Fizz setlist 8/10/2009

Good night at Fizz last night in terms of attendance and overall vibe, though I wasn't real thrilled about how my set went. I had two problems. First was sound issues--everything sounded kind of off and a few tracks were really poor, hard to even hear the drum line--and the likely cause of the problem didn't occur to me until the night was over. (I think it was probably that the 12 band equalizer on the sound board in the booth was set funny. Should have thought of that earlier--if I'd had the early set, I would have caught it when I was setting up.)

The other problem was more of a mental block. I just couldn't get out ahead of my set, and often ended up choosing the next song at the very last second, just as the previous one ended. Because of this, I ended up kind of stuck in a narrow range of tempos and also chose a couple songs that made me go "ugh." For some stretches of the set, I'm pretty happy about the flow (for instance 9 through 12, 20 through 24), but on the whole it could have been better.

Here's a bpm sparkline and frequency distribution. And here's the setlist:

1. Bye Bye Baby, Bye Bye - Barbara Morrison - Johnny Otis Presents Barbara Morrison - 3:16 - 135 (This was a birthday jam for two ladies, plus a going-away jam for our friend Andrea.)
   
2. Splanky - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Live at the Legion - 4:31 - 135 (Right after 11 p.m., with these next couple songs I was trying to keep the tempos moderate but build up the energy, to encourage people to stay.)
3. Down south camp meeting - Svend Asmussen & Jacob Fischer - Still Fiddling - 3:41 - 145
4. Oo Poppa Do - Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - One Hour Mama - 3:13 - 160 (Bit of a throwback tune--it crossed my mind because there were a couple of San Francisco dancers in the house.)
5. Onion - Louis Jordan - Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five, 1938-1940 - 2:55 - 170 (Felt like things were peaking here, so I chilled out for the next one.)
6. But Not For Me - Gloria Lynne - Hits Anthology - 2:36 - 120
   
7. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Clarence Gatemouth Brown - American Music Texas Style - 4:45 - 130 (Didn't like this choice.)
8. Come On Over To My House - Jay McShann - Jumpin' The Blues - 2:52 - 145
9. Ballin' The Jack - Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band - This Kid's The Greatest! - 3:15 - 145 (This one seemed to go over well--better than I anticipated--and I stick with this sort of old, loose-sounding style for the next 3 songs.)
10. South - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Live at the Legion - 3:17 - 182
11. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It - Papa Bues Viking Jazzband - Live In Copenhagen - 3:36 - 135 (This track always goes over well. It can add a big jolt of energy to a room. From a Louis Armstrong imitator, I segue into the real thing...)
12. Perdido Street Blues - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 - 3:08 - 145
13. Bar Fly Blues - Jay McShann - Jumpin' The Blues - 2:32 - 116 (This one was too mellow for the moment.)
14. Easy Does It - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 2:57 - 130
15. Somebody Loves Me - Stuff Smith - Cat On A Hot Fiddle - 3:42 - 150 (The sound problems were particularly pronounced on this track. Stupid JRiver also froze on me, so I launched Winamp real quick...the next one was the first song in the Winamp playlist, so that's what I played.)
16. Don't You Miss Your Baby - Jimmy Witherspoon - Jimmy Witherspoon & Panama Francis' Savoy Sultans - 3:55 - 140
17. My First Impression of You - Chu Berry - Classic Chu Berry Columbia and Victor Sessions - 2:52 - 145
18. Someday You'll Want Me To Want You - Catherine Russell - Cat - 3:13 - 145 (Didn't like how this worked--I was trying to get away from the jazz violin, but forgot that this track has one.)
19. Six Appeal - Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five - Crazy Rhythm - 3:29 - 135
20. Confessin' The Blues - Carrie Smith - When You're Down and Out - 4:36 - 120
21. Frankie and Johnnie - The Ink Spots - Voice Masters Vol. 2 - 2:56 - 130 (This leads into two more tunes with harmonizing male vocals.)
22. Soothe Me - The Simms Twins - Sam Cooke's SAR Records Story: 1959 - 1965 - 2:17 - 110
23. Smack Dab In The Middle - The Deep River Boys - London Harmony - 2:59 - 130
24. Shiny Stockings - Ella Fitzgerald & Count Basie - Ella And Basie! - 3:34 - 120 (This track is a pain because it starts really soft and then gets really loud, with blaring horn shouts, so you have to fiddle with the volume the whole time.)
25. Perdido - Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band - 3:13 - 130
26. Ain’t Misbehavin’ - Kay Starr - Kay Starr: the Best of The Standard Transcriptions - 2:04 - 139 (Whoops this one has a fiddle too. Should have used a big band vocal here, rather than a small group.)
27. Le Jazz Hot - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 2:44 - 140
28. T'aint No Use - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 2:45 - 155
29. Evenin' - Count Basie - Count Basie at Newport - 3:32 - 165 (The mix was horrible on this track, you could barely hear the vocal.)
30. Shotgun Boogie - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 2:55 - 165
31. Sugar In My Bowl - Miss Tess - When Tomorrow Comes - 3:15 - 105
32. Trombone Butter - Dinah Washington - Dinah Washington Sings Bessie Smith - 3:34 - 100 (I wanted to play one more slower/blues-inflected tune. People danced to this one, but it would have been better to pick something that sounded less similar to the previous tune.)
33. Hold It Right There - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson - Redux - 5:27 - 130 (Mix was pretty bad on this track too.)
    
34. Sure, Had A Wonderful Time - Louis Jordan - Louis Jordan And His Tympani Five, Volume 1 - 3:00 - 135
35. My Melancholy Baby - Honeysucklerose - Hep Cat's Best Of Modern Swing - 3:37 - 131 (Didn't like this choice. Too flat.)
36. Life Begins When You're In Love - Billie Holiday - Lady Day: The Master Takes And Singles - 3:02 - 180 (Good choice for a final song, if I do say so myself. Janky, musical, and a vocal that makes you smile.)