Fizz setlist 2/14/2011

I had a very, very subtle theme running through my set last night. See if you can pick it out. It may be so obscure (and such a unique idea!) that nobody will be able to spot it. If you can't figure it out after puzzling for an hour or so, feel free to leave a comment and maybe I'll give you a hint.

The night got off to a slow start, and it was never very crowded. I took the chance to play a wide range of stuff (on the secret, most original theme, you'll recall), some of which was pretty far outside my box--mostly towards the groovy end. Regular readers will see what I mean. (WTDianaKrall James?!?!) Here's the setlist (BPM sparkline and freq. dist.):

1. Happy Valentine's Day - Outkast - The Love Below - 5:23 - 100 (This was before anyone had arrived, I promise.)
2. You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me - Jeff Healey - Adventures In Jazzland - 5:03 - 120
3. I Can't Give You Anything But Love - The Mills Brothers - Chronological Vol. 2 - 2:51 - 145
4. The Right Somebody To Love - Willie Bryant And His Orchestra - 1935-1936 - 3:14 - 195
5. Somebody Loves Me - Stuff Smith - Cat On A Hot Fiddle - 3:42 - 150
6. Hep Cat's Love Song - Cab Calloway - Are You Hep To The Jive? - 3:03 - 160
7. Easy Does It ['40] - Count Basie - America's #1 Band - 3:29 - 145
8. I Love The Life I Live - Royal Crown Revue - Mugzy's Move - 3:37 - 115 (This one provoked shock, it was so out of character for me.)
9. Cement Mixer - Don Byas - Jazz In Paris: Bebop - 2:54 - 135
10. Baby, What's The Matter With You? - Roy Eldridge Quintet - Little Jazz Giant - 3:20 - 140
11. It's De-Lovely - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Give Me Your Telephone Number - 4:04 - 150
12. Love Me or Leave Me - Banu Gibson - Let Yourself Go - 3:07 - 165
13. My Baby Just Cares For Me - Katharine Whalen - Jazz Squad - 2:48 - 130
14. Bye Bye Baby, Bye Bye - Barbara Morrison - Johnny Otis Presents Barbara Morrison - 3:16 - 135
15. Oke-She-Moke-She-Pop - Big Joe Turner - Things That I Used To Do - 4:01 - 125
16. Don't Get Around Much Any More - Gordon Webster - Live In Philadelphia - 4:14 - 145
17. Savoy Blues - The Wolverines Jazz Band Of Bern - Wolverines Of Bern At 35 - 3:56 - 140
18. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen - Gordon Webster - Live In Philadelphia - 5:16 - 150
19. Fibre de verre - Paris Combo - Attraction - 3:39 - 135
20. All Of Me - Twin Cities Hot Club - Twin Cities Hot Club - 4:10 - 165
21. You Can Have My Husband - Tuba Skinny - Six Feet Down - 3:48 - 140
22. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me - Sidney Bechet - The Fabulous Sidney Bechet - 5:43 - 145 (Evidently this is a "James song.")
23. Put A Lid On It - Davina & The Vagabonds - Live @ The Times - 3:13 - 170
24. L.O.V.E. - Bria Skonberg - Fresh - 2:34 - 150
25. The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra - The Very Good Years - 3:23 - 130
26. Alright, Okay, You Win - John Dokes - John Dokes Sings, George Gee Swings - 2:56 - 140
27. Are You All Reet? - Chu Berry - Classic Chu Berry Columbia And Victor Sessions - 3:09 - 155
28. Loveless Love - Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy - 4:30 - 145
29. Chant Of The Groove - Fats Waller - Fats Waller 1941 - 3:05 - 185
30. Sing On (Odessa Sing On) - Gaucho - Pearl - 5:07 - 135 (Featuring Tamar Korn of the Cangelosi Cards on vocals. Bob, here's a link to emusic.)
31. Getting Myself Ready For You - Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys - Ready For You - 2:59 - 160
32. Hit That Jive Jack - The Four Charms - Flatland Boogie - 3:13 - 195
33. When You're Smiling - The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn - Forty Days and Forty Nights - 3:51 - 215
34. Let's Fall In Love - Diana Krall - When I Look In Your Eyes - 4:19 - 125

Setlist from First Friday (a bit late)

A bit late in getting this set posted (sorry to any of you who were obsessively clicking "refresh" and wondering when it would appear). It was a fun night, on the relaxing side of things because there was only one floor going. I had the early set, directly after teaching an intro lesson. Since most of the crowd for the first hour had been there for the lesson--brand-spankin'-new dancers--I played quite a few "cliche" tunes. They seemed to go over well. People applauded after "In the Mood." Here's my set (bpm sparkline and freq. dist.):

1. Jump Jive An' Wail - The Brian Setzer Orchestra - The Dirty Boogie - 2:53 - 200
2. Oo Poppa Do - Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - One Hour Mama - 3:13 - 160
3. Who Ya Hunchin'? - Chick Webb - Jazz After Hours - 2:55 - 175
4. Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong - Ken Burns Jazz - 2:24 - 155
5. I'm Coming Virginia - Benny Goodman - The Yale University Archives, Volume 3 - 2:09 - 170
6. A Viper's Moan - Willie Bryant And His Orchestra - 1935-1936 - 3:25 - 150
7. My Blue Heaven - The Cangelosi Cards - Clinton Street Recordings, I - 4:11 - 145
8. I'm Alone Because I Love You - The Palmetto Bug Stompers - Live @ D.B.A. - 3:29 - 150
9. Let's Misbehave - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - You Do Something To Me - 2:52 - 188
10. In the Mood - Glenn Miller - Best of the Lost Recordings & The Secret Broadcasts - 3:15 - 180
11. Tain't What You Do - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:06 - 160
12. All Right, Okay, You Win - Joe Williams - The Definitive Joe Williams - 3:05 - 132
13. Old Mother Hubbard - Ella Fitzgerald - Swingin' Ella - 2:44 - 145
14. Beaver Junction - Count Basie - America's #1 Band - 2:57 - 158
15. The Spinach Song - Julia Lee & Her Boy Friends - Kansas City's First Lady Of The Blues - 2:59 - 160
16. Behave Yourself - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - Small Group Recordings Vol. 3 - 3:00 - 135
17. Stuffy - Jonathan Stout & His Campus Five - Jammin' the Blues - 3:46 - 150
18. I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats - 3:13 - 160
19. Gang Busters - Cats & The Fiddle - We Cats Will Swing For You - 3:06 - 185
20. Somebody Loves Me - Stuff Smith - Cat On A Hot Fiddle - 3:42 - 150
21. Shotgun Boogie - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 2:55 - 165
22. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It - Papa Bues Viking Jazzband - Live In Copenhagen - 3:36 - 135
23. San Francisco Bay Blues - Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band - Blues Over Bodega - 3:41 - 160
24. Shake That Thing - The Smoking Time Jazz Club - Quarter Note Vol. 1 - 4:25 - 125
25. Joshua Fit the Battle - Gordon Webster - Live In Philadelphia - 3:57 - 180

Using JRiver as a DJ platform

For most of my DJ gigs, I use the program JRiver Media Center. I've been fairly happy with it, but there's definitely an initial investment in getting it set up how you like it. I recently upgraded to version 15, and had to fiddle for a quite a while with all the settings. Rather than allowing you to suffer through the same headache, I thought I'd record my process so you can just follow along. In what follows, I make a couple of assumptions about your equipment and how you're going to use MC. Specifically:

• Since I manage my library using iTunes (I know, I know, not hip...), the steps below assume that you do the same.
• I assume that you'll want to take advantage of MC's zones feature, so that you can preview in your headphones while simultaneously sending different audio to an external sound card. To do this, you'll obviously need to have an external card. Here's a cheap one; I'll leave it to you to research fancier gadgets if you are so inclined.

My friends Doug and Thea, both of whom are also MC jockies, were kind enough to look over this post and share some tips of their own. Thanks to them. Now without further ado...

Pusto's handy guide
to setting up JRiver Media Center (MC) for Swing DJing

1. Install the program. (You can try it free for 30 days.)
2. In order to get all your files from iTunes into MediaCenter's database, you'll need to use MC's import tool. Go to Tools -> Import... and point it towards the folder(s) where your music lives. If you have thousands of songs, the import process will take a LONG time. In the mean time, you can continue with the steps below.
   
3. In order to get MC to play Apple's file formats (.aac and .m4a), you'll need to get the right audio codec. I recommend installing the Combined Community Codec Pack. Be sure to read the instructions first. Also, the JRiver wiki states that you should uncheck the option to install the FLV splitter.
4. In MC, go to Tools -> Options -> File types. Select "AAC audio." In the panel below, set the playback method to "JRiver audio engine (using DirectShow filter)."
5. Go to Tools -> Options -> Audio. Under "Track Change," set "switch tracks" to your prefered method. I use "Standard (gapped) - 2 seconds." (Unlike nightclub DJs, most swing DJs do not use crossfades between tracks.)
6. Go to Tools -> Options -> General. Under "Behavior," set "Double Click" to "Add to Playing Now (to end)"; set "Play button," to "Play Playing Now"; and uncheck "Start playing when files added to playing now."
7. Go to Player -> Zones -> Add zone.
8. Close MC, plug in your external sound card, reopen MC. Go to Player -> Zones -> Zone 2, then select Player -> playback options -> Audio. Under "Audio Options," choose "Output mode settings." Change the device to your external sound card.
9. In the upper left-hand corner of MC, click on the volume button. Be sure "Internal volume" is checked.
10. Go to Player -> Zones -> Zone 1 (or hit control-T), then select Player -> playback options -> Audio. Under "Audio Options," choose "Output mode settings." Change the device to your computer's internal audio device.
11. In the upper left-hand corner of MC, click on the volume button. Be sure "Internal volume" is checked (for zone 1). You now have two independent zones, each of which can play a different playlist.
12. Configure the way that you view files and your "Playing now" playlist. Go to View -> Split view and choose "Show 2 views." Depending on your laptop, you may want to choose the split views to be in rows or columns. (I use rows, since I don't have a lot of screen real estate on my netbook.)
13. Configure the track info display. Right-click on the display (top-center) and choose "Customize display." Select the fields you'd like displayed, for instance:
    Title: [Name] - [Artist] - [Album]
    Status: [Elapsed Time] // [Total Time] - [BPM] BPM [PN Position] of [PN Tracks] - [Zone]
14. If you like, import your playlists from iTunes. I think you have to export them one at a time, but you can import them into MC all at once.
15. Set some column presets. I use two: one for previewing while I'm spinning, the other for exporting my setlists (so that I can post them here). To set up a column preset, select a playlist. Right-click on one of the column headings (such as "Artist" or "Album"). Check the columns that you want to be visible, uncheck the ones you don't. Arrange the columns in the order you like. When you've got it how you like it, right-click on a column heading again. Go to Preset -> Save and give it a name.
    
16. If you are interested in exporting your playlists to a blog and creating nerdy little charts, see this post for my (admittedly kludgy) method.

Please leave a comment and let me know how this worked for you!