Fat Babies

I'm at a bit of a loss for words, other than cusses. Last night was the best night of music I've heard in months...maybe even in a year. I went to the Black Rock Tavern, not far from my house, where Nicolle Wood (of the Galaxie) was hosting a dance with a live band called the Fat Babies. The line-up was as follows:

Andy Schumm--cornet

John Otto--clarinet

Dave Bock--trombone

Joel Paterson--guitar

Beau Sample--bass

Alex Hall--drums

They were brilliant. Masterful, energetic, and joyous. They played a lot of familiar trad. jazz tunes, in a style that was pitch-perfect for dancing. And the crowd there was appreciative, hooting and hollering after solos, applauding and screaming until they gave an encore, which makes it even more fun. Several times during the night folks stopped dancing during a song just to listen and clap along--I know that's become common in many places but it is a rare happening in Chicago.

There was one particular moment in the middle of the second set. In the middle of the tune, the rhythm section dropped out entirely, leaving just the horns and clarinet to play a sort of instrumental "a capella." I've heard bands do this before, though I'm not sure what it's called. It was such a striking change that I just stopped dancing to listen, along with several other couples around me. This sort of collective improvisation is really striking for its intricacy, the way they keeps the rhythm going just by implication, the tension that builds because you worry that they're going to end the number by trailing out. Then of course when the full band came back in it bowls you over like your big brother in a backyard wrestle-fest: ferocious but in a loving way. Knocked-off socks were strewn everywhere after that one.

What a night. I can't wait to hear more from this group.

Battle of the Bands II

Here's how it went down at the Battle of the Bands at the Galaxie last Saturday: Lippy had constructed an elaborate bracket scheme for the 6 djs in the competition (it is March Madness time, after all). See the bracket above, which was assigned by random draw. For the first round, each DJ has to play a 20 minute set of music exclusively from their chosen artist or band. They are then judged (by audience applause) against the other two DJs in their bracket, and one of the DJs is eliminated. Each of the DJs from the left bracket then has a 15 minute set versus one of the DJs from the right bracket, and only one of them survives (again judged by audience applause). This leaves 2 final DJs, who battle it out trading sets of 2 songs a piece, currying favor from the audience. Cash prize for the winner.

After a beginner lesson and then a little warm-up music, the battle kicked off at 9 p.m. with Doug "Doberman" Hillman representing Oscar Peterson, followed by Chris "The Man with the Middles" playing nothing but Jimmie Lunceford, and then John Joven playing Benny Goodman. Oscar Peterson had another gig later that night, so basically Lunceford and Goodman got a first round bye.

I kicked off the second set of three DJs starting at 10 p.m., representing Louis Armstrong. Here's my first set:

1. Cabaret - Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong - 3:59 - 155
2. Jack-Armstrong Blues - Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars - 3:00 - 185
3. Who Walks In When I Walk Out? with Ella Fitzgerald - Louis Armstrong - The Wonderful Duets - 2:21 - 135
4. A Fine Romance - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis Again - 3:56 - 170
5. Georgia Grind - Louis Armstrong - Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography Disc 1 - 3:19 - 115
6. I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats (Remaster) - 4:28 - 162

As you can see, I played it pretty safe. I tried to cover a range of styles that Louis Armstrong played, from the popular hits from the 60's, to more straight-up jazz from the All-Stars, to the pop-jazz with Ella (and Oscar Peterson in the backing combo). My set was followed by Dave "Lippy" Rentauskas representing Lionel Hampton, and then Riley "Big Tyme" Wymes going out on a limb by spinning Sam Cooke. The second set was a close call, but Lionel Hampton was eventually sent back the the bench.

The semi-finals started off with Benny Goodman versus Sam Cooke. From a "flow" standpoint, I thought it was a little odd to have two all-Sam-Cooke sets separated by just 20 minutes, but that's how the bracket fell out. Sam Cooke progressed to the finals by a comfortable margin.

After that round of voting, Armstrong was up against Lunceford. Here's my second set:

1. I Love Jazz - Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong - 4:39 - 170
2. My Bucket's Got a Hole In It - Louis Armstrong - An Evening With Louis Armstrong And His All Stars - 4:24 - 145
3. Sugar Foot Stomp - Fletcher Henderson - Ken Burns Jazz: Fletcher Henderson - 2:50 - 205
4. My Sweet Hunk O' Trash - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 - 3:20 - 95

I opened with I Love Jazz because the announcements immediately prior gave me an excuse to play the longer intro that everyone seems to know so well. I followed up with another solid, mid-tempo song that was still energetic, then kicked it up a notch with a hot charleston number. (Was gonna play my other version of that number, but I thought it would clear the floor to much--it's a rollicking 255 bpm.) I closed out the set with a slower, bluesy number where Louis duets with Billlie Holiday.

Lunceford's second set followed on mine, and included the requisite Shim-Sham, followed the Lunceford Special, during which a jam broke out. For sheer entertainment value, it seemed like a great call--that Lunceford cat sure puts up a tough fight. Armstrong eeked out the victory, and was on to the finals against Sam Cooke.

Finals were a challenge--Riley played two soulful Cooke numbers, which meant I had to transition the room back to a jazz sound. Here's how I followed up:

1. Honeysuckle Rose - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats (Remaster) - 2:56 - 170
2. Perdido Street Blues - Louis Armstrong - The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 - 3:08 - 145

Honeysuckle Rose starts out sounding like a lazy slow-lindy number, but then eases into the main chorus at a lightly swinging 170 bpm. I thought it worked well as a transition. I followed up with a DIRTY DIRTY blues number that's still in a lindy hop tempo.

Then we were back to Sam Cooke for two songs, and then I had a final two songs to try to bring folks back into Louis' corner. Here's what I chose:

1. Love is Here to Stay - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis Again - 4:01 - 102
2. Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong - Ken Burns Jazz - 2:24 - 155

I opened with a slow groovy ballad, trying to appeal to the dancers' sentimental side, and then closed with Armstrong's traditional closer. In retrospect, it didn't work all that well. If I could try it over again, I would have skipped this and gone out in a blaze of 1920's glory with Cornet Chop Suey or I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas, highlighting the difference between my guy and Cooke, rather than trying to beat Cooke at his own game. Anyways, Cooke came out the winner, so Riley finished out the night.

All in all, a very fun evening of dancing, and an interesting challenge for the DJs. I thought the bracket system worked really well, and forced all the DJs to select songs very strategically. Instead of just blowing the best 20 minutes of Lunceford that there is, Chris had to spread it out over several sets so that he could remain competitive. Hopefully the format will be preserved for next time. Hmmm.....now to figure out who I should represent in the next battle.....

Upcoming events

I've got my DJ schedule posted through the beginning of April--click on "Events and DJ schedule" to see my calendar. Highlights:

• I'm up for the early set at Fizz tonight.
• This Friday I'll be spinning at the First Friday dance at Big City Swing. The dance runs 8:30-12:00.
• I'll be representing Louis Armstrong in the upcoming Battle of the Bands, March 21st at the Galaxie. Other featured bands/performers: Jimmie Lunceford (Chris), Benny Goodman (John), Lionel Hampton (Lippy), Oscar Peterson (Doug), and Sam Cooke (Riley). More details to come.
• I'm DJing at the Hawkeye Swing Festival. Iowa City, IA, April 17th-19th.
  

Music with big breaks

Thanks to everyone who came out for Lindy 210 at the Galaxie today. We had a great time messing around with y'all. If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, we would love to hear it. Email me or leave a comment below.

Here is a list of the music we used in class, plus some more tracks that have big, whack-you-over-the-head breaks. You should be able to find most of them on EMusic, Amazon MP3, or iTunes. Also, if you find the same song by a different artist, that version will probably have pretty good breaks too.

1. A Smoooth One - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman - 130 bpm
2. Deacon's Hop - Ron Magri and his New Orleans Jazz Band - Shim Sham Revue - 130 bpm
3. Potato Chips - Slim Gaillard - Laughing in Rhythm - 145 bpm
4. Shout Sister Shout - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - The Gospel of the Blues - 145 bpm
5. Honey Pie - Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout Miss Thing - 150 bpm
6. Chicken Ain't Nothin' But a Bird - Cab Calloway - Are You Hep to the Jive - 160 bpm
7. Everything is Jumpin - Artie Shaw -The Very Best of Artie Shaw - 165 bpm
8. Whistle Stop - The Swing Session - Stompy Jones - 165 bpm
9. Groove Juice Special - Slim Gaillard - 1938-1946 - 170 bpm
10. Jazz Me Blues - The Swingsations - Swingers and Novelties - 170 bpm
11. Hop, Skip and a Jump - Engelbert Wrobel's Swing Society - Sophisticated Swing - 175 bpm
12. The Flat Foot Floogie - Slim Gaillard - 1938-1946 - 175 bpm
13. We Cats Will Swing for You - Cats & the Fiddle - We Cats Will Swing for You - 175 bpm
14. Shortnin' Bread - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 190 bpm
15. Posin' - Jimmie Lunceford - Jukebox Hits 1935-1947 - 190 bpm
16. Jeep Jockey Jump - Glen Miller - Operation: Build Morale - 200 bpm
    

Setlist from Swing Noir at the Galaxie 10/18/2008

Lippy and Nicolle hosted a Roaring 20's-speakeasy-interactive-murder-mystery-swing dance last night at the Galaxie, billed as "Swing Noir: a night of dancing, death, and deception." A great, very well dressed crowd showed up to participate. The idea was to do the interactive murder mystery night, all while keeping the dance floor full--plus there was a performance and a solo Charleston contest.

I had a bit of a challenge as a deejay, because the night was supposed to have a strong 1920's/early 1930's atmosphere. Rather than playing a typical set, which might range from 1930's big band to 1970's piano trios, I wanted to stick with music that fit the theme. It was a delicate line to walk--keeping the music interesting while staying within the stylistic constraint. Admittedly, I ended up interpreting it pretty loosely--more that I just avoided musical styles that would have sounded very out of character. So no Gene Harris, no Glen Miller or other big name big bands (too associated with WWII era big band), no Oscar Peterson trio. I relied heavily on modern groups like Mora's Modern Rhythmists, who play in an early big band/1930's style. And in some cases I used later recordings of songs that are associated with early jazz--for instance, Dinah Washington's (1950's) interpretations of Bessie Smith's (1920's) hits. Here's my set:

(Starting off a few minutes before 10 p.m., as the Charleston lesson was ending.)

1. Charleston - Ken Gordon And Band - Charlestons "Yes Sir That's My Baby" - 3:02
2. Big John's Special - Don Neely's Royal Society Jazz Orchestra - Radio Rhythm - 3:18
3. Dancin' With A Debutante - Mora's Modern Rhythmists - Mr. Rhythmist Goes To Town - 2:24
4. Them There Eyes - Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen - Trad Jazz Masters: Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen - 2:57
5. Now Or Never - Katharine Whalen - Jazz Squad - 2:13 (This track did not fit the sound I was going for, but it definitely got a lot of people up and dancing.)
   
6. The Dipsey Doodle - Mora's Modern Rhythmists - Call Of The Freaks - 2:58
7. Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong - Ken Burns Jazz - 2:24
8. I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate - Muggsy Spanier - Vintage Jazz Volume 8 - 2:54
9. Putting On The Ritz - The Pasadena Roof Orchestra - Pasadena - 25th Anniversary Album - 3:12 (This track bombed.)
   
10. All Of Me/The Peanut Vendor - Dick Hyman Group Feat. Howard Alden - Sweet And Lowdown - 1:43
11. It's De-Lovely - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Give Me Your Telephone Number - 4:04
12. Keepin' Out A Mishif Now - Carling Family - 20th Jubilee - 3:32 (I haven't played this one in a while, and had forgotten how much I like it. It went over well.)
    
13. Mood Hollywood - Don Neely's Royal Society Jazz Orchestra - Radio Rhythm - 3:31 (Just discovered this solid lindy hop tune.)
    
14. Shine - Dick Hyman Group Feat. Howard Alden - Sweet And Lowdown - 1:47
15. Five Feet Two, Eyes Of Blue - Creole Jazz Band - Jazz Del Bueno Para Bailar - 2:57
16. Savoy Blues - Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen - Trad Jazz Masters: Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen - 3:53
17. Everybody Loves My Baby - Sippie Wallace - Sippie - 3:11
18. Georgia Cake Walk - Eddie Condon - We Called It Music - 3:06
19. Rockin' In Rhythm - Duke Ellington - Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick and Vocalion Recordings of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931 - 3:02
20. Easy To Love - Billie Holiday - First Issue: Great American Song Book - 3:03
21. Le Jazz Hot - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 2:44
22. That's A Plenty - Ella Fitzgerald And Bing Crosby - Bing Crosby With Ella Fitzgerald & Peggy Lee Featuring Fred Astaire - 2:23 (This is an interesting vocal version of That's a Plenty. It starts out at a moderate tempo, then gets really peppy at the end.)
    
23. Chicago Stomp - Jimmy Blythe - Boogie Woogie Blues - 2:44
    
24. Jazz Me Blues - Pete Fountain - Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? - 4:42
25. Callin' Your Bluff - Mills Blue Rhythm Band - Mills Blue Rhythm Band: 1933-1936 - 3:00
26. Tutti Frutti - Slim Gaillard - 1938-46 - 2:38
27. Hey! Stop Kissin' My Sister - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:50
28. I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats (Remaster) - 4:28
29. Trombone Butter - Dinah Washington - Dinah Washington Sings Bessie Smith - 3:34
30. Southern sunset - Swing Parade South - Hommage a Sidney Bechet - 3:32
31. Let's Misbehave - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - You Do Something To Me - 2:52
32. Dippermouth blues - Muggsy Spanier - Weary Blues - 2:29
33. I've Found A New Baby - Chicago Rhythm Kings - Mezz Mezzrow: Makin' Friends, 1928-37, Jazz Archives #72 (158042) - 3:11
    (Performance by Jenna's troupe of ladies, dressed rather nicely. Right after the performance, the lights went out, gunshots were fired, and Lippy was murdered. Gasp!)
    
34. All That Jazz - Banu Gibson - Vintage Banu - 2:55 (Yes, I was trying to be corny.)
    
35. Give My Regards To Broadway - Pete Fountain - Dixieland's Kings - 2:37
    (At this point, Lippy took over for a while--now that he was dead, he could devote his attention to deejaying. Around 12:30, we had a solo charleston contest. 36 and 37 were used for the contest.)
    
36. Tiger Rag - The Firehouse Five Plus Two - The Firehouse Five Plus Two Story - 3:04
37. Ahma Fonda Rhonda - Firecracker Jazz Band - Firecracker Jazz Band Explodes - 4:14
    (I get the sense that the crowd is ready for something more relaxing. I like this next one because it's just so lazy.)
    
38. Careless Love - Harry Connick, Jr. - Oh, My Nola - 4:13
39. A Man That Don't Want Me - Sippie Wallace - Sippie - 2:43
40. How Come You Do Me? - Eddie Condon - We Called It Music - 2:51
41. Squeeze Me - Della Reese - Song Book, Vol. 3 - 2:37
    (Lippy, still dead, announces that people should cast their ballots as to who his murderer is.)
    
42. Sugar Blues - Clarence Williams - Boogie Woogie Blues - 3:40
    (The culprit is announced.)
    
43. Shake That Thing (Album Version) - Vince Giordano's Nighthawks - The Aviator Music From The Motion Picture - 3:00
44. Cheek to Cheek - Fred Astaire - Irving Berlin - A Hundred Years - 3:20 (I put this on by accident, and was surprised by how many people danced to it.)
    
45. The Mooche - Sidney Bechet - Blues In The Air - 3:09
    (Lippy takes over and finishes out the night.)
    

Upcoming events

Man I'm getting busy on the turntables (okay fine, the mousepad) these days. Last weekend was WCLX. This coming weekend I'm djing at a free dance, not far from our apartment. It's at the First Evangelical Free Church in Andersonville. Details here. Join us! It should be low-key and fun, and did I mention that it's FREE?

Then in two weeks, on Saturday October 18th, I'm djing at the Galaxie for an event organized by Lippy and Nicolle called Swing Noir. It's a speak-easy themed swing dance and interactive murder mystery. More details, including on the characters you can play in the murder mystery, here. And here's the Facebook event page. I'm supposed to spin lots of 20's-style music, in keeping with the theme, so come prepared to do the charleston and the foxtrot and the black bottom and my personal favorite, the squirrel.

Also, for all of my groupies out there, the fourth link on the right-hand side of this page ("Events and DJ schedule") takes you to a calendar where you can see all of my upcoming gigs.

Setlists from WCLX 2008

This past weekend was the tenth installment of the Windy City Lindy Exchange. I did two sets over the course of the weekend. Both setlists are below.

I spun from 1 to 2 a.m. at the Saturday late night at the Galaxie. It was the first set of the night, so people were trickling in the whole time. By about 1:30 the floor was fairly full. I've never deejayed for an exchange late night before--I tried to weigh several different aspects of the situation, though I'm not sure how successful I was. For one, I thought I should keep the energy pretty high, so that people wouldn't get sleepy. Also, down the hall was a second room for dancing--the djs there were playing a very wide variety of tunes including blues, hip-hop, pop, and at least one Tom Waits track. Finally, considering that the deejayed music and band selections from the main dance on Saturday were pretty homogeneous (consisting mostly of New Testament big band arrangements, Sinatra style crooning, and a (pitiful) rendition of Jump, Jive and Wail), I thought I should present some contrast. Here's my set:

1. Shine On, Harvest Moon - The Ink Spots - Voice Masters Vol. 2 - 3:09
2. Who Walks In When I Walk Out? - Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald - The Wonderful Duets - 2:21
3. Dat Dere - Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul ...And Then Some - 2:52
4. My Blue Heaven - Stuff Smith Quartet - Swingin' Stuff - 3:46
5. All Of Me - Twin Cities Hot Club - Twin Cities Hot Club - 4:10
6. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 1: Hot Mallets - 3:15
7. Sugar Blues - Clarence Williams - Boogie Woogie Blues - 3:39
   
8. Southern sunset - Swing Parade South - Hommage a Sidney Bechet - 3:32
9. Everybody Loves My Baby - Sippie Wallace - Sippie - 3:11
10. Tain't What You Do - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:06
11. Shine On Harvest Moon - Pete Fountain - Pete Fountain and The Kings Of Dixieland - 2:52
12. All the Cats Join In - Benny Goodman - The Best of The Capitol Years - 4:22
13. Twenty-Four Robbers - Fats Waller - The Unique Mr. Waller - 2:45
14. Minor Swing - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Give Me Your Telephone Number - 3:41
15. I Don't Care Who Knows - Catherine Russell - Sentimental Streak - 3:18
16. Smack Dab In The Middle - The Deep River Boys - London Harmony - 2:59
17. Rock Me All Night Long - The Fabulous Treniers - The Hoss Allen Sessions - 2:41
18. Baby, Won't You Please Come Home - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 2:54
19. Never Make You Move Too Soon - Barbara Morrison - Doing All Right - 3:34
20. Four or Five Times - Joe Williams - For Dancers Only! - 4:48

The exchange committee had planned a dance for Sunday afternoon on Federal Plaza, which is in downtown Chicago (in the Loop, as the locals say). It was raining by the time I got there around 2 p.m. I went to CVS and got some trash bags to keep my equipment dry, then set up my laptop under an umbrella. Less than ideal conditions. There were only a few people there, and seldom more than two couples dancing at one time. The cement was slick from the rain. As often happens at outdoor dances, some passers-by stopped to watch or chat. The last two tracks of my set were requests from some dude that just wandered up. He stayed to dance by himself.

1. Didn't It Rain - Lavern Baker - Precious Memories / LaVern Sings Bessie Smith - 2:47
2. Shout, Sister, Shout! - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - The Gospel of the Blues - 2:41
3. Hoodle-Addle - Ray McKinley Orchestra - You Came A Long Way From St. Louis - 3:21
4. All Right, Okay, You Win - Count Basie - Count Basie at Newport - 2:45
5. Aint Nobody's Business If I Do - B.B. King - Ogden's Blues Favorites, Vol. 3 - 3:38
6. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues - Doc Cheatham - Putumayo Presents: New Orleans - 3:20
7. I Ain't Goin' To Cry Anymore - Dinah Washington - Mixed Emotions - 2:40
8. Chicken Shack - Pinetop Perkins - Ladies Man - 4:28
9. Tutti Frutti - Slim Gaillard - 1938-46 - 2:38
10. Like It Is - Erroll Garner - That's My Kick & Gemini - 2:44
11. It's A Shame - The Spinners - Motown: The Classic Years - 3:10
12. Teardrops From My Eyes - Ruth Brown - Rockin' In Rhythm - Best Of - 2:59
13. I Don't Care Who Knows - Catherine Russell - Sentimental Streak - 3:18
14. Lean Baby - Illinois Jacquet - Flying Home - 3:05
15. Sermonette - Earl Grant - Singin' & Swingin': The Best Of Earl Grant - 2:42
16. Ain't Got No Room for the Blues - Banu Gibson - Vintage Banu - 2:46
17. Confessin' The Blues - Carrie Smith - When You're Down and Out - 4:36
18. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band - 2:54
19. The Comeback - Count Basie - Count Basie at Newport - 4:10

DJ Battle at the Galaxie 2/16/2008

Lippy and Nicolle organized a DJ battle at the Galaxie last February, inviting six DJs to spin short sets, each representing a single artist or band. The line-up was as follows:

• Dave "Lippy" Rentauskas representing Helen Humes
• Doug "Doberman" Hillman representing Gene Harris
• me representing Duke Ellington
• Chris "The Man with the Middles" Aubin representing Count Basie
• Riley Wymes representing Ella Fitzgerald
• Kevin Caruso representing Jay McShann
• Nathan Gumley providing warm-up and transitions

The night was a smashing success, and really interesting musically. After a secret ballot (open to all attendees), Count Basie/Chris Aubin was awarded the blue ribbon and asked to spin an encore set. Commentary, as well as most of the other DJs setlists, can be found on Windyhop here.

Here's my set:

1. The Mooche - Duke Ellington - Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick and Vocalion Recordings of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931 - 3:13
2. Rockin In Rhythm - Duke Ellington - An Anthology Of Big Band Swing 1930-1955 - 3:01
3. Jump For Joy (Alternate Take) - Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band - 2:56
4. Perdido - Duke Ellington - Sophisticated Lady - 3:08
5. I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues - Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington - Compact Jazz - 4:42
6. Pitter Panther Patter (Take 2) - Duke Ellington - Solos, Duets and Trios - 3:01
7. Main Stem - Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band - 2:52
8. Cottontail - Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band - 3:15
9. Take the "A" Train - Duke Ellington - Sophisticated Lady - 2:51

A big jam broke out during Main Stem and Cottontail, which ended up making my set a little longer than some of the other DJs' spots.

I found this night really challenging. I'd put a lot of work into it (even digging up and editing some short audio clips of Irving Mills introducing the Ellington band, to play as intros for some of the tracks) and had started with a very long list of possible selections. It was difficult to whittle it down, but perhaps even more difficult to choose tracks that would be accessible and really good for dancing. The acoustics in the room were also hard to deal with, given that I had some pretty low fidelity material, plus stuff that prominently featured Jimmy Blanton's bass lines.

Ellington's music is so spirited, but so challenging, that I'm torn about whether to play it for dances. Many of his tunes have really interesting, unusual rhythms in them, which can be difficult for dancers to deal with. But on the other hand, more advanced dancers probably appreciate the opportunity to give it a shot and try to keep up with the Duke. Duke also uses a very broad pallette of musical colors--more dark or mysterious sounds, more sharp contrasts, and a LOT more dissonance than any other big band.

I can't remember where I read or heard it, but I recall one comment about Duke Ellington that has stuck with me--that his band really transcended the era. The roster featured some of the most amazing talents in the world, and as a group they could be the most amazingly swingin' ensemble anyone had ever heard. At the same time that he created some of the tunes that defined the Swing era, Duke wasn't limited to writing dance music. His tunes capture and portray more of life, and somehow have even more spirit, than just swing. His music is the pinnacle of what Jazz can be.