More from Hawkeye...

Saturday night at the Hawkeye Swing Festival brought the Hot Swing Combo, featuring many of the same players as the Twin Cities Hot Club as well as Patrick Harison on accordian and vocals. Plus my friend Jason Zabinski taking care of the band breaks. How's that for a line-up!

The only thing I had to take care of for the evening (besides all the ladies) was music for the finals of the Jack & Jill contest. Here's what I used:

1. Everything Is Jumpin' - Artie Shaw - The Very Best Of Artie Shaw - 5:09 - 165
2. Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea - Django Reinhardt - The Swing Sessions Volume 1 - 2:58 - 185
3. Harlem Air Shaft - Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra - Live In Swing City: Swingin' With Duke - 3:05 - 211

The first song was an all-skate for warm-up. Second song was for spotlights. There were six couples in the finals, and each went in for two spotlights (so a total of 6 choruses of music). The song wasn't quite long enough to cover everything, so I restarted it for the last couple of spotlights. (I decided that it would be better and fairer to keep the same tune going rather than give the last couples something totally new, that nobody else had the chance to dance to or to hear.) Then the third song was another all-skate. I picked this one to be more of a challenge--as far as I know that's what's typically done for Jack & Jills. The last song is meant to differentiate the couples, to see who can keep up, and give the judges the chance to make up their minds if they can't decide on their rankings. After the contest, a friend of mine (a very experienced dancer who's been around for a long time, and is like a parent for his city's scene) commented that he thought the third song was too demanding, given the dancers in the finals. Don't know if I agree with him or not. Once the footage is up on Youtube, I might change my opinion. If you were there, what'd you think?

As an aside, I've got to say that it's really nice to get feedback on my music choices, especially from someone who's opinion I respect so much. It's all to rare that I get any comments other than compliments (which are nice, but not all that informative), and occasional vague complaints or snarky remarks. Constructive criticism is really helpful.

Live blogging from Hawkeye Swing Fest!

I'm here with a bunch of my buddies in Iowa City, Iowa (Ziowa!) at the Hawkeye Swing Festival, deejaying and teaching. Last night's dance featured Mutiny in the Parlor, a local combo featuring piano, saxophone, guitar, and tuba, who played a lot of old Dixie tunes like Shine On, Harvest Moon. I talked with the band leader afterwards, turns out he's friends with the guys from Aunt Ruby's Sweet Jazz Babies, from Austin Texas (a band that I learned about from my set on Yehoodi Radio). Then late night featured the Twin Cities Hot Club. Oh my lord, are those guys amazing. Among the highlights of the late night was their sultry rendition of Summertime, featuring Gary Schulte on violin. If the crowd had actually been sitting down, we would have given them a standing ovation. As it was, we just clapped and hollered for about five minutes. Just mesmerizing.

So here's the play-by-play of my tracks. As Mutiny in the Parlor took their first break, I popped on a couple of songs:

1. Louisiana - Barney Kessel - To Swing Or Not To Swing - 3:56 - 140
2. I Sent For You Yesterday And Here You Come Today - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 3:09 - 160
3. Jungle Nights in Harlem - Randy Sandke And The Nagel Heyer Allstars - Uptown Lowdown - 3:37 - 180
4. Yes Indeed - Sy Oliver - Yes Indeed - 3:13 - 128
5. It's You Who Taught It To Me - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:42 - 160
6. Betcha Nickel - Ella Fitzgerald - My Heart Belongs to Daddy - 2:51 - 160
7. Okay for Baby - Jimmie Lunceford - For Dancers Only - 3:13 - 145

Then we had the prelims of the Jack and Jill. Each heat of contestants got a medium song, a slow song, and a faster song. I tried to balance the songs so that both heats got similar music at each speed. First heat:

1. For Dancers Only - John Lewis, The American Jazz Orchestra - The Music Of Jimmie Lunceford - 4:34 - 145
2. Keepin' Out A Mishif Now - Carling Family - 20th Jubilee - 3:32 - 120
3. Some Of These Days - Bob Wilber And The Tuxedo Big Band - More Never Recorded Arrangements For Benny Goodman - Vol. 2 - 2:58 - 190

Second heat:

1. Blues In Hoss' Flat - George Gee - Swingin - 5:15 - 148
2. Why Don't You Do Right (Peggy Lee, Vocals) - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 3:17 - 125
3. The Right Idea - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra - Swing Street Strut - 3:13 - 185

After the prelims, there was time for one more song:

1. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It - Papa Bues Viking Jazz Band - Live In Copenhagen - 3:36 - 135

Then Mutiny in the Parlor started up again. On their next break, I played these two tracks:

1. Sermonette - Earl Grant - Singin' & Swingin': The Best Of Earl Grant - 2:42 - 125
2. All Of Me - Helen O'Connell - Great Girl Singers, Sing 22 Original Hits - 2:09 - 145

Then we had the slow lindy/blues competition. This competition ran as a tap-in. It started out with about a dozen couples, dancing two songs in an all skate. During the second song, the judges selected their top 6 (I think it was 6?) couples, who went on to do a phrase battle to the third song:

1. Money Blues - Lavern Baker - Precious Memories / LaVern Sings Bessie Smith - 2:53 - 103
2. Southern sunset - Swing Parade South - Hommage a Sidney Bechet - 3:32 - 105
3. I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues - Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington - Compact Jazz - 4:42 - 85

After the comp, a couple more for social dancing before the Twin Cities Hot Club fired up.

1. Squeeze Me - Della Reese - Song Book, Vol. 3 - 2:37 - 90
2. Ain't Doin' Too Bad - Bobby "Blue" Bland - The Bobby "Blue" Bland Anthology (Disc 1) - 2:42 - 110

On the Hot Club's first set break, we launched right into the solo jazz/charleston contest. There was one all-skate for warm up, then three songs worth of phrase battling.

1. Stomp, Stomp - Cats & The Fiddle - We Cats Will Swing For You - 2:55 - 195
2. When You're Smiling - The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn - Forty Days and Forty Nights - 3:51 - 215
3. Shake That Thing - Vince Giordano's Nighthawks - The Aviator Music From The Motion Picture - 3:00 - 225
4. Sugar Foot Stomp - Fletcher Henderson - Yeah Man! - 3:11 - 255

Then a few songs for social dancing, before the Hot Club finished out the night.

1. Frankie and Johnnie - The Ink Spots - Voice Masters Vol. 2 - 2:56 - 130
2. Ja-Da - The Famous Castle Jazz Band - The Five Pennies - 3:07 - 150
3. Easy Does It - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 2:57 - 130

Fizz setlist 4/13/2009

I had the early set at Fizz last night. Pretty uneventful night, average-sized crowd, no particular shenanigans that I saw. This was the first time I've tried out JRiver Media Center for a whole 2-hour set. I love it. There were a few hiccups (including once when I just hit the stop button on the external feed, for no reason at all) but I think it is going to become my DJing software of choice. Plus, the software allows me spit out a nicely formatted playlist without any homemade scripts or other hassles. The only thing left to do is figure out how to get it to chart BPMs for me. Here's my set:

1. I Sent For You Yesterday And Here You Come Today - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 3:09 - 160
2. Okay for Baby - Jimmie Lunceford - For Dancers Only - 3:13 - 145
3. Boys from Harlem - Randy Sandke - Uptown Lowdown - 3:33 - 160
   
4. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean - Carrie Smith - When You're Down and Out - 3:35 - 160
5. Wang Wang Blues - Doc Severinsen - Swingin' The Blues - 3:40 - 154
6. Good Bait - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Swingmatism - 2:53 - 150
7. I'm Coming Virginia - Benny Goodman - The Yale University Archives, Volume 3: Big Band In Europe - 2:09 - 170
8. Blues For Stephanie - George Gee - Swingin - 4:15 - 144
9. Everything Is Jumpin' - Artie Shaw - The Very Best Of Artie Shaw - 5:09 - 165
10. Spreadin' Rhythm Around - Billie Holiday - Swing Brother Swing - 2:52 - 195
11. Hoodle-Addle - Ray McKinley Orchestra - You Came A Long Way From St. Louis - 3:21 - 140
12. Pink Champagne - Joe Liggins And The Honeydrippers - Joe Liggins And The Honeydrippers - 3:02 - 100
13. Let The Good Times Roll - Linda Hopkins - Wild Women Blues - 3:26 - 140
14. Moten Swing - Barney Kessel - To Swing Or Not To Swing - 3:57 - 160
15. Sugarfoot Rag - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Story Vol. 2 - 3:06 - 190
16. Pennies From Heaven - Count Basie - The Complete Decca Recordings - 3:02 - 178
17. The Spinach Song - Julia Lee & Her Boy Friends - Kansas City's First Lady Of The Blues - 2:59 - 160
18. Good Queen Bess - Johnny Hodges - Perfect Swing - 3:02 - 155
19. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It - Arne Bue Jensen, Bjarne Peter - Live In Copenhagen - 3:36 - 135
20. Ain't Misbehavin' - Sidney Bechet - Perdido Street Blues - 2:52 - 145 (I accidentally hit stop in the middle of this song.)
    
21. Jubilee Swing - Chick Webb - Strictly Jive - 3:12 - 185
22. Flat Foot Floogie - Louis Armstrong, The Mills Brothers - Swinging With The Mills Brothers - 3:02 - 185
23. Hey! Stop Kissin' My Sister - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:50 - 190
24. Easy Does It - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 2:57 - 130
25. Someday You'll Want Me To Want You - Catherine Russell - Cat - 3:13 - 145
26. All Of Me - Twin Cities Hot Club - Twin Cities Hot Club - 4:10 - 165
27. Somebody Loves Me - Stuff Smith - Cat On A Hot Fiddle - 3:42 - 150
28. Bei Mir Bist Du Schane - Janis Siegel - Swing Kids - 4:11 - 150
29. Carioca - Artie Shaw - Bal Mix from Mary Timmons - 4:07 - 215
30. Krum Elbow Blues - Mora's Modern Swingtet - 20th Century Closet - 2:45 - 155
31. Six Appeal - Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five - Crazy Rhythm - 3:29 - 135
32. Squeeze Me - Della Reese - Song Book, Vol. 3 - 2:37 - 90
33. Shine On Harvest Moon - Pete Fountain - Dixieland's Kings - 2:50 - 160
34. Smack Dab In The Middle - The Deep River Boys - London Harmony - 2:59 - 130
35. Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea - Django Reinhardt - The Swing Sessions Volume 1 - 2:58 - 185

Setlist from First Friday at Big City Swing

Last Friday was another jam-packed evening at Big City Swing--two lessons on two floors, and a good crowd that stuck around 'til we had to kick them out. Mary and I taught a hand-to-hand Charleston lesson (downstairs) while Jenna and Max taught an intro swing lesson (upstairs), both of which had probably close to 30 people.

Then starting at 8:45, my friend Thea did a set downstairs while Nathan spun upstairs. I mostly hung out downstairs, but checked in on the other floor once or twice. For whatever reason, the upstairs was consistently more crowded than downstairs (the opposite of what happened last month). I took over downstairs at 10:00, and it remained on the chill side until 11:00 when upstairs closed for the evening and everyone trooped back down and the room got crowded again.

As far as my set, I'd say it wasn't my best. My djing program, Disco XT, was acting up on my new laptop--it clunked out on my about 15 minutes in, so I had to finish the night in iTunes, flying blind without preview capability. (Like I mentioned in the last post, more thoughts on DJ software coming up soon.) I think I had a hard time finding the right vibe for the room, and I also relied too much on Dixie/New Orleans-sounding music, which is really becoming my crutch. Here's the setlist:

1. Cabaret - Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong - 3:59 - 155
2. Gotta Be This Or That - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman '45 & '47 - 3:10 - 140
3. All Of Me - Della Reese - Cocktail Classics - 2:01 - 160
   (Disco XT freezes on me.)
   
4. Could'Ja - Nat King Cole - The Magic of Nat King Cole - 3:01 - 110
   (Next song was by request, which I am usually happy to take, but this song sure was LOOOONG....)
   
5. Frim Fram Sauce - Diana Krall - All For You: A Dedication To The Nat King Cole Trio - 5:00 - 115
6. I Got an Uncle In Harlem - Hot Lips Page - Legends of Harlem - 3:09 - 145
   (The last song didn't take, and the next one had a mislabeled bpm. Since I couldn't preview, I mistook it for a different, slower track. Whoops. Jenna made me dance with her just so that the floor wouldn't be totally empty.)
   
7. Oh Lady Be Good - Stuff Smith Quartet - Hot Stuff - 4:15 - 200
8. My Bucket's Got a Hole In It - Louis Armstrong - An Evening With Louis Armstrong And His All Stars - 4:24 - 145
9. It's You Who Taught It To Me - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:42 - 160
   (Someone invariably requests a shim-sham at First Fridays. Which I think is cool.)
   
10. Tain't What You Do - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:06 - 160
11. Hoodle-Addle - Ray McKinley Orchestra - You Came A Long Way From St. Louis - 3:21 - 140
12. Louisiana - Barney Kessel - To Swing Or Not To Swing - 3:56 - 140
13. Way Down Yonder In New Orleans - Bill Coleman - Bill Coleman In Paris 1936-1938 - 3:17 - 175
14. A Viper's Moan - Willie Bryant And His Orchestra - 1935-1936 - 3:25 - 150
15. Easy Does It - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 2:57 - 130
16. At Long Last Love - Bill Henderson - Bill Henderson With the Oscar Peterson Trio - 2:30 - 130
17. Some of These Days - Billie & DeDe Pierce - Gulf Coast Blues - 2:38 - 150
18. Georgia Grind - Louis Armstrong - Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography Disc 1 - 3:19 - 115
    (The upstairs crowd started coming in during Georgia Grind.)
    
19. Take It Easy Greasy No. 2 - Lil Johnson - Lil Johnson & Barrelhouse Annie Vol. 3 1937 - 2:58 - 145
20. Perdido Street Blues - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 - 3:08 - 145
21. Gang Busters - Cats & The Fiddle - We Cats Will Swing For You - 3:06 - 185
22. Sugar Blues - Clarence Williams - Boogie Woogie Blues - 3:40 - 135
    (Haven't played Sugar Blues in a while--people seemed to be pretty into it.)
    
23. Old Mother Hubbard - Ella Fitzgerald - Swingin' Ella - 2:44 - 145
24. For Dancers Only - John Lewis, The American Jazz Orchestra - The Music Of Jimmie Lunceford - 4:34 - 145
25. I'm Coming Virginia - Benny Goodman - The Yale University Archives, Volume 3: Big Band In Europe - 2:09 - 170
26. Who Walks In When I Walk Out? with Ella Fitzgerald - Louis Armstrong - The Wonderful Duets - 2:21 - 135
27. Peckin' - Duke Ellington - The Duke's Men: The Small Groups, Vol. 1 - 3:09 - 160
28. A Smo-o-oth One - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 3:16 - 130
29. Careless Love - The Storyville Jassband - Storyville Jubilee - 3:29 - 100
30. San Francisco Bay Blues - Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band - Blues Over Bodega - 3:41 - 160
    (Next one was for Max.)
    
31. Jazz Battle - Jabbo Smith - 1929 - The Complete Set - 2:43 - 250
32. Wake Up Neesie - Kermit Ruffins - Big Easy - 5:50 - 130
33. Blues For Ella - Thilo Berg Big Band and Barbara Morrison - Blues For Ella -Live- - 4:35 - 110
    (I thought that ending the night on a slow, groovy note would be appreciated--thinking of Monday Night Practices in Boston, where the last song was ALWAYS Lou Rawls...)
    
34. St. James Infirmary - Lou Rawls - Lou Rawls: Live! - 4:34 - 115
    (But my hunch was wrong. People danced to St. James Infirmary, but they seemed more interested in the Fats Waller that was the really last song of the night.)
    
35. Twenty-Four Robbers - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:45 - 190
    (Followed by please-go-home music.)
    
36. Rollout (My Business) - Ludacris - Word of Mouf - 4:56
37. Mami Me Gusto - Todos Estrellas - Putumayo Presents: Cuba - 4:35

New toys

I've been thinking of getting a new laptop for DJing for a while now. After the Battle of the Bands two weeks ago, my 5 year old Mac powerbook had a little health scare, so I dove in and bought a new setup. Turns out that I jumped the gun, because the powerbook works just fine again, but I still have the feeling that the powerbook is reaching the end of its usable life, and I'd rather not have it die on me just before (or during) a gig.

So my new toy (currently writing to you on its "93% full size" keyboard) is a Samsung NC-10 netbook with 160 gig hard drive and (upgraded) 2 gig RAM. Along with it, I snagged a BlueTooth laser mouse from Logitech, a Creative X-Mod external sound card, and a Targus netbook case.

It's not the speediest computer I've ever used, but I knew that going in. It has been working just fine for DJing, and I LOVE how light and portable it is. I can get all the equipment I need into the carrying case, which is about the size of a big textbook. I still need to add a couple more things (appropriate audio cables, a dedicated pair of headphones, and a couple of CDs for emergency backup) but then I'll have a complete set of DJ tools all packed in a little bag.

All in all, quite happy with the hardware. Software is another matter though, which I'll explain later.