – the Uppity Woman will not get another dance! It’s not sexual harassment if a man continually touches your breasts on the dance floor?! In this context, the sexual assault by a known person in your own home is also disappeared. The perpetrator doesn’t believe he’s raped someone. The victim is left wondering what she did to deserve this. After all, she’s learnt that she’s not to speak up if she’s touched in a way she doesn’t like or want.

So what are we to do?

This is all bloody depressing. It’s fucking horrible to think about my dance community this way. I do not want to think about the idea that people I know and dance with or share a room with, assault or harass people. I hate the thought that I knew and travelled and danced with Bill Borgida. But I’m certain he’s not the only person who has done these sorts of things. It’s not statistically possible. It’s like last night’s episode of 4Corners about live animal trade, A Bloody Business (Mon 30th May 2011). These things are happening in my community. I’m participating in their continuing by not asking about it, by not looking, by not watching. And, awfully, sexual assault and harassment can happen to me or to people I know and care about. Someone I know could do these things to me. Sexual harassment and assault are a real, immediate, visible part of my life.

So, really, what are we to do? What can we do?

Firstly, I think it’s important to think about broader social and cultural context. This is why I bang on about women dancing and the way we think about women dancing. Do we encourage passivity, acceptance, submission in women dancers? I think we do. Do we also encourage, or at least enable, inappropriate behaviour by men? I think we do. I also think we need to talk about these issues. And to do what we can. For me, that’s meant learning to lead. But it’s also meant asking questions about things like unequal divisions of labour in the dance community. Who is always working the door at social events? Do they actually want to be sitting there all night? Who does get paid and who doesn’t? Why don’t people get paid?

Secondly, I think that going on and on and on about the shitty stuff, getting angrier and angrier and feeling more and more upset without doing something is disempowering. It weakens us with despair. So we need to a) pay attention and ask questions, b) talk about this stuff and then, most importantly, c) DO SOMETHING. I’m a big fan of small, localised change and action. A rally was cool for getting us talking. But it’s not enough. We need to saddle up, friends.

There are things we can do.

I want to talk about how we get home from dancing, because it’s about getting from ‘private’ place to ‘public’ places. This is a tricky one. We’re out late at night, usually on public transport or walking to our cars alone. We’re out with a large group of people, some we know well, many we don’t. All sorts of people come to swing dances. Many of them are socially awkward or inept. Many of them already ring our internal discomfort alarms and have us avoid dancing with them. We go out to drinks or meals after dancing with large groups of people, many we only know by first name even though we see them every week. At the end of the night, how do we get to our cars, to our homes?

My usual instinct is to get a ride with someone in a car, or to organise a group to go via public transport, and then to call Dave so he can meet me at the station. But is it really such a good idea to get a ride with someone from dancing? Even if you’ve seen them every week for a year, what do you really know about them? This is where it gets really tricky. I don’t want to advocate mistrusting every man just because they’re a man. This is why it’s attractive to think ‘only strangers are a threat’. It’s impossible to be wary all the time. And being wary all the time is disempowering. If we’re spending all our time being angry or worrying about being raped, we don’t have time to be excellently powerful and strong. But it also makes sense to think about safety and to be safe. To be aware of our surroundings.

Perhaps a solution is to organise groups of women to travel home together, and to have clear sets of rules for how you get home. No one walks to the station or their car alone. Send a text message to keep in contact. Or to get help. I’m not sure how this should work, but I think we should organise these sorts of things! Sometimes it’s hard to get to know other women at dancing well enough to develop these sorts of support networks and practices. We dance mostly with men in class and socially, we women don’t develop solid peer networks of trust and confidence in each other. Although I have always found that leading, and doing solo stuff with women socially is a key part of developing creative and personal relationships with other women in dancing.

But this talk about ‘getting home’ is still accepting that myth that sexual assault is only done by strangers, only happens in public places, late at night. We should think about the idea that sexual assaults happen at dance events. When we walk to the toilets through the gardens to the toilets at the back of the hall. In the toilets. In the carpark. In dressing rooms. In empty ‘breakout’ rooms at late night dances. At the reception desk while everyone is in dance classes.
These thoughts are far, far more frightening than the idea that we’re only at risk for that 40 minutes on our way from dance to home.

We need to think about safety at dances. And, much more importantly, about dance culture.

So here is what I do.

  • I pay attention to the people at the dance venue. Who is in the room? Who are they watching? How are they acting? If a man slips into the blues venue on Friday night, asking me to “hold the door” which is usually locked, do I know him? If I don’t, where does he go? It’s harder to pay attention to the whole room when I’m dancing than when I’m DJing. When I’m DJing, I’m constantly watching the people in the room. I notice who sits and does nothing. I see the guys who watch women dance and move and sit and talk and walk. I recognise the difference between a sort of general interest and an unnervingly close attention. I take note of the men who boobswipe or target the less confident women, the newer women dancers, the younger women. I pay attention to men who only dance with these type of women or who stand too close to them. There’s often a reason these men are avoided by women dancers who’ve been around. Sometimes it’s just social awkwardness that sets them apart. But sometimes it’s a nameless, discomforting creepiness.
  • I call people on their bullshit. This makes me less popular. But what the fuck. I’m not 20. I don’t need everyone to be my friend. And if I see some guy picking up a shyer, less confident girl and tossing her into some sort of bullshit lift, I’m going to say to him “Stop that.” And I’ll say to her “He’ll hurt you. Don’t let him do that.” Then I’ll make sure I talk to her later, about other stuff, so she knows I’m not shitty with her. I won’t (for the most part) let some dickhead chuck me around. I will call attention to a boobswipe, even it’s to make a joke, even if it’s an accidental boobswipe. I’ll also call guys on sexist jokes or crude, cruel comments. I try to be gentle, but I’m often quite confrontational. This does mean that I’m not going to be asked to dance by some men, many of whom are the ‘best dancers’ or high status. But who gives a shit? And why would I want to dance with that arsehat anyway?
  • I’m also equally determined to appreciate and show my appreciation for positive, excellent behaviour and attitudes. I think it’s like applauding awesome boogie backs when you want to encourage solo dance. It’s easy to get angry. But it’s healthier to get constructive. Carrot rather than stick. This is where men come in handy. If we want men to be the most excellent men they can be, we need excellent men to model excellent behaviour. On the dance floor and off it. Men should call other men on bullshit talk or actions. They needn’t be stroppy. Jokes are very powerful. More importantly, men are excellent, and when they do excellent things and we all applaud them for their metaphoric boogie backs, we are showing other men that being excellent is a lucrative business. We need to change cultures of masculinity, not ridicule men. The challenge, then, becomes how we go about doing this. How, for example, should men express their sexual interest to women? Or appreciate a particularly fine frame on the dance floor? How should men and women do heterosexuality in a positive, empowering ways? We’re creative people, right? We can figure this out.
  • Dance classes are important. Dance classes are a key point in the socialising of new dancers. How do the male lead and female follower model appropriate behaviour on and off the dance floor? Who does most of the talking in class? Who interrupts who, and how often, and how? Who makes the jokes? Who’s the butt of the joke? What type of jokes are they? Is there sexualised talk or joking? What sort of language do teachers use to refer to gender or to leading and following? What analogies do they use? How do they dress? How old are they? What are their relative ages? Where are they teaching? What material are they teaching? Who are the dancers they mention?

I could go on and on and on with this. But I think it’s important to figure out ways of making this work in your own life, and own social context. But, mostly, we need to be Excellent To Each Other.

We also need to be aware of the fact that dance scenes are not all flowers and ponies. Bad shit does happen, and we should do something about it.

i vant to be alone

I began this as a post where I’d just link up some badass solo comp clips from Lithuania. But it has become a sort of hardcore manual for feminist activism. Geez, bloody feminists. With the raging and the ranting. And the badass fall-off-the-logs. These are the things I say to myself; where I say ‘you’, I’m talking to myself. I’m encouraging myself to be more awesome. If this is too much for you, go back to the post full of clips. Or you can keep reading about how I love jazz dances because they’re built for feminist badassery.

A year or so ago, after I came back from about nine months off dancing with a shitful plantar fascia injury, I discovered the thing I’d missed most about dancing was the solo stuff. I love lindy hop. I love it so much. But I think, ultimately, I want to dance alone.

I like dancing alone, as in, not with a partner in a formal lindy hop dance (I do like dancing with other people on my own) for lots of reasons. One of the things that pushes many women in particular into solo dance is the lack of leads in their local scene. I use the word ‘push’ deliberately, because I suppose most women in a lindy hop scene approach social dancing looking for some partner dancing. Dancing alone is not always taught as a staple in regular classes, so most new dancers don’t feel as comfortable dancing alone as they do with a partner.

I like dancing alone because I’m often frustrated by leads who don’t listen to what I’m bringing, or more often, I’m frustrated by leads who just roll us through a series of fairly set combinations of moves without listening to the music. That drives me NUTS. For me, it’s the music that makes me dance. So I like to explore everything a song has got. If I’m being rushed through swingouts one after another, bang-bang-bang, there’s no time to explore the delaaaay that’s so central to swung rhythms, let alone all the other lovely layers in a song.

I do a lot of leading when I social dance. I get asked to dance by followers a lot, I ask other women to dance, and I also follow myself a lot. But I do like solo dancing most. I could WILL! make arguments about how women leading and solo dancing fuck up gender and power dynamics. In fact, I’ve done so, many times. And if you go out dancing in a scene where there are women leading, you can actually see how this shifts the social dynamics. Women aren’t just standing about on the side of the dance floor waiting for a dance, wondering if they’re not being asked because they’re a crap dancer/too fat/too old/too uncool/too weird/too horrible/wearing the wrong clothes, etc. Women aren’t rushing at male leads, competing for a dance. Women aren’t basking in the attention of a lead on the dance floor, grasping at a moment of confidence and self worth.

When women lead and solo dance in a scene, you see a shift away from bloke-centred social dancing dynamics. Suddenly all those women standing about on the side of the dance floor have moved onto the floor, experimenting with movements and rhythm, becoming better dancers, enjoying each other’s company and generally having a bloody good time. The blokes are no longer the centre of their universe.
I’m sure you can see how I then get particularly shitted off when a bloke wades in and drags a woman out of that sort of setting to dance with him. Back off, motherfucker! The hot shit is being brung!

How do you get to the point where you have lots of people (male female and inbetween) solo dancing as well as partner dancing at a ‘swing dance event’? Well, firstly, it’s worth pointing out that there’s next to no solo dance in rock and roll and the RnR type ‘swing’ dancing, at least not here in Sydney. When you go to those dances, most people only dance with people they know or even with just their own partner. Because that scene tends to be a bit older, a lot more conservative, and also rooted in a different dancing culture. I think that if you ground your lindy scene in vernacular jazz dance, then you’re setting yourself up with some nice conditions for solo dance as well as partner dance peppered with wonderful improvisation.

So how do you do that? Despite what you might think, reading this blog, I’m not actually a big fan of preaching at people. I like to work out my thinking and ideas in word-form, especially in places like this blog. But I firmly believe that if you want to initiate cultural change in a dance scene, you need to get your bad self out there on the dance floor and do it. Talk means nothing when you’re making a point about dance. Dancers are very much influenced by what they see on the dance floor. Duh. So if you want to see more solo dance in your scene, you need to get yourself out on that dance floor and do that solo dance. You need to do it with confidence, and with as much skill as you can. Work on that shit and be as good as you possibly can be. And if you can’t get any better, enjoy what you do badly and let that pleasure show.

In other words, you need to model the behaviour you want to see.
Same goes for women leading. If you’re a woman tired of the bullshit gender dynamics in your scene, get your fine self out there on the dance floor and model the shit you want to see. And do it well and with confidence. Own it. Work on it in your own time or in classes and improve. Don’t let your leading be a novelty. Let it be a legitimate act. Don’t enter comps hoping to get noticed just because you’re different. Go in comps and bring the best shit you’ve got. The novelty will wear off; you’re going to need to back up your claims with some pretty good stuff.

And I also think it’s important to say positive, encouraging things to people who are doing awesome stuff. Or, really, if you see the awesome, applaud it! Rather than getting shitty and snarky about something that shits you (eg not getting asked to dance by blokes), get positive and supportive. There’s no point continuing the nastiness of dodgy culture by making yourself unhappy. After all, that’s how patriarchy works: women and men collude in their own oppression. Seek out the unusual and the wonderful. If someone has a brilliant idea, tell them it’s brilliant! Don’t get jealous and resentful! Sometimes being an audience – the response to the call – is more important than being the performer. In practical terms, if you see someone do a rockhardawesome boogie back, cheer them, loudly! And then tell them, later, that you thought that was totally cool.

I think of this as a very nice approach to all sorts of social activism. Just talking about this stuff is fairly useless. This is why I think that we shouldn’t just be doing scholarly writing and talking about gender and power. We also need to get out there and do feminist stuff. To be feminists, with our bodies as well as with our brains. I know a lot of academics feel that theorising activism and culture is how they contribute to feminism, but I feel very strongly that this only touches a small proportion of our community directly. No, writing newspaper articles isn’t a way to ‘engage’ with the wider community. It’s too safe, yo, and too distant. Take a risk. Let yourself be changed.

I think that we need to bloody well open our eyes and engage with the everyday places in our lives where we can make a difference. On the bus. At the shops. In cafes. On the dance floor. Make eye contact, hold doors open, step in when someone needs a hand, ask your employer if they do maternity leave, even if you don’t need it yourself. And I also think it’s a good idea to make it as fun as you can. Getting angry is useful. But in and of itself, it’s not productive. You need to be an agent for positive, constructive change, as well as a mighty smashing force of rage. Find small ways, everyday, where you can fuck shit up. Or at least vibrate at very low frequencies until you rattle that patriarchal bedrock to bits.

That’s why I like dance. Fucking up the patriarchy, smashing gender binaries and generally being difficult can be super fun. It can also be positive, friendly and engaging. You won’t win friends to your cause by being rude and aggressive. But you will by making jokes, being kind and friendly, and by being sneaky. Jazz dance is built for this stuff. As the public discourse of an oppressed people, African American vernacular jazz dance has all the tools you need for misbehaving.

Ok, so yes, modelling stuff in a social setting is important. What if you’re a teacher and you want to see more solo dance in your scene, regardless of gender? Same goes. Get out there and do it. Do it in a social setting, but also get out there and do performances. You need people to see what makes solo dance so awesome. And then you need to make them want to do it too. It’s no good you just getting out there on your own every week if you want to see new stuff in your scene. Other people have got to want to do it too.
Running classes in solo dance is the next obvious step. I’m a big fan of classes devoted to solo dance. But I’m even more a fan of classes which work on combining solo and partner dance. How do you fit a shorty george into your swingout? Why is the shim sham an absolute gold mine for steps to add into your lindy hop? I don’t like to use the phrase ‘variations in a swing out’ because it suggests that the swing out is still the centre of the dance and the jazz steps are ‘variations’ on that single step.
Yes, swing outs are central to lindy hop. But this isn’t a one note song. I think that jazz steps – dancing alone – is just as, if not more important than, the swing out. So when you use jazz steps – things like shorty george, suzy Qs, kick-ball-changes, broken-legs, crazy-legs, and so on – think of the swing out as a framing device for your hot shit jazz step. Or better yet, deliberately choreograph sequences that break partners apart and require some sort of solo bling. I think that if you’re teaching solo jazz steps – jazz steps – as an integral part of your lindy hop, and as key part of your classes, you’re setting up students with the skills and materials for dancing alone on the social dance floor. You’re creating the expectation of improvisation. You’re provoking creativity.

So, to sum up, this is what I say to myself when I’m going dancing or working on dance:

  • Solo dancing is good. It’s good socially and culturally (diversity! creativity!). It’s good for your lindy hop. It’s good for your dance skills. It’s good.
  • Lead by example. That’s a very patronising way of saying ‘convince people solo dance is awesome by getting out there and doing awesome solo dance’. Quit bitching and getting unhappy; get out there and fill yourself full of glee.
  • Without jazz steps, your lindy hop is flat. You will never really fulfill your potential as a partner dancer if you can’t dance alone. Or, in other words, learn how to dance by yourself so that you can actually dance with a partner.
  • Don’t accept any arguments that start “Men only do…” or “Women always do….” You don’t want to be like everyone else. Be like yourself.
  • Your body is a brilliant tool. This is the one that’s most important to me. If ever I start thinking ‘oh, I’m too fat for that’ or ‘I don’t have long enough legs’ or ‘I’m not fit enough’ I stop myself and say, very sternly, “Self, you have a unique body shape, and a unique approach to music. Stop bitching about not looking or feeling like everyone else, and START exploring what you are capable of. That short, square body you have? What can it do that no one else can? How does it let you move in ways that are utterly unique? How can you emphasise your short legs or your wide arse or your round belly? How can you exaggerate these parts of yourself in ways that no one else will be able to copy?” The goal is to be utterly unique, not to look like everyone else. You want to get people’s attention, to arrest the eye. Patriarchy demands women make themselves invisible, make themselves simulacrum of some impossible ideal. Why not fuck that shit up by making yourself defiantly unique? And, best of all, enjoy sticking out?

I don’t know if this is a useful approach for everyone. It can be tiring, being so determined. Sometimes it is nice to just sink into following, and to become the extension of some bloke’s creative vision. But I figure, that’s ok. Just don’t make everything you are the result of someone else’s ideas. Do misbehave. Do be that Difficult Woman, if only in a little way, sometimes.

Speakeasy Superbad

Here’s the setlist I did at the Speakeasy on Saturday 21st May and talked about in Everything I did was funky: Cell Block Swing & Speakeasy.

The photo Tina Turner was taken by Barry Wentzell at the Odeon in 1971. I found it in multiple places online. You can buy prints, too. Tina Turner: extreme awesome.

title – artist – album – bpm – year – song length

Knock on wood – Ike And Tina Turner – The Ike & Tina Turner Archive Series : Hits & Classics Vol.1 – 119 – 2:31

Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky – Lee Dorsey – Working In The Coal Mine / Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky – 135 – 3:11

Respect – Aretha Franklin – Greatest Hits – Disc 1 – 114 – 2:25

Waitin’ and Drinkin’ Di – Anne Price – 88 Steps to the Blues – 126 – 2009 – 3:16

When I Get Low – Gordon Webster (with Jesse Selengut, Matt Musselman, Cassidy Holden, Rob Adkins, Jeremy Noller, Adrian Cunningham) – Live In Philadelphia – 107 – 2010 – 5:27

Let’s Do It – Terra Hazelton (feat. Jeff Healey, Marty Grosz, Dan Levinson, Vince Giordano) – Anybody’s Baby – 126 – 2004 – 4:28

Lemonade – Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five (vol 5) – 117 – 1950 – 3:17

What A Man – Linda Lyndall – The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles Volume 2: 1968-1971 – 86 – 2:42

You’re Losing Me – Ann Sexton – Stone Cold Funk – 113 – 1971 – 2:22

Chain Of Fools – Aretha Franklin – Greatest Hits – Disc 1 – 116 – 2:48

Here I Am (Come and Take Me) – Al Green – Greatest Hits – 95 – 1975 – 4:15

Things are Slow – Barbara Dane – I Hate the Capitalist System – 91 – 4:17

Black Rat (take 4) – Big Mama Thornton (with Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Otis Spann, Sammy Lawhorn, Luther ‘Guitar Junior’ Johnson, Francis Clay) – With the Muddy Waters Blues Band, 1966 – 101 – 1966 – 2:53

A few of my current favourites, a few of my really old favourites (Anne Sexton), a few overplayed soul classics. But really, when does ‘Respect’ get old? When we live in a postpatriarchy, baby.
You can read more about my DJing this set at the above link where I go into the night in lots of detail. But for now, this’ll do.