Fizz setlist 9/8/2008

This set ran from about 9:00 to 11:10 p.m. or so on 9/8/2008. I got quite a few of compliments on it. Tessa, who runs Fizz, said, "You played a lot of complex music, but it kept people on the floor." What did you think? Leave a comment if you were there.

I made use of some new eMusic finds in this set (fans of Hey Mr. Jesse will recognize a few tracks). I tried to balance that out as much as possible by using very familiar songs, but I think I may have still played too much new music for one night. On the whole the set was a bit scatter-brained, jumping around stylistically (you'll see that in some of the transitions). The flip-side of that is that I accomplished one of the things I always try to do as a DJ, which is to play a wide variety of sounds, styles, and tempos.

1. Dipsy Doodle - Larry Clinton & His Orchestra - G.I. Jukebox, Original Hits from the Swing Era - 3:03
   (At the start there was only one person there besides me. Fizz can be really unpredictable in that respect. I played a few random tracks from my collection.)
   
2. Mackie Messer - 8 To The Bar - Swingin It - 4:17
3. That Ain't Right - Fats Waller - Last Testament: His Final Recordings 9-23-43 - 2:59
   (I love this song, but I don't know if I would spin it at a dance. I figured I would test it out on an empty room. Three more people arrive.)
   
4. Sophisticated Swing - Engelbert Wröbel's Swing Society - Sophisticated Swing - 3:46
5. My Blue Heaven - Stuff Smith Quartet - Swingin' Stuff - 3:46
   (There's a few people sitting at the tables, and they dance during the next song.)
   
6. It's You Who Taught It To Me - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:42
7. I'm Coming Virginia - Artie Shaw - Artie Shaw, King Of The Clarinet - 2:27
   (I could have skipped that last one. The next two pull people away from the tables to start dancing in earnest.)
   
8. Wake Up Neesie - Kermit Ruffins - Big Easy - 5:50
9. Don't You Miss Your Baby - Jimmy Witherspoon - Jimmy Witherspoon & Panama Francis' Savoy Sultans - 3:55
   
10. One 0'clock Jump - Oscar Peterson - Oscar Peterson Plays Count Basie - 5:52
    (The OP is a bit too chill for the moment (also on the long side)--I'm afraid I'm losing people to their drinks again. Also, more people are flowing in at this point, so I would rather have an up-beat vibe. The next song definitely works for that.)
    
11. Jambalaya Strut - Dr. Michael White - Dancing In The Sky - 3:46
    (I thought this transition would work really well, but it flopped. Listening to it again, I don't really know what I was thinking.)
    
12. All Of Me - Della Reese - Cocktail Classics - 2:01
    (To make up for it, pull out an old war-horse. The next seven songs are a steady build that works really well.)
    
13. All Right, Okay, You Win - Count Basie - Count Basie at Newport - 2:45
14. Shout, Sister, Shout! - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - The Gospel of the Blues - 2:41
    (My wife loves Shout Sister Shout, I just learned.)
    
15. Loose Wig - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 2: Flying Home - 3:04
16. Savoy - Lucky Millinder - An Anthology Of Big Band Swing 1930-1955 - 3:04
    (People seemed to dig the last track, which surprised me because in the past it has seemed to thin out the floor. I think to myself, okay should I relax the tempo a little after this one? Naahh...)
    
17. Thursday Evening Swing - Cats & The Fiddle - We Cats Will Swing For You - 2:28
18. I Love Jazz - Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong - 4:39
    (I Love Jazz has the floor packed. The next song is a peak, at 185 bpm. It seemed to thin out the floor.)
    
19. Flying Home - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra - The Fabulous Swing Collection - 2:53
    (In retrospect, I might have been able to push the tempo for one song further.)
    
20. Hoodle-Addle - Ray McKinley Orchestra - You Came A Long Way From St. Louis - 3:21
    (The next three are a little set of nice, groovy numbers, which I think went over well.)
    
21. Bye Bye Baby, Bye Bye - Barbara Morrison - Johnny Otis Presents Barbara Morrison - 3:16
22. Country Man - Carrie Smith - When You're Down and Out - 3:46
23. Like It Is - Erroll Garner - That's My Kick & Gemini - 2:44
24. Smack Dab In The Middle - The Deep River Boys - London Harmony - 2:59
    (During Smack Dab I decide I want to play Honeysuckle Rose, which has a very different feel to it. I thought I transitioned well: male group vocal to male group vocal featuring a Stuff Smith violin solo....)
    
25. On the Sunny Side of the Street - Dizzy Gillespie - The Champ - 3:09
    (...and on to another tune that features a prominent violin.)
    
26. Honeysuckle Rose - Twin Cities Hot Club - Twin Cities Hot Club - 4:47
    (I'm regretting playing that Stuff Smith version of My Blue Heaven earlier. It would have been good to play here instead. I don't like the transition to the next song very much--it doesn't make sense.)
    
27. It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing - Cootie Williams - Do Nothing 'Till You Hear From Me - 3:45
    (For the next track, I was looking for this groovy Ellington version of Harlem Airshaft, but I couldn't find it. I pull out The Minor Goes Muggin' instead, which kind of kills the floor because it's so frantic.)
    
28. The Minor Goes Muggin' - Duke Ellington - The Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings - 3:00
    (Since the floor has thinned, I try to pull everyone back on with a drastic drop in tempo (from 180 to 125) and a change in style.)
    
29. I Don't Care Who Knows - Catherine Russell - Sentimental Streak - 3:18
30. Shake That Thing - Wynonie Harris - Risque Blues - It Ain't the Meat - 2:17
31. Who Walks In When I Walk Out? with Ella Fitzgerald - Louis Armstrong - The Wonderful Duets - 2:21
32. At Long Last Love - Bill Henderson - Bill Henderson With the Oscar Peterson Trio - 2:30
    (The next song is slow, about 100 bpm, and long but has great, really unique energy. I knew a the start of the night that I wanted to feature it, and I figured now was a good time--just before 11 o'clock. The floor was full for it.)
    
33. Song With No Words - Asylum Street Spankers - Strawberry - 5:43
    (The next song was a good transition. A friend of mine's favorite.)
    
34. Everybody Loves My Baby - Sippie Wallace - Sippie - 3:11
    (I didn't know if it would work to throw the next one in there, but I figured I could experiment a little bit at the very end of my set. The previous song is 145, the next is 215, but has a relaxed feel.)
    
35. Forty Days & Forty Nights - The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn - Forty Days and Forty Nights - 2:51
36. Tutti Frutti - Slim Gaillard - 1938-46 - 2:38
    (The previous song and the next song are pretty chill. In retrospect, I should have probably picked punchier stuff because this time of night (just after 11 p.m.) is a threshold for some people--do I stay or do I leave now?)
    
37. All That Meat And No Potatoes - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:47
    (A guaranteed crowd-pleaser to end the set.)
    
38. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me - Sidney Bechet - The Fabulous Sidney Bechet - 5:43