Monday, January 26, 2009

Disco XT to iTunes: another nifty little AppleScript

Here's yet another AppleScript that swing DJs might find useful. Disco XT is a software program (now available for Mac and PC) that I, and from what I hear, many other swing DJs, use to play our sets. It's my first choice because it:
  • reads my iTunes library,
  • works with dual audio output, so I can preview songs in my headphones while playing a different tune over the main speakers, and
  • automatically loads songs from a cue and transitions between songs.
It also keeps a log of every song played. I like to save all my DJ sets as iTunes playlists, so I wrote an AppleScript that will pull a Disco XT playlist back in to iTunes. The program is a little bit kluggy because you can't copy directly from a Disco XT log file--you have to export it as text first. So to use the script, you need to do the following in order:
  1. Play a set using Disco XT.
  2. When you're done, export your log to a text file.
  3. Open that file.
  4. Highlight the songs that you want to copy into iTunes and hit apple-C to copy.
  5. Open your iTunes and run this script.
  6. A new playlist called "Disco XT playlist" will be generated. Since Disco only allows you to export the title and artist of the tracks that you played, there is no way to uniquely identify a track if you happen to have multiple versions (for instance, your 6 different recordings of the Basie band playing One O'Clock Jump). The script pulls all of them, so you'll need to look through the playlist and delete the tracks that you didn't actually play.
If anyone has suggestions for improving the AppleScript code below, please feel free to share. Or if you have a better way of doing the same task that doesn't use an AppleScript at all, I'd love to hear it.

Here's the code:
tell application "Finder" to set theClipboard to the clipboard
set saveD to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to return
set tempList to every text item of theClipboard
set theImportList to {}
repeat with lineItem in tempList
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {" - "}
copy every text item of lineItem to end of theImportList
end repeat
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to saveD


tell application "iTunes"
-- create a new playlist
make new user playlist with properties {name:"Disco XT playlist"}
set newPlaylist to playlist "Disco XT playlist"
set the view of the front browser window to newPlaylist

-- add tracks to new playlist
repeat with trackItem in theImportList
set copy_these to (get every track of library playlist 1 whose artist is (first item of trackItem) and name is (second item of trackItem))
repeat with thisTrack in copy_these
duplicate thisTrack to newPlaylist
end repeat
end repeat
end tell

beep

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Still on at Yehoodi Radio

My set is still playing on Yehoodi Radio today and also next Thursday. Earlier this month I posted the set list and also a list of all of the current bands that I feature on the show. If you haven't caught it yet, check it out. If you've tuned in already, let me know what you think.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Nifty little AppleScript to chart the BPM of your set

Here's another AppleScript that might be useful to Swing DJs out there. This one will pull the BPM of an iTune playlist and graph it two ways:
  • as a line chart, so you can see how your BPM flowed over the course of the night
  • as a frequency distribution, so you can see how you covered the tempo range

AppleScript doesn't make it all that easy to crunch numbers, so the code is a bit clunky. I use the Google Chart API to turn the data into graphics, which is a nifty tool though it has some quirks of its own.

I'd love to have a couple more tools like this, things that I could use for post-game analytics. It'd be great to have one that would tell me how often I spin the songs in my set (e.g., half my set is stuff that I've played 10 times in the past six months, 4 songs I'd never spun before, etc.). But it's tricky to get that info out of iTunes. What else would be useful to see as a chart?

Just like the last script, I make no warranty that this little program will actually work for you. Here's the code:
set frequency_dist to {}
set bpm_over_time to {}

tell application "iTunes"
set thePlaylist to the front window's view

set playlistName to ""
set nTracks to count of tracks of thePlaylist
set p to name of thePlaylist
repeat with w in every word of p
set playlistName to playlistName & "+" & w as text
end repeat
set playlistName to text 2 through (length of playlistName) of playlistName

repeat with i from 1 to nTracks
set end of bpm_over_time to bpm of track i of thePlaylist
set track_bpm to round (((bpm of track i of thePlaylist) - 1) / 10)
if track_bpm > (count of frequency_dist) then
repeat with j from ((count of frequency_dist) + 1) to track_
bpm
set end of frequency_dist to 0
end repeat
end if
if track_
bpm = 0 then
set track_
bpm to 1
end if
set (item track_
bpm of frequency_dist) to (item track_bpm of frequency_dist) + 1
end repeat
end tell

set first_non_zero to 1
repeat while item first_non_zero of frequency_dist is 0
set first_non_zero to first_non_zero + 1
end repeat

set
bpm_data_string to first item of bpm_over_time as text
repeat with i in items 2
thru (count of bpm_over_time) of bpm_over_time
if i <> max then
set max to f
end if
end repeat
set max to 3 * (round (max / 3) rounding up)

set vert_size to 50 + 28 * ((count of frequency_dist) - first_non_zero + 1)

set horiz_size to 15 * nTracks
if horiz_size > 600 then
set
horiz_size to 600
end if


set range to first_non_zero * 10 & "," & (count of frequency_dist) * 10
set line_chart_string to "http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=ls&
chxt=y&chxs=0,555555,12,0,t&chs=" & horiz_size & "x200&chd=t:" & bpm_data_string & "&chds=" & range & "&chxr=0," & range & "&chtt=BPM+by+song|" & playlistName

set freq_dist_string to "http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=bhs&
chxt=x,y&chxs=0,555555,12,0,t|1,555555,12,-1,t&chd=t:" & freq_data_string & "&chds=0," & max & "&chs=300x" & vert_size & "&chxr=0,0," & max & "|1," & range & "&chtt=BPM+Frequency+Distribution|" & playlistName

tell application "Finder"
open location line_chart_string
open location freq_dist_string
end tell

Friday, January 16, 2009

Nifty little AppleScript to publish a playlist

Those of you with copy-editorial leanings may have noticed that I recently changed how I publish my set lists on the blog.

A few weeks ago I wrote a little AppleScript that will take an iTunes playlist and copy the artist, title, album, length, and bpm of each track to the clipboard, in a format specified by the user. I just run this apple script on one of my set lists and wham-bam I can paste it into my blog.

If you're running a Mac, you can use it too. Open the Script editor to create a new script, then copy the code below into the file. Save the file under Library\iTunes\Scripts. The script should now be accessible from iTunes, from the little script drop-down menu (between Window and Help).

Here's the code:
set dialogResult to display dialog "Enter delimiter and click OK" default answer " - "
if button returned of dialogResult is "OK" then
set delimiter_character to text returned of dialogResult
tell application "iTunes"
set thePlaylist to the front window's view
set playlist_data to {}
tell thePlaylist
repeat with i from 1 to the count of tracks
tell track i
set the end of the playlist_data to {name, delimiter_character, artist, delimiter_character, album, delimiter_character, time as string, delimiter_character, bpm, return}
end tell
end repeat
end tell
end tell
tell application "Finder"
activate
display dialog "The playlist information has been copied to the clipboard"
set the clipboard to (playlist_data) as text
end tell
end if
FYI, this code is pretty rough-and-tumble--there's no error handling or anything like that, so it may not work for you. But it should be easy to modify, especially since the language is so easy to follow, almost English. I think the designers meant it to be the Apple equivalent of VBasic.

AppleScripts are pretty nifty. Don't know why I've never played with them before. I've got a few more in the works, so stay tuned.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Music via the interwebs, Part 4: Other online sources

Besides EMusic, iTunes, and Amazon mp3, what else is out there? There's quite a few services, mostly filling smaller niches in the huge and growing online music market. I don't use any of them very frequently, but here's what I know:

Amie Street. The idea here is that the market determines the price. The more people download the track, the higher the price climbs. You get a deal if you get in on an artist/album/track early. Next thing you know, they'll be setting up a derivatives market so you can bet on how soon the hipsters will mob any particular indie band. If you can do it with mortgages, why not music too?

CD Baby is a service that allows independent artists to market their own music. The site now also allows artists to sell albums in mp3 format. So far as I've seen, it's up to the artist to decide to allow the option or not. And you can't download individual tracks.

Bandcamp
is a pretty nifty site that allows independent artists to sell (or distribute for free) mp3s of their music--sort of a next-generation CD Baby. It lets the artist set the price, or lets them choose to let the customer pay whatever they want (the "In Rainbows" model). I ran across the site while browsing the web page of the California Honeydrops, a soul group from San Francisco. Of course, Bandcamp is basically a distribution platform, not a music site for itself--so you can't browse for artists. You'd have to find out about a group through some other route, and then perhaps get re-directed to Bandcamp to grab some of their music.

Smithsonian Global Sound is truly for the music geeks out there, people who are interested in historical recordings, field recordings, truly diverse sounds from around the globe. They have a lot of the original Folkways recordings, including stuff that founder Moses Asch recorded back in the 1940s. All sorts of interesting music on here, including some fantastic blues compilations like this one. Not necessarily a good source for swing dance music, but then you do have wider taste than just jazz, don't you?

Lala is another music service that plays with the standard iTunes pricing model. It allows you to preview an entire track once (rather than just a 30 sec. snippet), and then buy the rights to stream the song online for just $0.10. Actually downloading mp3's costs more--about the same as Amazon mp3. Lala also scans your music library and gives you free online access to any licensed tracks that you already own. (Added 9/27/2009--Thanks Thomas for the tip.)

Jazz Online has a bunch of jazz recordings available for streaming or download, plus a basic but serviceable search engine. The site claims that all of the music is public domain, though I haven't investigated it enough to know whether that claim is true. (Added 9/27/2009.)

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Set list from First Friday at Big City Swing 1/9/2009

I was really pleased with how this set went. When I started around 8:45 there were almost 40 people at the beginner 6-count lesson, and they stuck around for quite a bit longer than newcomers typically do, which is great. The first half of my set was pretty geared towards keeping those folks happy.
  1. A Woman's Intuition - Stompy Jones - Stompy Jones - 3:17 - 140
  2. Strictly Instrumental - Harry James - The Best Of Big Bands - 2:56 - 135
  3. Mack The Knife - Ella Fitzgerald - Mack The Knife: The Complete Ella In Berlin (Live) - 4:39 - 140
  4. Good Evenin' Good Lookin' (Helen Forrest, Vocals) - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 3:10 - 150
  5. Sent For You Yesterday - George Gee - If Dreams Come True - 3:32 - 165
  6. Big John's Special - Don Neely's Royal Society Jazz Orchestra - Radio Rhythm - 3:18 - 170
  7. Hoodle-Addle - Ray McKinley Orchestra - You Came A Long Way From St. Louis - 3:21 - 140
  8. All Of Me - Helen O'Connell - Great Girl Singers, Sing 22 Original Hits - 2:09 - 145
  9. TV Is The Thing This Year - Dianne Reeves - Good Night, And Good Luck - 1:43 - 160
  10. You Talk a Little Trash - Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five - Crazy Rhythm - 3:55 - 170
  11. Now Or Never - Katharine Whalen - Jazz Squad - 2:13 - 165 (The last couple songs were pretty high energy, and the floor thinned a little bit. I saw Jenna and Max dancing together. They had taught the beginner lesson, so I picked out another song I thought that they'd like and that they might show off to. But then they didn't dance together, so I had to grab Jenna for a dance. Such a chore, I know.)
  12. When I Grow Too Old To Dream - Cats & The Fiddle - We Cats Will Swing For You - 2:47 - 200
    (Taking the tempo down a little, but trying to keep things peppy.)
  13. It's De-Lovely - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Give Me Your Telephone Number - 4:04 - 150
  14. Shout, Sister, Shout! - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - The Gospel of the Blues - 2:41 - 145
  15. Onion - Louis Jordan - Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five, 1938-1940, Volume 1 (Disc - 2:55 - 170
  16. Route 66 - Linda Hopkins - Wild Women Blues - 3:05 - 160
  17. Let Me Off Uptown - Roy Eldridge - Little Jazz - 3:24 - 130 (Chilling out, letting people take a breather before I build back up again.)
  18. All That Meat And No Potatoes - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:47 - 140
  19. Blues for Stephanie - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 4:29 - 130
  20. A Viper's Moan - Mora's Modern Rhythmists - Call Of The Freaks - 3:30 - 140
  21. Me, Myself And I - Billie Holiday - A Musical Romance - 2:37 - 155
  22. Ja-Da - The Famous Castle Jazz Band - The Five Pennies - 3:07 - 150
  23. Give My Regards To Broadway - Pete Fountain - Dixieland's Kings - 2:37 - 170
  24. Shake That Thing - Vince Giordano's Nighthawks - The Aviator Music From The Motion Picture - 3:00 - 225
  25. Don't You Miss Your Baby - Jimmy Witherspoon - Jimmy Witherspoon & Panama Francis' Savoy Sultans - 3:55 - 140
  26. They Can't Take That Away From Me - Sarah Vaughan - Ken Burns Jazz - 2:43 - 125
  27. El Salon De Gutbucket - Engelbert Wröbel's Swing Society - Sophisticated Swing - 5:16 - 140
  28. Lean Baby - Illinois Jacquet - Flying Home - 3:05 - 125
  29. Solid As A Rock - Ella Fitzgerald - Swingin' Ella - 3:00 - 145
  30. Bei Mir Bist Du Schane - Janis Siegel - Swing Kids - 4:11 - 150 (If you're new to swing dancing, like much of the crowd, you may have never heard this song before. Think what you'd be missing!)
  31. I'se Muggin' - Django Reinhardt - Django Reinhardt 1: Swing Guitars - 3:07 - 170
  32. My Blue Heaven - Stuff Smith Quartet - Swingin' Stuff - 3:46 - 160
  33. That's a Plenty - Kevin Clark - New Orleans Trumpet - 5:06 - 205 (This song was used for a performance by the Tacky Annies, Jenna's all-female dance troupe.)
  34. When You're Smiling - The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn - Forty Days and Forty Nights - 3:51 - 215
  35. Tutti Frutti - Slim Gaillard - 1938-46 - 2:38 - 170 (Crowd has thinned out a little bit by now, and more advanced dancers are starting to appear.)
  36. Rockin' In Rhythm - Duke Ellington - Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick and Vocalion Recordings of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931 - 3:02 - 185
  37. The Dipsey Doodle - Mora's Modern Rhythmists - Call Of The Freaks - 2:58 - 180
  38. For Dancers Only - John Lewis, The American Jazz Orchestra - The Music Of Jimmie Lunceford - 4:34 - 145
  39. Sugar In My Bowl - Miss Tess - When Tomorrow Comes - 3:15 - 105
  40. Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats (Remaster) - 3:21 - 130
  41. Ain't Misbehavin' - Sidney Bechet - Perdido Street Blues - 2:52 - 145
  42. Take It Easy Greasy No. 2 - Lil Johnson - Lil Johnson & Barrelhouse Annie Vol. 3 1937 - 2:58 - 145
  43. Viper mad - Swing Parade South - Hommage à Sidney Bechet - 4:30 - 175 (Going from janky to groovy..)
  44. Makin' Whoopee - Clora Bryant - ...Gal With A Horn - 3:34 - 120
  45. Nature Boy - Johnny Hartman - For Trane - 3:29 - 142
  46. Boys from Harlem - Randy Sandke And The Nagel Heyer Allstars - Uptown Lowdown - 3:33 - 160
  47. In a Mellow Tone - Count Basie - Blues In Orbit - 2:40 - 165
  48. Six-appeal - Charlie Christian - Six-appeal - 3:20 - 145
  49. You Don't Know What Love Is - Rachelle Ferrell - First Instrument - 5:14 - 120
  50. Growling Dog - Harlem Hamfats - Let's Get Drunk And Truck - 2:40 - 120
  51. Georgia Cake Walk - Eddie Condon - We Called It Music - 3:06 - 165
  52. The Back Room Romp - Duke Ellington - The Duke's Men: The Small Groups, Vol. 1 - 2:49 - 150
  53. Don't Go Away Nobody-Edit-200 - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Give Me Your Telephone Number - 2:02 - 200 (End of the night, Jenna and I intended to practice our routine in a corner, but then everybody started watching and clapping.)
  54. Flying Home - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 2: Flying Home - 3:10 - 195 (Big apple, of course.)
  55. Gettin' Some Fun Out Of Life - New Orleans Jazz Vipers - Hope You're Comin' Back - 5:30 - 120 (Request from Skibo.)
  56. Hey Hey - Big Bill Broonzy - Jazz Masters Of Acoustic Guitar And Some Bluesmen Too - 2:54 - 150
  57. 'Long About Midnight - Cab Calloway - The Early Years 1930-1934 - 3:06 - 170

Here's a very ghetto frequency distribution of bpm over the set. The 140-180 bpm range is what seemed to keep the new folks happy.

220 *
210 *
200 ***
190 *
180 **
170 ********
160 ********
150 *******
140 ***************
130 ****
120 ******
110
100 *

Friday, January 9, 2009

Yehoodi Radio set

Here's the full set list from my Yehoodi Radio show. Tune in on Thursdays for the rest of January. And check out my previous post to get links to all the current bands.
  1. It's A Sin To Tell A Lie - Aunt Ruby's Sweet Jazz Babies - Stompin' Through The Tulips - 4:07 - 205
  2. Jungle Nights in Harlem - Randy Sandke And The Nagel Heyer Allstars - Uptown Lowdown - 3:37 - 180
  3. Pitter Panther Patter - Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band - 3:03 - 175
  4. Inghin the Ooh/Moten Swing - Kendrick Oliver & The New Life Jazz Orchestra - Welcome to New Life - 4:11 - 210
  5. You Talk a Little Trash - Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five - Crazy Rhythm - 3:55 - 170
  6. Summit Ridge Drive - Artie Shaw - Spotlight on Artie Shaw - Five Historic Broadcasts From 1945 - 3:22 - 150
  7. Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay - Jay McShann - Jumpin' The Blues - 2:31 - 155
  8. I Know You, I Know What You Wanna Do - Louis Jordan - Louis Jordan And His Tympani Five, Volume 1 - 2:31 - 195
  9. A Woman's Intuition - Stompy Jones - Stompy Jones - 3:17 - 140
  10. Mood Hollywood - Don Neely's Royal Society Jazz Orchestra - Radio Rhythm - 3:31 - 170
  11. There'll Be Some Changes Made - Chicago Rhythm Kings - Mezz Mezzrow: Makin' Friends, 1928-37 - 2:56 - 205
  12. There Ain't No Land Like Dixieland To Me - Michael Arenella - Blue Orchid Dance Orchestra - 3:06 - 210
  13. Sweet and Low Down - Anson Weeks - The Uncollected: Anson Weeks And His Hotel Mark Hopkins Orchestra - 2:43 - 225
  14. Four Or Five Times - Cangelosi Cards - Down Home Live at Banjo Jims - 5:25 - 130
  15. Creole Love Call - Adelaide Hall - A Centenary Celebration - 3:17 - 95
  16. You Do Me Any Old Way - Big Bill Broonzy - In Chicago 1932/1937 - 2:50 - 190
  17. Bring It On Down To My House - Baby Soda Jazz Band - Baby Soda - 2:32 - 170
  18. I've Found a New Baby - Baby Soda Jazz Band - ...Cures Everything but the Blues - 3:05 - 260
  19. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me - The Delta Rhythm Boys - I Dreamt I Dwelt In Harlem - 2:12 - 140
  20. That's A Plenty - Ella Fitzgerald And Bing Crosby - Bing Crosby With Ella Fitzgerald & Peggy Lee Featuring Fred Astaire - 2:23 - 185
  21. Southern sunset - Swing Parade South - Hommage a Sidney Bechet - 3:32 - 105
  22. Keepin' Out A Mishif Now - Carling Family - 20th Jubilee - 3:32 - 120
  23. Hop, Skip And Jump - Engelbert Wröbel's Swing Society - Sophisticated Swing - 3:47 - 175
  24. Lito's Place - Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan - Alfonso Ponticelli And Swing Gitan - 4:27 - 195
  25. The Elk's Parade - The Alan Gresik Swing Shift Orchestra - Working The Swing Shift - 3:08 - 245
  26. The Right Idea - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra - Swing Street Strut - 3:13 - 185
  27. It's You Who Taught It To Me - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:42 - 160
  28. Ain't Misbehavin' - Kermit Ruffins - Putumayo Presents: Kermit Ruffins - 4:36 - 140
  29. Lester Leaps In - Beantown Swing Orchestra - Live - 3:42 - 220
  30. Good Queen Bess - Johnny Hodges - Perfect Swing - 3:02 - 155
  31. Long, Strong and Consecutive - Duke Ellington - The Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings - 2:54 - 90
  32. Honeysuckle Rose - Django Reinhardt - The Swing Sessions Volume 1 - 2:49 - 180
  33. Exactly Like You - One Leg Up - Gypsy Blue - 3:14 - 215
  34. Rosetta - Deep Chicago Rhythm Owls - Oysters and Beer - 4:01 - 165
  35. Growling Dog - Harlem Hamfats - Let's Get Drunk And Truck - 2:40 - 120
  36. Swingin' On That Famous Door - Delta Four - All Star Jazz Quartets 1928-1940 - Disc B - 3:00 - 195
  37. When You're Smiling - The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn - Forty Days and Forty Nights - 3:51 - 215
  38. My Old Daddy's Got a Brand New Way to Love - Catherine Russell - Sentimental Streak - 3:20 - 100
  39. Sent For You Yesterday - George Gee - If Dreams Come True - 3:32 - 165
  40. Roll 'Em Pete - Joe Williams - The Definitive Joe Williams - 2:42 - 215
  41. Oo Poppa Do - Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - One Hour Mama - 3:13 - 160
  42. Mr. Gee - Tab Smith - Top 'n' Bottom - 2:49 - 115
  43. Heebie Jeebies - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - The Hurricane Sessions - 1:55 - 180
  44. Strut Miss Lizzy - Firecracker Jazz Band - Firecracker Jazz Band Explodes - 3:41 - 195
  45. Big Butter and Egg Man - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings - 3:00 - 200
  46. The Love Bug Will Bite You - Louis Prima - Complete Brunswick & Vocalion Recordings Of Louis Prima And Wingy Manone (1924-1937) - 3:06 - 170
  47. Callin' Your Bluff - Mills Blue Rhythm Band - Mills Blue Rhythm Band: 1933-1936 - 3:00 - 190
  48. Big John's Special - Mora's Modern Rhythmists - Mr. Rhythmist Goes To Town - 2:50 - 220
  49. Swingtime in the Rockies - Bernard Berkhout's Swing Orchestra - unreleased - 3:15 - 220
  50. Fiddle Dee Dee - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 1: Hot Mallets - 2:39 - 195
  51. Until the Real Thing Comes Along - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Give Me Your Telephone Number - 4:41 - 115
  52. Good Evenin' Good Lookin' (Helen Forrest, Vocals) - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 3:10 - 150
  53. Roll 'em - White Heat Swing Orchestra - WHSO Topping the Charts - 4:27 - 190
  54. Chicago (That Toddlin' Town) - The Prohibition Orchestra of Chicago - Live at the Harold Washington Library 5/27/2005 - 2:57 - 210
  55. I'm Wonderin' Who (f. Irving Kaufman) - Bix Beiderbecke - Bix Beiderbecke, vol. 1: Singin' The Blues - 2:49 - 180
  56. Madame Dynamite - Eddie Condon - Let's Swing It - 2:55 - 185
  57. Keeps On A-Rainin' - Billie Holiday - We Called It Music - 3:20 - 60
  58. Yes Sir, That's My Baby - Earl Hines - A Monday Date - 3:00 - 140
  59. I'll see you in my Dreams - Rhythm Futur - Unreleased - 2:52 - 0
  60. Clementine - Hotlanta Dixieland Jazz Band - There Ain't No Jazz Like Dixieland - 3:11 - 205
  61. Tiger Rag - The Firehouse Five Plus Two - The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story - 3:04 - 240
  62. Sugar In My Bowl - Miss Tess - When Tomorrow Comes - 3:15 - 105
  63. Savoy Blues - Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen - Trad Jazz Masters - 3:53 - 135
  64. Crazy Rhythm - Russ Wilson And His Nouveau-Passe Orchestra - Doin' The Uptown Lowdown! - 3:17 - 195
  65. Old Mother Hubbard - Ella Fitzgerald - Swingin' Ella - 2:44 - 145
  66. Bei Mir Bist Du Schon - Slim Gaillard - Ice Cream on Toast 1937 ~ '47 - 2:10 - 180
  67. All Of Me - Twin Cities Hot Club - Twin Cities Hot Club - 4:10 - 165
  68. You Made Me Love You - Oscar Aleman - Swing Guitar Masterpieces 1938-1957 (Disc 1) - 3:02 - 225
  69. A Mellow Bit of Rhythm - Andy Kirk & His Clouds of Joy - Andy Kirk and the 12 Clouds of Joy - 3:23 - 160
  70. Christopher Columbus - Dan Barrett - Blue Swing - 4:00 - 185
  71. Jelly, Jelly Blues - Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra - Love Jones The Music - 5:49 - 60
  72. I Love The Rhythm In A Riff - Billy Eckstine - Timeless Billy Eckstine - 2:51 - 200
  73. Swingmatism - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Swingmatism - 2:33 - 185
  74. Shake That Thing - Vince Giordano's Nighthawks - The Aviator Music From The Motion Picture - 3:00 - 225
  75. Gettin' Some Fun Out Of Life - New Orleans Jazz Vipers - Hope You're Comin' Back - 5:30 - 120
  76. That Chick's Too Young To Fry - The Prisonaires - Just Walkin' In The Rain - 1:45 - 190
  77. Hit That Jive Jack - The Four Charms - Flatland Boogie - 3:13 - 195

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Artists featured on Yehoodi Radio

Here are links to all of the bands featured in my set on Yehoodi Radio. Let me know what you think, which bands you really like, and which bands I missed--leave a comment!

The Alan Gresik Swing Shift Orchestra (Chicago, IL)
Alfonso Pontecelli and Swing Gitan (Chicago, IL)
Aunt Ruby's Sweet Jazz Babies (Austin, TX)
Baby Soda Jazz Band (New York City, NY)
The Beantown Swing Orchestra (Boston, MA)
Bernard Berkhout's Swing Orchestra (Netherlands)
The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn (New York City, NY)
The Boilermaker Jazz Band (Pittsburgh, PA)
The Cangelosi Cards (New York City, NY)
Carling Family Band (Sweden)
Catherine Russell (New York City, NY)
Dan Barrett (NY/CA)
Deep Chicago Rhythm Owls (Chicago, IL)
Engelbert Wrobel's Swing Society (Germany)
Firecracker Jazz Band (North Carolina)
The Four Charms (Chicago, IL)
George Gee and the Jump Jivin' Wailers (New York City, NY)
Hotlanta Dixieland Band (Atlanta, GA)
Jonathan Stout and His Campus Five (Los Angeles, CA)
Kendrick Oliver & the New Life Jazz Orchestra (Boston, MA)
Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen (United Kingdom)
Kermit Ruffins (New Orleans, LA)
Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers (San Francisco, CA)
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (New York City, NY)
Michael Aranella & His Dreamland Orchestra (New York City, NY)
Miss Tess (Boston, MA)
Mora's Modern Rhythmists (Los Angeles, CA)
New Orleans Jazz Vipers (New Orleans, LA)
One Leg Up (Asheville, NC)
Preservation Hall Jazz Band (New Orleans, LA)
Prohibition Orchestra of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Randy Sandke and the Nagel Heyer All Stars (New York City, New York)
Rhythm Futur (Chicago, IL)
Royal Society Jazz Orchestra (San Francisco, CA)
Russ Wilson and his Nouveau-Passe Orchestra (North Carolina)
The Solomon Douglas Swingtet (Seattle, WA)
Swing Parade South (Nice, France)
Stompy Jones (San Francisco, CA)
The Twin Cities Hot Club (Twin Cities, MN)
Vince Giordano's Nighthawks (New York City, NY)
The White Heat Swing Orchestra (Boston, MA)

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I'm on Yehoodi Radio this month

Jesse Miner invited me to put together a set for Yehoodi Radio, and my music is going to be running every Thursday in January. For those of you who haven't heard about it, Yehoodi Radio is a streaming Internet radio station (run through the Live365 service) that plays swingin' jazz and blues music 24-7. I think the original idea was that you could tune in any time and have music to swing dance to. All you need is a decent Internet connection. I wonder if it would work on your iPhone.

Head over to Yehoodi Radio to tune in. Here's a little blurb about my set, as I explained on the Hey Mr. Jesse podcast:
During my spot on Yehoodi Radio I'll be featuring a bunch of great modern bands who play the sort of music from the 20's and 30's and 40's that keeps us dancers happy. There's so many talented groups out there that play authentic old time dance music, maybe they're not using vintage 1936 charts, but they've got that sound and that spirit that make them so much fun. You'll hear groups like the Boilermakers, George Gee, and Mora's Modern Rhythmists, who have been playing great music for years and are an indispensable part of our scene. Other groups are just starting to get out there--The Firecracker Jazz Band, The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn--and I bet there's a bunch you haven't come across before. How about Aunt Ruby's Sweet Jazz Babies from Austin, Texas, or the Hotlanta Dixieland Jazz Band, or the Deep Chicago Rhythm Owls? I'll be playing them all, along with lots of the original recordings and bands that inspire them.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think of the show.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Fizz setlist 01/05/2009

I had the early set at Fizz last night, the first Fizz since New Year's Eve. As usual, the sound system had been deviously meddled with, so that the music sounded like it was being played out of a ghetto blaster at the other end of a subway tunnel. I spent the first 45 minutes of my set trying to troubleshoot the problem, and eventually had to stop the music for a few minutes as the manager and I re-arranged cables. Turns out that the main input cables had been plugged into the amplifier for the sub-woofers. Once I got the technical stuff under control, this set went pretty smoothly.

If you want to hear more, I'm djing at Big City Swing's First Friday dance, this coming Friday.
  1. Ain't Misbehavin' - Kermit Ruffins - Putumayo Presents: Kermit Ruffins - 4:36 - 140
  2. Corner Pocket - Count Basie - April In Paris - 5:07 - 140
  3. Honey Pie - Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout Miss Thing! - 4:10 - 150
  4. Too Darn Hot - Ella Fitzgerald - Mack The Knife: The Complete Ella In Berlin - 3:16 - 160
  5. Thursday Evening Swing - Cats & The Fiddle - We Cats Will Swing For You - 2:28 - 170
  6. Baby, Won't You Please Come Home - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 2:54 - 164
  7. Viper Mad - Sidney Bechet - Sweet And Lowdown - 3:06 - 172
  8. I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Give Me Your Telephone Number - 3:59 - 160
  9. It's Only a Paper Moon - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman '45 & '47 - 2:48 - 132
  10. Ain't No Flies On Me - Roy Eldridge - Little Jazz Giant - 3:15 - 120
  11. Easy Does It - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 2:57 - 130
  12. Duke's Place - Ella Fitzgerald - Something To Live For (Disc 2) - 4:13 - 140
  13. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A letter - Jay McShann - For Dancers Only! (A Lindy Hop Compilation) - 3:55 - 146
  14. It's You Who Taught It To Me - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:42 - 160
  15. 9:20 Special - Engelbert Wröbel's Swing Society - Sophisticated Swing - 4:00 - 175
  16. Boo-Wah Boo-wah - Chu Berry - Classic Chu Berry Columbia And Victor Sessions - 2:52 - 190
  17. Jeep Jockey Jump - The Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra - Swingin' The Century - 2:51 - 209
  18. Wake Up Neesie - Kermit Ruffins - Big Easy - 5:50 - 132
  19. I Don't Care Who Knows - Catherine Russell - Sentimental Streak - 3:18 - 125
  20. Miss Brown To You - Carmen McRae - Carmen McRae Sings Lover Man - 2:29 - 124
  21. Lean Baby - Illinois Jacquet - Flying Home - 3:05 - 124
  22. On Revival Day - Lavern Baker - LaVern Sings Bessie Smith - 3:16 - 143
  23. Okay for Baby - Jimmie Lunceford - For Dancers Only - 3:13 - 145
  24. All Right, Okay, You Win - Count Basie - Count Basie at Newport - 2:45 - 145
  25. Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong - Ken Burns Jazz - 2:24 - 155
  26. Fibre de verre - Paris Combo - Attraction - 3:39 - 135
  27. Honeysuckle Rose - Anita O'Day - Anita O'Day's Finest Hour - 3:15 - 140
  28. Sent For You Yesterday And Here You Come Today - Benny Goodman - B.G. In Hi-Fi - 3:05 - 155 (birthday jam for Jenna, Audra, and Sidney)
  29. Solid As A Rock - Ella Fitzgerald - Swingin' Ella - 3:00 - 145