First Friday at Big City Swing 6/4/2010

Here's my setlist from last night at Big City Swing. I DJ'ed on the first floor for the entire evening (3+ hours, which I usually split with one other DJ). It was a very humid, warm evening, so I had to experiment a bit to see what sort of tempos people felt up for. As you'll see from the BPM charts, I mostly kept things between 120 and 160 bpm, because of the temperature and what I could gather about the dancers' tastes. Mid-way through the evening, a group from one of Big City's performance class debuted the choreography that they'd been learning, which was cool to see.

Most of the time I enjoy going for longer sets because it lets me pace and plan things a little bit more than an hour or hour-and-a-half set would. But this evening was a little bit of a challenge because everyone went upstairs (for an encore performance of the choreography) at one point, so the whole floor cleared out. And then folks didn't trickle back in until a half hour later, which made for an odd dynamic. As people started coming back from upstairs, I tried to play some more familiar music with a good vibe to it, so that they'd come back in instead of heading out for the evening.

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

1. All Right, Okay, You Win - Count Basie - Count Basie at Newport - 2:45 - 145
2. Opus One - Tommy Dorsey - The Fabulous Swing Collection - 2:58 - 165
3. Mood Hollywood - Don Neely's Royal Society Jazz Orchestra - Radio Rhythm - 3:31 - 170
4. Rose Room - Artie Shaw - King Of The Clarinet - 2:43 - 155
5. My Baby's Sweet - Stompy Jones - The Swing Session - 3:08 - 155
6. Vine Street Boogie - Jay McShann - Jumpin' The Blues - 2:37 - 155
7. Hey, Ba-Ba-Re-Bop - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 3: Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop - 3:21 - 140
8. Honey Pie - Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout Miss Thing! - 4:10 - 150
9. Deed I Do - Katharine Whalen - Jazz Squad - 2:42 - 170
10. It's You Who Taught It To Me - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:42 - 160
11. Flying Home - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra - The Fabulous Swing Collection - 2:54 - 185
12. Le Jazz Hot - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 2:44 - 140
13. Bill Bailey - Ella Fitzgerald - Something To Live For - 3:26 - 132
14. Someday You'll Want Me To Want You - Catherine Russell - Cat - 3:13 - 145
15. Ja-Da - Stuff Smith - Stuff Smith/ Dizzy Gillespie/ Oscar Peterson - 4:04 - 150
16. What's Your Name? - Echoes of Swing - You've Got To Be Modernistic - 3:18 - 155
17. Love Me or Leave Me - Banu Gibson - Let Yourself Go - 3:07 - 165
18. Shine On Harvest Moon - Pete Fountain - Dixieland's Kings - 2:50 - 160
19. The Five Pennies - The Famous Castle Jazz Band - The Five Pennies - 2:52 - 205
20. Cole Slaw - Louis Jordan - Louis Jordan And His Tympani Five, Volume 1 - 2:44 - 135 (Following this, the BCS class performed for the first time.)
21. Summertime - Gordon Webster - Happy When I'm With You - 4:04 - 120
22. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams - Kermit Ruffins - Putumayo Presents: Kermit Ruffins - 3:38 - 122
23. Lean Baby - Illinois Jacquet - Flying Home - 3:05 - 125
24. I'm Beginning To See The Light - Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington - Compact Jazz - 3:26 - 132
25. She's Never Satisfied - George Gee - Buddha Boogie - 4:59 - 150
26. They Raided The Joint - Helen Humes - Let The Good Times Roll - 3:19 - 160
27. Old Mother Hubbard - Ella Fitzgerald - Swingin' Ella - 2:44 - 145
28. El Salon De Gutbucket - Engelbert Wröbel's Swing Society - Sophisticated Swing - 5:16 - 140
29. Chicken Shack Boogie - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun - 3:16 - 125
30. Ballin' The Jack - Earl Hines - Live Broadcasts From The Hangover Club - 4:00 - 145 (People started trickling in again around here.)
31. On Revival Day - Lavern Baker - Precious Memories / LaVern Sings Bessie Smith - 3:16 - 143
32. My Blue Heaven - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Songs of New Orleans - 5:21 - 148
33. On The Sunny Side Of The Street - James Booker - New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live! - 3:42 - 125
34. Jersey Bounce - Benny Goodman - B.G. In Hi-Fi - 3:07 - 132
35. Banana Split for My Baby - Louis Prima - The Wildest! - 2:31 - 137
36. Jump Session - Slim Gaillard - 1938-1939 - 2:35 - 160
37. Savoy Blues - Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen - Trad Jazz Masters - 3:53 - 135
38. (Today's The Day) I'm Glad I'm Not Dead - Indigo Swing - All Aboard! - 4:03 - 120
39. Tain't What You Do - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:06 - 160
40. Too Darn Hot - Ella Fitzgerald - Mack The Knife: The Complete Ella In Berlin - 3:16 - 160
41. Corner Pocket - Count Basie - April In Paris - 5:07 - 140
42. Georgia Grind - Louis Armstrong - Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography Disc 1 - 3:19 - 115
43. Cheek To Cheek - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis - 5:53 - 124
44. Perdido Street Blues - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 - 3:08 - 145 (Three Louis Armstrong tracks in a row, I know. But they're all very different styles. And if there's anyone you'd want to hear three in a row from, wouldn't it be Louis?)
45. Dark Eyes - Fats Waller - Happy Birthday Fats Vol. 1 - 3:22 - 160
46. Do You Wanna Jump, Children? - Count Basie - The Complete Decca Recordings - 2:41 - 205
47. Fever - Barbara Morrison - Live at the 9:20 Special - 4:35 - 133
48. Splanky - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Live at the Legion - 4:31 - 135
49. B.O. Blues - Rex Stewart - Jazz Foundations, Vol. 62 - Rex Stewart - 2:49 - 95 (I thought this one was appropriate, given the heat and humidity.)
50. Fibre de verre - Paris Combo - Attraction - 3:39 - 135