First Friday at Big City Swing 3/2/2012

Friday night was one of the crazier First Fridays in recent memory. Perhaps it was the busload of eager high-schoolers who showed up for the lesson, maybe also the group of college students who'd driven several hours to come to the dance. Maybe the camera crew from ABC, filming a segment on swing dancing for 190 North. Or the OTHER camera crew, in from Korea to film a documentary about American jazz culture (or something like that).

Anyways, add it all up and it was pretty nutso. Despite my best efforts to drive people away (cf #22 below), the floor stayed pretty jammed all night, with the exception of the "jam" that we staged for the benefit of the cameras. (They wanted to capture the natives in their natural habitat.) I ended up playing mostly modern bands, with just a few classic swing tracks--the crowd seemed pretty new, and seemed to respond best to the brighter and crisper sounds of modern recordings. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't skewed so heavily toward new stuff. Here's the usual BPM sparkline and histogram, and here's my setlist:

1. Route 66 - Gordon Webster - Live In Philadelphia - 4:24 - 150
2. All Of Me - Della Reese - Cocktail Classics - 2:01 - 160
3. Slow Boat to China - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - The Mood I'm In - 3:37 - 160
4. Mood Hollywood - Don Neely's Royal Society Jazz Orchestra - Radio Rhythm - 3:31 - 170
5. Choo Choo Ch' Boogie - Louis Jordan - Jukebox Hits Volume 1 1942-1947 - 2:45 - 165
6. Sing Me a Swing Song (And Let Me Dance) - Benny Goodman - The Birth of Swing - 2:23 - 177
7. My Blue Heaven - The Cangelosi Cards - Clinton Street Recordings, I - 4:11 - 145
8. Jersey Bounce - Bernard Berkhout - Doctor Bernard and His Swing Orchestra - 3:27 - 135
9. Rose Room - Crytzer's Blue Rhythm Band - Chasin' the Blues - 2:49 - 160
10. I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats - 3:13 - 160
11. 8, 9 And 10 - Slim Gaillard - The Very Best Of - 2:43 - 175
12. Blue Drag - The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn - Permanent Magic - 3:40 - 190
13. Rosetta - The Palmetto Bug Stompers - Ol' New Orleans Home - 3:36 - 205 (I love how lazy this track is, despite the tempo.)
14. A Woman's Intuition - Stompy Jones - Stompy Jones - 3:17 - 140
15. All Right, Okay, You Win - Joe Williams - The Definitive Joe Williams - 3:05 - 130 
16. Twenty-Four Robbers - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:10 - 140
17. Six-appeal - Charlie Christian - Six-appeal - 3:20 - 145
18. All I Know - The Countdown Quartet - Sadlack's Stomp - 2:56 - 125
19. Last Night On The Backporch - The Palmetto Bug Stompers - Ol' New Orleans Home - 4:10 - 150
20. Put A Lid On It - Davina & The Vagabonds - Live @ The Times - 3:13 - 170
21. Satchel Mouth Baby - Catherine Russell - Strictly Romancin' - 3:19 - 130 (Off her new album, which is FULL of great stuff)
22. Prince Nez - Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot - 2:53 - 180 (This song doubles in tempo midway through, topping out at about 350 bpm)
23. Lindyhopper's Delight - Chick Webb - Strictly Jive - 2:45 - 195 (Jam circle)
24. I Can't Dance I Got Ants In My Pants - The Smoking Time Jazz Club - Quarter Note Vol. 1 - 4:13 - 210 (Jam circle continued)
25. Tain't What You Do - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:06 - 160 (right in to shim-sham)
26. Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam) - Glenn Miller - Perfect Swing - 3:36 - 165
27. Le Jazz Hot - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 2:44 - 140
28. Ridin' And Jivin' - Earl Hines - Rosetta - 2:39 - 155 (The trombone player on this track has a dirty, dirty mind.)
29. Why Don't You Do Right - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 3:17 - 125
30. Swing Brother Swing - Miss Sophie Lee - Tallulah Moon - 3:55 - 165
31. Just A Closer Walk With Thee - The Smoking Time Jazz Club - Quarter Note Vol. 1 - 6:06 - 75/160 (I started this track midway through the slow section. Lots of confused looks at first, until it picked up and started to swing. I wanted to play this one not just because it's a good tune, but to make sure that Bob, who was up to DJ right after me, would be kept on his toes. Don't want to let his reflexes get too dull.)

Turntable.FM

I have recently been spending some time on http://turntable.fm/lobby.

You need to check this site out if:

1) All of your Pandora swing dance stations aren't inspiring you enough

2) You want to listen to DJ's and dancers from across the country play their favorite tunes

3) You are an aspiring DJ that wants to try out music with a crowd rating your selections

4) You are an aspiring DJ that wants a quick way to grow their music collection

5) You are a seasoned DJ (that may be competitive) and you want to strut your stuff

6) You like rating a DJ's selection of a song (as you can "awesome" or "lame" every song)

7) You read this blog and like listening to songs your grandfather thought were hip

8) You will "awesome" the majority of the songs I spin on there -- I get more points that way!

WARNING: It can enjoyably ruin your sleep pattern as you may find yourself with other fellow music nerds that enjoy "geeking" out about different versions of songs, themes, and all out dancing fun into the wee hours of the night.

Rooms to check out:

"Swing Music For Dancers" and "Blues Music For Dancers"

The "Swing Music for Dancers" room has been growing pretty rapidly in the amount of listeners and the "Blues Music for Dancers" room is still fairly new, but I'd expect it to continue to grow.

You are able to upload any files from your computer to play as long as they are in mp3 format as well as search using the already uploaded library.

I've noticed that DJ'ing on this site with a full crowd of like minded (and some not so like minded) DJ's that it pushes me deeper into my collection to find hidden gems I'd forgotten about or didn't even realize I had.

Spread the word! Check it out! I look forward to seeing you on the turntables soon!

Fat Tuesday at Black Rock Tavern, 2/21/2012

I had a blast last night spinning tunes at Black Rock Pub, in celebration of Mardi Gras. This is the second year I've been invited to DJ. Last year, I played almost exclusively artists from or associated with New Orleans. This year, I wasn't so strict--I pretty much played what seemed appropriate in the moment, though that certainly involved a fair amount of New Orleans-flavored music.

The crowd was steady from around 9:15 or 9:30 all the way through 11:30ish. They were there to dance, for reals. I played more fast music than I could possibly ever have gotten away with at Fizz. Check out the BPM sparkline and histogram. And the setlist:

1. Swing Brother Swing - Miss Sophie Lee - Tallulah Moon - 3:55 - 165
2. Sugar - Katharine Whalen - Jazz Squad - 2:57 - 182
3. It's Been So Long - Duke Heitger - Rhythm Is Our Business - 3:34 - 155
4. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It - Fritzel's New Orleans Jazz Band - Vol. 2 - 4:22 - 120
5. I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me - Sidney Bechet - Jazz in Paris - 2:40 - 145
6. Ochi Chornya - Wingy Manone - 1940-1944 - 2:54 - 165
7. A Viper's Moan - Willie Bryant And His Orchestra - 1935-1936 - 3:25 - 150
8. Honeysuckle Rose - Adrian Rollini - 1934-1938 - 2:38 - 160
9. What a Pretty Little Miss - Fats Waller - 038212  BLUEBIRD -10437 - 2:32 - 190 (The first line never fails to crack me up: "Where have I been hiding all your life?")
10. Chicago - Muggsy Spanier - An Anthology Of Big Band Swing 1930-1955 - 2:36 - 185
11. Clementine - Marty Grosz And His Hot Combination - Hooray For Bix! - 4:03 - 164 (The sound quality on this track was poor)
12. Perdido Street Blues - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 - 3:08 - 145
13. Ya Gotta See Baby Tonight - Louis Prima - Louis Prima et son orchestre : 1945 - 2:24 - 145
14. Ain't Got No Room for the Blues - Banu Gibson - Vintage Banu - 2:46 - 125
15. How Come You Do Me Like You Do - Kid Ory - This Kid's The Greatest! - 3:23 - 120
16. Do For Myself - Meschiya Lake And The Little Big Horns - Lucky Devil - 3:24 - 180
17. I'm Alone Because I Love You - The Palmetto Bug Stompers - Live @ D.B.A. - 3:29 - 150
18. Black Coffee - The Careless Lovers - Black Coffee - Single - 2:39 - 195
19. Short Dressed Gal - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - New Orleans Preservation, Vol. 1 - 2:38 - 160
20. If You're A Viper - Kermit Ruffins - The Big Butter & Egg Man - 3:08 - 170
21. Lady Be Good - Svend Asmussen - Musical Miracle Vol. 1: 1935-40 - 2:56 - 180 (Violin + vibes)
22. Fiddle Dee Dee - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 1: Hot Mallets - 2:39 - 195 (More violin + vibes...can I tell you like this combo?)
23. There's Rhythm In Harlem - Mills Blue Rhythm Band - 1933-1936 - 3:11 - 205
24. Georgia Cake Walk - Eddie Condon - We Called It Music - 3:06 - 165
25. Lawd, Lawd - Cecil Scott & His Bright Boys - Harlem Big Bands - 3:13 - 215
26. Minor Drag - Tuba Skinny - Garbage Man - 3:23 - 240 (240 BPM didn't seem to phase people!)
27. Heebie Jeebies - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - The Hurricane Sessions - 1:55 - 180
28. Shake That Thing - The Smoking Time Jazz Club - Quarter Note Vol. 1 - 4:25 - 125
29. Somebody Changed The Lock - Dr. John - Dr. John's Gumbo - 2:45 - 95
30. Muddy Water - Davina & The Vagabonds - Live @ the Times - 2:29 - 123
31. Banana Split for My Baby - Louis Prima - The Wildest! - 2:31 - 137
32. Comes Love - Duke Heitger - Duke Heitger's "Krazy Kapers" - 4:34 - 150
33. Tuxedo Junction - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Ain't No School Like the Old School - 3:14 - 155 (Shim-sham)
34. Milenberg Joys - Gordon Webster - Live In Philadelphia - 3:45 - 190
35. Smoke House Rhythm - Benny Goodman - VICTOR 26107 - 2:53 - 205
36. Shine On Harvest Moon - Pete Fountain - Dixieland's Kings - 2:50 - 160
37. Rosetta - The Baby Soda Jazz Band - Cures Everything But The Blues - 4:34 - 165
38. All of Me - Benoit Viellefon & His Orchestra - Swing à La Mode - 3:21 - 190
39. King Porter Stomp - Kansas City All-Stars - KC After Dark - 4:38 - 170
40. Bennie's Bugle - 4Beat6 - The band that plays the music of Benny Goodman - 3:01 - 195
41. Yeah Man - Four Vagabonds - Vol. 2 (1942-1943) - 2:15 - 135
42. Who Walks In When I Walk Out? - Louis Armstrong - The Wonderful Duets - 2:21 - 135
43. Georgia Grind - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings - 2:34 - 140 (I was thinking that this would be the more modern version, the duet with Velma Middleton on Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography. Ooops.)
44. Get It Southern Style - Duke Ellington - The Duke's Men: The Small Groups, Vol. 1 - 2:43 - 120
45. On The Sunny Side Of The Street - James Booker - New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live! - 3:42 - 125
46. All I Know - The Countdown Quartet - Sadlack's Stomp - 2:56 - 125
47. On Revival Day - Lavern Baker - LaVern Sings Bessie Smith - 3:16 - 143
48. Twenty-Four Robbers - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:10 - 140
49. Back In Your Own Backyard - Billie Holiday - A Musical Romance - 2:42 - 155 (First of a Billie Holiday two-fer.)
50. Life Begins When You're In Love - Billie Holiday - Lady Day: The Master Takes And Singles - 3:02 - 180
51. Nappin' John - Roy Eldridge & His Gramercy Five - Little Jazz Giant - 3:04 - 190
52. King Porter Stomp - Wynton Marsalis - Mr. Jelly Lord - Standard Time Vol. 6 - 3:09 - 180 (Mardi Gras=excuse to play KPS twice.)
53. Fat and Greasy - Fats Waller - Ain't Misbehavin - 3:09 - 160
54. Georgia On My Mind - Louis Armstrong - When You're Smiling - 3:25 - 105
55. Prince Nez - Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot - 2:53 - 180 (tempo doubles to 300+ BPM at the end, just to make sure people leave.)

Fizz setlist 2/13/2012

Fun night at Fizz last night--a full, energetic crowd, good buddies in the DJ booth, and a Little Sumpin' from Lagunitas Brewery, mix 'em together and it puts me in a good mood. As you'll see below, I was also in a mood to say "Why the Hell not?" and hit play on tunes that might normally be more borderline for me. My friends Bob & Anna were tag-teaming for the second half of the evening, but unfortunately I couldn't stick around for very long.

Here's the BPM sparkline and histogram, and here's what I played:

1. Apex Blues - Jim Cullum Jazz Band - Chasin' the Blues - 4:22 - 95 
2. No Regrets - Stephanie Nakasian - Billie Remembered: The Classic Songs Of Billie Holiday - 2:52 - 130 
3. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Marty Grosz - Rhythm Is Our Business - 5:04 - 155 
4. Rosetta - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Nice Work If You Can Get It - 3:08 - 170 
5. Nappin' John - Roy Eldridge & His Gramercy Five - Little Jazz Giant - 3:04 - 190 
6. Swing Brother Swing - Miss Sophie Lee - Tallulah Moon - 3:55 - 165 
7. Stay Cool - Count Basie - Blues By Basie-One O'Clock Jump - 3:12 - 155 (Now commencing the "brassy big band" portion of the evening)
8. Rumble - Sy Oliver - Yes Indeed - 3:55 - 130 
9. Jersey Bounce - Bernard Berkhout - Doctor Bernard and His Swing Orchestra - 3:27 - 135 
10. The Wild Mab Of The Fish Pond - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra - 1941-Transcription Performance - 2:20 - 155 
11. Flat Foot Floogee - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra - The Fabulous Benny Goodman - 3:22 - 160 
12. Wham! (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam) - Jimmie Lunceford - Lunceford Special - 2:51 - 175 
13. I Can’t Dance (I Got Ants In My Pants) - Chick Webb - Stomping At The Savoy - 3:00 - 205  (There was a time in Fizz's history where I could NOT have played this--the floor would have completely cleared. Boy have things changed.)
14. Honeysuckle Rose - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats - 2:56 - 170 
15. All Of Me - Frank Sinatra - Swing And Dance With Frank Sinatra - 2:39 - 130 
16. Who Walks In When I Walk Out? - Louis Armstrong - The Wonderful Duets - 2:21 - 135 
17. Papa De-Da-Da - The Wolverines Jazz Band Of Bern - Wolverines Of Bern At 35 - 3:32 - 115  (Working through some Dixie now.)
18. Tight Like This - Tuba Skinny - Tubaskinny - 4:28 - 125 
19. Bucket Got a Hole In It - Kid Ory - In the Forties - 2:30 - 144 
20. I'm Alone Because I Love You - The Palmetto Bug Stompers - Live @ D.B.A. - 3:29 - 150 
21. Jambalaya Strut - Dr. Michael White - Dancing In The Sky - 3:46 - 165  (This one was meant as a shout-out to DJ Thor.)
22. Stealin' Apples - Glenn Miller - Best of the Lost Recordings & The Secret Broadcasts - 3:16 - 210 
23. Jump Session - Slim Gaillard - 1938-1939 - 2:35 - 160 
24. Skin 'Em Back - Skeets Tolbert - Skeets Tolbert 1931-1940 - 2:43 - 150 
25. Shout, Sister, Shout! - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - The Gospel of the Blues - 2:41 - 145  (I knew I wanted to try out #27, so I worked up to it with some other gospel-sounding tunes.)
26. Sermonette - Gordon Webster - Happy When I'm With You - 3:40 - 115
27. He Calls That Religion - The Sojourners - Things About Comin' My Way - 4:00 - 120
28. Tight Like This - Milano Jazz Gang - To Satchmo with Respect - 3:01 - 110  (Yes, I played this tune twice--see #18. But they are two very different versions. )
29. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me - Sidney Bechet - The Fabulous Sidney Bechet - 5:43 - 145 
30. Short Dressed Gal - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - New Orleans Preservation, Vol. 1 - 2:38 - 160 
31. High Shelf Booze - Eilen Jewell - Letters from Sinners & - 3:38 - 125 
32. Baby Can Dance - Carsie Blanton - Buoy - 2:56 - 180  (This last one was a going-away jam.)

First Friday at BCS 2/3/2012

I played mp3s for a very fun, crowded dance at Big City last night. There were probably 40 enthusiastic folks there for the lesson at 8, then a bunch more showed up right around 9. Both floors were open, and a good thing too--otherwise there wouldn't have been any room. I had the first half of the evening, followed by my friend (and now co-blogger!) Bob. It was the sort of night where we could have played the Gettysburg address over and over, and the floor would have stayed full--everyone seemed like they were just itching to dance.

Several folks asked me about specific songs. If you asked about a song, see

• #21 below, by the Swedish jazz-makers the Carling Family. Their website has full mp3s of some of their music.
• #26, by San Francisco-based Gaucho, featuring vocals by Tamar Korn, formerly of the Cangelosi Cards. You can get Gaucho's albums on EMusic.

Back to my set: check out the BPM sparkline--I think it's kind of interesting because it changes amplitude. For the first part of my set, I stayed in a pretty narrow  tempo range, then later I expanded outward by quite a bit. Here's the BPM histogram for completeness, and here's the run-down of what I played:

1. Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong - Ken Burns Jazz - 2:24 - 155 
2. Sent For You Yesterday And Here You Come Today - Benny Goodman - B.G. In Hi-Fi - 3:05 - 155 
3. Baby Drives Me Wild - The Mighty Blue Kings - Meet Me In Uptown - 2:18 - 170 
4. 5 Foot 2 - Davina & The Vagabonds - Songs From Thomas Ave. - 3:42 - 175 
5. Look-A There - Slim Gaillard - The Very Best Of - 2:17 - 180 
6. Mumbles' Blues - Stompy Jones - The Swing Session - 2:39 - 160 
7. Froggy Bottom - Andy Kirk & His Clouds of Joy - Kansas City: Swing, Blues, Jive & Boogie - 3:05 - 150 
8. Betcha Nickel - Ella Fitzgerald - My Heart Belongs to Daddy - 2:51 - 160 
9. Savoy - Lucky Millinder - An Anthology Of Big Band Swing 1930-1955 - 3:04 - 164 
10. Hey-Ba-Ba-Re-Bop - Lionel Hampton - The Jubilee Sessions, 1943 to 1946 - 4:27 - 170 
11. One O'Clock Jump - Count Basie - Swinging The Blues: 1930-1939 - 3:03 - 171 
12. Bizet Has His Day - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Ain't No School Like the Old School - 3:43 - 155 
13. Fortunate Love - Glenn Crytzer And His Sycopators - Harlem Mad - 2:54 - 130 
14. Dear Old Southland - Sidney Bechet - Classic Sides 1931-1937 - 3:03 - 140 
15. Bucket Got a Hole In It - Kid Ory - In the Forties - 2:30 - 144 
16. Georgia Grind - Lillian Boutté - Music Is My Life - 3:32 - 145 
17. Black Coffee - The Careless Lovers - Black Coffee - Single - 2:39 - 195 
18. Last Night On The Backporch - The Palmetto Bug Stompers - Ol' New Orleans Home - 4:10 - 150 
19. Savoy Blues - Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen - Trad Jazz Masters - 3:53 - 135 
20. I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle - Lavern Baker - LaVern Sings Bessie Smith - 4:05 - 90 
21. Keepin' Out A Mishif Now - Carling Family - 20th Jubilee - 3:32 - 120 
22. Tain't What You Do - Sy Oliver - Sy Oliver et son orchestre: 1949-1952 - 3:07 - 155 
23. Let's Get Together - Duke Ellington - Recollections Of The Big Band Era - 2:37 - 175 
24. My Blue Heaven - The Rosenberg Trio - Roots - 2:54 - 210 
25. I Like Pie, I Like Cake - The Four Clefs - BLUEBIRD 8884 - 2:48 - 155 
26. Sing On (Odessa Sing On) - Gaucho - Pearl - 5:07 - 135 
27. If You'se a Viper - John Sinclair - No Money Down : John Sinclair's Greatest Hits , Volume One - 3:55 - 150 
28. Baby Can Dance - Carsie Blanton - Buoy - 2:56 - 180

Fizz setlist 1/16/2012

Fizz last night got off to a slow start. The first few folks in the door asked if the heat could be turned on (my answer: no, because body warmth would be more than enough once things got going). The early arrivals ended up dancing in sweaters for a bit, because it was around 9:40 by the time the place felt like it was in full swing and adequately warm. Thankfully, once things got going, they didn't stop--lots of very energetic dancers kept the floor crowded and the room warm. In response, I played a set that was a bit faster than normal, though I also had the chance to dip into blues tunes for a bit. I also played "My Baby Can Dance" by Carsie Blanton (singer-songwriter-dancer), since it's been going viral on Facebook, and it produced squeals and shrieks of delight. Literally.

Here's the usual BPM sparkline and histogram. And here's the tunes:

1. Nice Work if You Can Get It - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Nice Work If You Can Get It - 3:19 - 170 
2. Swingin' On Nothin' - Midnight Serenaders - Hot Lovin' - 3:50 - 200 
3. Slow and Easy - Jim Cullum Jazz Band - Chasin' the Blues - 4:03 - 190 
4. Piano Boogie - Kansas City All-Stars - KC After Dark - 2:32 - 170 
5. Rosetta - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Nice Work If You Can Get It - 3:08 - 170 
6. Dipsy Doodle - Larry Clinton & His Orchestra - G.I. Jukebox, Original Hits from the Swing Era, 1938-1946 - 3:03 - 175 
7. Nona - Erskine Hawkins, His Orchestra - Vintage Dance Orchestras No. 277 - EP: Tuxedo Junction - 2:44 - 145 
8. Bearcat Shuffle - Andy Kirk & His Clouds of Joy - 1930-1941 - 3:02 - 150 
9. Honeysuckle Rose - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats (Remaster) - 2:56 - 170 
10. Spreadin' Rhythm Around - Fats Waller - Fats Waller: 1935-1936 - 2:44 - 180 
11. In The Groove (At The Grove) - Ella Fitzgerald - Live At The Savoy - 1939-40 - 2:35 - 195 
12. Love Me or Leave Me - Banu Gibson - Let Yourself Go - 3:07 - 165 
13. Georgia Grind - Lillian Boutté - Music Is My Life - 3:32 - 145 
14. He Ain’t Got Rhythm - Bernard Berkhout - Doctor Bernard and His Swing Orchestra - 4:44 - 165 
15. Four Or Five Times - Sy Oliver - Sy Oliver et son orchestre: 1949-1952 - 3:08 - 140 
16. Shake That Thing - The Smoking Time Jazz Club - Quarter Note Vol. 1 - 4:25 - 125 
17. Someday You'll Want Me To Want You - Catherine Russell - Cat - 3:13 - 145 
18. My Blue Heaven - The Cangelosi Cards - Clinton Street Recordings, I - 4:11 - 145 
19. Some of These Days - Billie & DeDe Pierce - Gulf Coast Blues - 2:38 - 150 
20. Heebie Jeebies - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - The Hurricane Sessions - 1:55 - 180 
21. Hop, Skip And Jump - Engelbert Wröbel's Swing Society - Sophisticated Swing - 3:47 - 175 
22. When You're Smiling - Mona's Hot Four - Live at Mona's - 3:33 - 195 
23. Mr. Rhythm - Glenn Crytzer And His Sycopators - Harlem Mad - 4:08 - 130 
24. Dear Old Southland - Sidney Bechet - Classic Sides 1931-1937 (CD A) - 3:03 - 140 
25. The Harlem Stride - Ella Fitzgerald - Live At The Savoy - 1939-40 - 3:29 - 200
26. I Like Pie, I Like Cake - The Four Clefs - BLUEBIRD 8884 - 2:48 - 155 
27. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen - Gordon Webster - Live In Philadelphia - 5:16 - 150 
28. Put A Lid On It - Davina & The Vagabonds - Live @ The Times - 3:13 - 170 
29. When I Grow Too Old To Dream - Cats & The Fiddle - We Cats Will Swing For You - 2:47 - 200 
30. Careless Love - Tuba Skinny - Tubaskinny - 4:25 - 135 
31. Money Blues - Lavern Baker - LaVern Sings Bessie Smith - 2:53 - 103 
32. My Daddy Rocks Me - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman et son orchestre: 1945 Vol.2 - 2:48 - 100 
33. Billie's Blues - Billie Holiday - Blue Billie - 2:40 - 120 
34. Baby Can Dance - Carsie Blanton - Buoy - 2:56 - 180 
35. Shine On Harvest Moon - Pete Fountain - Dixieland's Kings - 2:50 - 160 
36. Blue Lou - Chick Webb - Jazz After Hours - 3:12 - 180 
37. Jump Through The Window - Roy Eldridge - Little Jazz Giant - 2:44 - 145 
38. I'm Alone Because I Love You - The Palmetto Bug Stompers - Live @ D.B.A. - 3:29 - 150

Blues DJ Set 1/14/12

I will likely not post all my DJ sets, but this post is a follow up on my previous post on Blues Music 101.

People often ask about what would separate a great DJ to a good DJ. I feel a good DJ plays great music that the crowd likes and dances to. A great DJ plays great music, reads the crowd, and can shift the energy of the floor. I don't want to get into a lot on DJ theory during this post, but I wanted to shed some thoughts I have on some Blues DJ'ing since I cross over between the lindy hop and blues worlds.

First a few tips about blues DJ sets:

Blues music has a variety of different styles and tempos. I think too often blues DJ’s fall into playing only on genre. Everyone is going to have a favorite genre. For me, it’s slower Jazz. I love New Orleans Jazz and find myself most creative in dancing to it. I tend to play more what I would consider “classic/traditional” vs. contemporary music. I think it gets back to pure forms of the music and dance.

I think it’s important to switch up between the genres of music throughout a blues set. I try to expose students to all the different genres throughout lessons, especially during musicality exercises. The different genres call for different movements and moods. It’s important not to be a “roller coaster” DJ switching genres too quickly. The same applies for tempos. I think it’s reasonable to play songs at similar tempos over a period of 3-5 songs as long as the feel of the song is different. 15 minutes of the same tempo/genre/feel can easily kill the energy of a dance floor.

With that said, below is the most recent set I played. A few background notes/thoughts I was thinking about:

• Audience: My audience consisted of mostly beginner dancers who had just learned basic blues dancing.
• Music Selection: After discussion of blues music using food and other analogies to refer to sex, I was encouraged to play some of my “dirty” music. Maybe sometime, I’ll write about the “dirtiest songs” in my collection, but that will need to be another time. I repeated some artists to feature artists or tracks people asked about. Sound quality is important as old blues/jazz recordings aren’t the best sound quality. I also mixed in some songs used during the lessons.
• Tempo: I varied tempo and varied genres throughout the 90 minute set. You will also see a portion where tempo was very close across 5 songs, but the feel of the music was different.
• Length of Song: I generally try to vary time length. It was a smaller group at the dance so I attempted to keep the 4:00+ songs to a minimum to encourage switching partners and keep a “fresh” feeling among the room. I also wanted to build some confidence in case some of the new beginners didn’t feel they ran out of ideas or “moves” they could do.

I would say I was fairly conservative being I was playing for a beginner crowd and played some good standards. Overall, I got good feedback and response from the crowd.

1. "Tain’t Nobody’s Business if I do” - Ernestine Anderson - 77 BPM - 4:31

People just start arriving - trying to create ambiance with first 2 songs

2. "Need your love so bad” - B.B. King & Sheryl Crow - 76 BPM - 3:57

3. “(Night Time is) the Right Time” - Ray Charles - 81 BPM - 3:24

Time to get the dance kicked off with a classic

3. "I ain’t got Nobody” - Big Maybelle - 81 BPM - 2:53

Respond to “soulful” female vocal call/response to Ray Charles in previous song

4. "The World’s Jazz Crazy” - Claire Austin - 84 BPM - 2:45

Let’s move into some Jazz - song had symbolism in lyrics too

5. "When I get low, I get High” - Gordon Webster - 113 BPM - 5:27

Pick up tempo

6 "St. James Infirmary” - New Orleans All Star Stompers - 66 BPM - 3:07

Some of the beginners looked challenged by faster tempo, so slowed down with recognizable tune in a different style than traditional versions of this song

7. "Nobody Knows you when you’re down and out” - Bessie Smith - 92 BPM - 2:58

Transition song - classic Blues

8. “Walk on” - Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - 115 BPM - 3:14

This song has a little speaking intro part - now playing with instrumental feel

9. "Dirty Low Down and Bad” - Keb’ Mo’ - 100 BPM- 3:07

Contemporary blues - keeping tempo moving - strong guitar sound

10. "I Got Rambling on my Mind” - Otis Spann - 89 BPM - 4:07

Chicago Blues - slowing down a little adding piano to transition to next song

The last 3 songs had guitar as a primary instrument, but had completely different feels.

11. "All Over Again” - B.B. King & Mark Knopfler - 83 BPM - 4:54

12. “My Handy Man Ain’t Handy No More” - Alberta Hunter - 103 BPM - 3:46

First of 3 “dirty” songs played by request/suggestion

13. Shave ‘Em Dry II” - Lucille Bogan - 115 BPM - 3:22

This is not the best version of the song, but I played it because this song doesn’t disguise the “dirty.”

14. "Three Time Lose” - Linda Hopkins - 82 BPM - 2:24

I was listening to a women in jazz/blues documentary so I think I was inspired to play some sassy “woman power” music

15. “How Many More Years” - Howlin’ Wolf - 99 BPM - 2:51

16. “Love in Vain” - Robert Johnson - 85 BPM - 2:21

17. “You Know My Love” - Otis Rush - 78 BPM - 2:42

18. “Blue Drag” - Django Reinhardt -111 BPM - 2:56

One of my favorite songs - it has a quiet intro so it worked as a great transition back into some Jazz

19. "Egyptian Fantasy” - Kenny Davern - 90 BPM - 4:01

Another favorite - played it in particular for my friend Justin who was DJ’ing next.

20. “Horn Man Blues” - Dr. Michael White - 73 BPM - 7:01 (faded this one out)

Song 3 of “dirty” - this starts the streak of “woman power”

21. "A Good Man is Hard to Find” - Big Maybelle - 86 BPM - 2:12

22. “Mannish Boy” - Muddy Waters - 72 BPM - 2:57

A little intermission and response to “woman power”

23. “Backlash Blues” - Nina Simone - 77 BPM - 2:29

24. “I’ll Never Be Free” - Lavern Baker - 72 BPM - 2:22

25. “Mean Old World” - Snooks Eaglin - 75 BPM - 3:51

Transition song

26. “Kind Hearted Woman” - Big Head Blues Club ft. Ruthie Foster - 75 BPM - 4:08

27. “Blues in the Night” - Eva Cassidy - 70 BPM - 4:08

Notice similar tempo of last 6 songs, but all had different feel. I played the Eva Cassidy track in response to a discussion to the unfortunate dancing “sexy” to her “popular” cover of the traditional gospel tune “Wade in the Water.”