Hawkeye Swing Festival, 4/9/2010

This past weekend I had the chance to DJ, teach (with Jenna), and dance myself silly at the Hawkeye Swing Festival in Iowa City, IA. It was a fantastic time, particularly due to the quality of the live music that was featured: Robert Bell and the Hot Swing Combo (who were captivating as always), Davina & the Vagabonds (first time I've heard them...more on that in another post), and the Solomon Douglas Swingtet. Since my DJ responsibilities were limited to band breaks and the competitions, I had plenty of time to dance, which was great. Below is a recap of the music I played on the band breaks and for the competitions.

Friday evening I played these songs during the first band break:

• Pick-a-Rib - The Bob Wilber & Dany Doritz Quintet - Memories of you : Lionel and Benny - 3:03 - 155
• You Can Stay But That Jive's Got To Go - Dusty Brooks - Dusty Brooks - Swing Time Jive - 2:38 - 155
• Honeysuckle Rose - Django Reinhardt - The Swing Sessions Volume 1 - 2:49 - 180
• Hey! Stop Kissin' My Sister - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:50 - 190
• Ain't Misbehavin' - Sidney Bechet - Perdido Street Blues - 2:52 - 145
• I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats - 4:28 - 162

Following that, we ran the Jack & Jill prelimary round. Just like last year, I tried to balance the tune selections across the two heats of dancers, playing about a minute and a half each of a medium, slow, and faster tune. Heat 1:

• Sent For You Yesterday And Here You Come Today - Benny Goodman - B.G. In Hi-Fi - 3:05 - 155
• Ballin' The Jack - Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band - This Kid's The Greatest! - 3:15 - 145
• Back Bay Shuffle - Artie Shaw - His First Three Bands: 1936-1940 - 3:15 - 190

Heat 2:

• Two O'Clock Jump - Harry James - Trumpet Blues: The Best Of Harry James - 3:00 - 155
• Four or Five Times - Joe Williams - For Dancers Only! - 4:48 - 135
• Boo-Wah Boo-Wah - Cab Calloway - Are You Hep To The Jive? - 2:49 - 190

During the second band break, there was only time for two tracks of social dancing...

• Betcha Nickel - Ella Fitzgerald - My Heart Belongs to Daddy - 2:51 - 160
• Little Jazz - Roy Eldridge - Little Jazz Giant - 3:06 - 191

...before the finals of the Jack & Jill. The first song was an all-skate warm-up, the second song was for the spotlight:

• It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 1: Hot Mallets - 3:15 - 180
• Stitches - Panama Francis & his Savoy Sultans - Gettin' in the groove (Paris 1971) - 2:41 - 205

I had to re-start "Stitches" once since it is only 4 choruses long (there were five couples in the finals, times two spotlights each, times eight 8-counts per spotlight makes 80 8-counts or 5 choruses). Picking spot-light songs is tricky--it's hard to anticipate what music will be best, since you don't know what sort of dancers will be in the finals until a couple minutes beforehand. I've found that it's definitely helpful to note down the length (in choruses) and phrasing of any songs you are considering for a spotlight competition. More on that later as well.

After the band's second set, I played a few more songs for social dancing:

• My Blue Heaven - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Songs of New Orleans - 5:21 - 148
• Perdido Street Blues - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 - 3:08 - 145
• Ya Gotta See Baby Tonight - Louis Prima - Louis Prima et son orchestre : 1945 - 2:24 - 145
• Georgia Grind - Louis Armstrong - Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography - 3:19 - 115
• 'Tain't No Use - Maxine Sullivan - The Lady's In Love With You - 3:48 - 125

At 1 in the morning, we ran the "Slow-Lindy/Blues" strictly competition. Here are the songs from the preliminary round:

• Evil Gal Blues - Aretha Franklin - Aretha Sings The Blues - 2:43 - 118
• Soothe Me - The Simms Twins - Sam Cooke's SAR Records Story: 1959 - 1965 (Disc 2) - 2:17 - 110
• Don't Go No Further - Koko Taylor - Old School - 3:39 - 100

And the finals:

• My Daddy Rocks Me - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman et son orchestre: 1945 Vol.2 - 2:48 - 100
• It Takes Two To Tango - Lester Young - Lester Young : 1951-1952 - 3:14 - 100
• Blooz ... First Thaingh 'Dis Moanin' - Wycliffe Gordon - Originals Only - 5:23 - 85

Followed by one last tune for general dancing (I wanted to use this one in the slow contest, but decided against it because mid-way through the song, the tempo doubles):

• Minnie the Moocher - Duke Ellington - Recollections Of The Big Band Era - 2:46 - 100