DJing for newer dancers

dogpossum, an Australian DJ, recently posted some interesting thoughts about how to DJ for newer dancers. I agree with nearly all of what she says. The only thing I might push back on is the tempo stuff--I'd say that the rule on tempo should always be to feel it out based on the crowd at the moment. So I agree in principle that there should be no rules for tempo, but some nights you will find that the crowd just won't dance to anything over 175. On nights like that, you should just give them what they want, rather than trying to push the boundaries to demonstrate that "there are no rules."

Also, maybe it's a difference in scenes, but I'm in a really weird place right now with neo swing. I'd guess that most lindy hoppers around here would react with something like "Are you f-ing kidding me?" if they heard neo at Fizz or some other venue around town. But lately my dance partner and I have been....yes, I admit it...kind of okay with a little neo flavor every now and again. Just every once in a while, it can be fun in a cheesetastic sort of way. Even more, I kind of wish someone would play Cherry Poppin' Daddies or something like that at the big events, just to remind everyone not to take themselves too seriously. Since after all, we are swing dancers, not Alvin Ailey...and swing is awesome and all but honestly swing dancing gives you just slightly more respect than being really good at Magic: The Gathering.

stupid iPod

So last Monday at Fizz I stepped in to DJ at the last minute, and all I had was my iPod. I DJed by continually adding songs to an on-the-go playlist. It's a very handy feature that I use all the time, but it has one very irksome glitch. If you add songs to the end of a playlist while the playlist is already going, the iPod will not cycle through the whole list. Instead, it will give the appearance of cycling through the list, but actually go back and start playing the first track again. So for instance, say that I set up a playlist with four songs on it:

1. Louis Armstrong - Georgia Grind

2. Lavern Baker - Gimme a Pigfoot
3. Artie Shaw - Everything is Jumpin'
4. Duke Ellington - Peckin'

Then I hit play, and as Lavern Baker is going, I add two more songs to the list:

5. Cab Calloway - Wah De Dah
6. Jay McShann - Gone with the Blues

So after Duke Ellington finishes, the iPod gives the appearance of playing Cab Calloway. But the music coming out of the wire is actually the start of Louis Armstrong again.

Anybody else had this problem? Is there anything you can do about it?

Fizz setlist 8-16-2010

Last Monday I stepped in to DJ the late set at Fizz after a super-last-minute cancellation. I only had my iPod with me, and I had to be up fairly early the following day, so I volunteered with the understanding that I'd DJ for an hour, then set a playlist and go home, retrieving my iPod later. As the early DJ, my friend Chris, finished his set, I frantically set up an on-the-go playlist for after I left, then saved it and cleared the on-the-go playlist so that I could spin live. I hung around for about an hour, fiddling with my iPod. (I had the usual difficulties with on-the-go playlists. More details to follow.)

As I was getting ready to set a playlist and take off, I decided that the list I'd already put together would be a disaster, so I ended up picking entirely different tracks to play after I'd taken off. I felt like the crowd was going in a different direction than I'd anticipated, so I tried to pick some songs that would match the mood. Not sure if it made any difference--I was pretty much just taking shots in the dark. Here's all of the tracks I played, both before and after I left, along with BPM sparkline and frequency distribution.

1. For Dancers Only - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Swingmatism - 2:34 - 159
2. St. Louis Blues - Earl Hines - Earl Hines/Jimmy Rushing: Blues & Things - 4:38 - 150
3. One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer - Jimmy Witherspoon - Jazz Me Blues - The Best of Jimmy Witherspoon - 3:00 - 120
4. Shake That Thing - Wynonie Harris - Risque Blues - It Ain't the Meat - 2:17 - 135
5. Solid As A Rock - Count Basie - Count Basie Et Son Orchestre 1950-1951 - 3:03 - 135
6. Posin' - Jimmie Lunceford - Jukebox Hits 1935-1947 - 3:01 - 190
7. Life Is So Peculiar with Louis Jordan - Louis Armstrong - The Wonderful Duets - 3:24 - 115
8. On the Sunny Side of the Street - Dizzy Gillespie - The Champ - 3:09 - 137
9. Take My Love With You - Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - (Am I Just) Fooling Myself? - 3:37 - 138 (This was the first song of a soul/blues interlude that seemed to go over pretty well.)
10. You Can Have My Husband - Koko Taylor - The Earthshaker - 2:47 - 130
11. The Deacon's Moan - Wycliffe Gordon - The Gospel Truth - 6:42 - 90
12. Every Day I Have the Blues / Goin' to Chicago Blues - The Four Tops - Lost and Found: Four Tops "Breaking Through" (1963-1964) - 3:50 - 138
13. Four Or Five Times - Kid Ory - This Kid's The Greatest! - 3:14 - 142 (Back to jazz.)
14. Lavender Coffin - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun - 2:47 - 135
15. Bring It On Down - The Baby Soda Jazz Band - Cures Everything But The Blues - 2:34 - 175
16. Come On Over To My House - Jay McShann - Jumpin' The Blues - 2:52 - 145 (I finished setting up a playlist and then left during this song.)
17. Shiny Stockings - Count Basie - April In Paris - 5:17 - 120
18. It Takes Two To Tango - Lester Young - Lester Young : 1951-1952 - 3:14 - 100
19. I Don't Care Who Knows - Catherine Russell - Sentimental Streak - 3:18 - 125
20. Centerpiece - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Live at the Legion - 5:06 - 111
21. Honeysuckle Rose - Katherine Davis - Dream Shoes - 3:14 - 145
22. All Of Me - Twin Cities Hot Club - Twin Cities Hot Club - 4:10 - 165
23. Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong - Ken Burns Jazz - 2:24 - 155
24. Ballin' The Jack - Eddie Condon - We Called It Music - 2:18 - 180
25. Billie's Blues - Billie Holiday - Blue Billie - 2:40 - 120
26. My Blue Heaven - The Cangelosi Cards - Clinton Street Recordings, I - 4:11 - 145
27. Just A Gigolo, I Ain't Got Nobody - Louis Prima - Retro High School Party - 4:43 - 125
28. Hey Spo-Dee-O-Dee - Wild Bill Moore - Retro High School Party - 2:44 - 160
29. Move Me Baby - Jimmy Witherspoon & The Lamplighters - Retro High School Party - 2:33 - 135
30. If You a Viper - Erin McKeown - Sing You Sinners - 4:19 - 90
31. When You're Smiling - The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn - Forty Days and Forty Nights - 3:51 - 215

First Friday at Big City Swing 8/6/2010

Here's my set-list from last night's dance at Big City Swing (BPM sparkline and freq. distribution):

1. Ya Gotta See Baby Tonight - Louis Prima - Louis Prima et son orchestre : 1945 - 2:24 - 145
2. My Baby's Sweet - Stompy Jones - The Swing Session - 3:08 - 155
3. Pink Cadillac - The Mighty Blue Kings - Meet Me In Uptown - 2:23 - 165
4. I May Be Wrong - Jimmy Witherspoon - Jimmy Witherspoon & Panama Francis' Savoy Sultans - 3:21 - 165
5. All Of Me - Helen O'Connell - Great Girl Singers, Sing 22 Original Hits - 2:09 - 145
6. Oo Poppa Do - Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - One Hour Mama - 3:13 - 160
7. Ain't Misbehavin' - Kermit Ruffins - Putumayo Presents: Kermit Ruffins - 4:36 - 140
8. Let The Good Times Roll - Linda Hopkins - Wild Women Blues - 3:26 - 140
9. Old Maid Boogie - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson - Meat's Too High - 2:38 - 150
10. She's Never Satisfied - George Gee - Buddha Boogie - 4:59 - 150
11. Wailing Interval - Duke Ellington - The Private Collection - 3:39 - 160
12. The Spinach Song - Julia Lee & Her Boy Friends - Kansas City's First Lady Of The Blues - 2:59 - 160
13. Rhythm Itch - Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five - Moppin' and Boppin' - 3:11 - 170
14. Old Mother Hubbard - Ella Fitzgerald - Swingin' Ella - 2:44 - 145
15. I'm Alone Because I Love You - The Palmetto Bug Stompers - Live @ D.B.A. - 3:29 - 150
16. St. Louis Blues - Delta Rhythm Boys - The Best Of 1940-50 - 2:36 - 225
17. Shine On Harvest Moon - Pete Fountain - Dixieland's Kings - 2:50 - 160
18. The Flat Foot Floogie - Slim Gaillard - 1938-46 - 2:50 - 175
19. South - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Live at the Legion - 3:17 - 182
20. Bli Blip - Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra - Live In Swing City: Swingin' With Duke - 3:16 - 135
21. It's You Who Taught It To Me - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:42 - 160
22. My Blue Heaven - The Cangelosi Cards - Clinton Street Recordings, I - 4:11 - 145
23. Tain't What You Do - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:06 - 160
24. Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho - Sidney Bechet - Sidney Bechet: 1949 - 3:20 - 175
25. Anything Goes - Mora's Modern Rhythmists - Goblin Market - 2:45 - 165
26. Just A Gigolo, I Ain't Got Nobody - Louis Prima - Louis Prima - Retro High School Party - 4:43 - 125
27. Now Or Never - Katharine Whalen - Jazz Squad - 2:13 - 165
28. Heebie Jeebies - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - The Hurricane Sessions - 1:55 - 180
29. Jump Through The Window - Roy Eldridge - Little Jazz Giant - 2:44 - 145
30. Ja-Da - The Famous Castle Jazz Band - The Five Pennies - 3:07 - 150
31. Put A Lid On It - Davina & The Vagabonds - Live @ The Times - 3:13 - 170