The Big Apple

By request,below are my notes describing the moves in Frankie Manning's Big Apple choreography. There are many good YouTube videos that break this choreography down too:

• Patrick & Natasha demonstrate the whole routine
• Joe Demers breaks it down nice and slow
• The Harlem Hot-Shots perform the spit out of it

And here are two film clips of Whitey's Lindyhopper's dancing it:

• Keep Punchin'
• Spirit Moves

One final note, there are several songs that are commonly used for this choreography. It used to be that everyone danced it whenever Lionel Hampton's Flying Home came on. Lately, everyone seems to be using Solomon Douglas's re-creation of the music to The Big Apple Contest from Keep Punchin'. And with some slight modifications, it also fits well to Count Basie's Jumpin' At The Woodside. (These notes fit with Flying Home, which has an extra eight-count between phrases 12 and 13. If you dance it to Keep Punchin', you end up doing the skates at the top of phrase 13, and everything after that gets shifted slightly.)

Phrase 1
* jump around (3 eight-counts)
* half-break, cross, & turn

Phrase 2
* pulls
* spank & fall back
* rocks
* drunken sailor

Phrase 3
* boogie backs
* apple jacks
* apple jacks (facing out from circle)
* gaze afar

Phrase 4
* suzie-q
* suzie-q (tap 7, fall 8)
* fall-off-the-log to rusty-dusty (towards the middle, then back out)
* rusty-dusty (to your partner, then back out, triple-step on 7&8)

Phrase 5
* spank the baby (counter-clockwise around the circle, 3 eight-counts)
* spank the baby (kick-step on 7-8, turn in to face the center of the circle)

Phrase 6
* jump charleston
* jump charleston
* jump charleston (double-pump on 5, 7, step 8)
* rock-step, kick-step, fishtail, fishtail

Phrase 7
* fishtail, fishtail, boogie back, boogie back
* boogie forward, boogie forward, breeze in the knees
* fishtail, boogie back (away), boogie back (to your "fake partner"), boogie back (away)
* ride the pony (with your "real partner")

Phrase 8
* step 1, step-slap 3 4, step-slap 5 6, step-fall 7 8
* fall off the log to lock arms with your partner
* truck clockwise
* turn and truck counter-clockwise

Phrases 9 & 10
London Bridge: truck under london bridge; once you're under, add to the bridge; use running-in-place footwork

Phrase 11
* Claps & finger-wag
* Claps & finger-wag
* Claps & finger-wag
* Leads: step-scoot left 1 2, step-scoot right 3 4, cross left behind right on 5, unwind (counterclockwise) on 7
Follows: step-scoot left 1 2, step-scoot right 3 4, cross 5, uncross 7

Phrase 12
* Siska-boom-ba, siska-boom-ba
* Rock step (right-left) 1 2, cross right over left 3, unwind (counterclockwise) on 5, scoot back 7, step 8
* Kick-step 1 2, banana-peel kicks 3 4 5 6, cross right over left 7, scoot back 8
* Step 1, kick 2, rock-step (left-right) 3 4, cross left over right 5, turn (clockwise) 7

Extra 8-count
* Skates left 1 2 3 4, sailor right 5 6 7, stomp-off 8

Phrase 13
* Step backwards right left right 1 2 3, fall-off-the 4 5 6 (turning clockwise), stomp-off &7
* Fall-off-the-log 8 1 2 3, rock back 5, rock forward 7
* Rocks
* Boogie backs with rotation

Phrase 14
* Shortie George 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
* Shortie George 1 3 5 6 7
* Shortie George 1 3 5 6, kick-step (left) 7 8
* Charleston (starting with kick forward on right)

Phrase 15
* Around-the-world charleston
* rock-step (left-right) 1 2, step 3, slap 4, triple-step slap on & 6 7 8,
* triple-step slap & 2 3 4, triple-step slap & 6 7 8
* Cross left over right (bending down low) 1, uncross right 3, spring up 4

Phrase 16
* suzie-q's to the left
* modified jump charleston - leads travel right, pass behind follows
* suzie-q's to the left
* modified jump charleston - follows travel right, pass behind leads

Phrase 17
* Peck
* Jump around
* Jump around
* half-break, cross, & turn

Phrase 18
Break-a-leg and exit

Recent gigs

My friend Jenna and I have been spending some long hours on the road lately (listening to music ranging from this to this), since we've been teaching lindy hop all over the Midwest. I decided to map out all the places I've taught workshops (with either Jenna or Mary), hoping that if I connected the dots it would make a funny picture or something. No such luck, it's just a triangle:


View Midwestern lindy hop tours in a larger map

Rock Ya Body

This past weekend Jenna and I taught at Truman State College in Kirksville, Missouri, at an event called Rock Ya Body. It was fun to work with such an enthusiastic group of dancers--doubly so because they picked stuff up really quickly and because they had some very clever Halloween costumes.

Here's the song we used for the routine class on Sunday Morning:

• Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho - Sidney Bechet - Sidney Bechet: 1949 - 3:20

You can get the mp3 on Amazon here. Here's the (fast) song we used for the Big Apple:

• The Big Apple Contest - The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - Swingmatism - 2:58

You can get Solomon's albums from CDBaby here, on Emusic here, or Amazon here. Do yourself and your friends a favor by getting the whole albums, because they have lots of great music.

Milwaukee Lindy Hop Summit

My wife and I spent this past weekend at the Milwaukee Lindyhop Summit, teaching and dancing. The weekend featured several sets of instructors, all friends of mine, and it was a lot of fun to rotate in their classes and observe their teaching. The classes were all PACKED and full of very enthusiastic dancers, which made it easy and enjoyable to teach.

Here's the short set I played Friday night:

1. On The Sunny Side Of The Street - Duke Heitger And His Swing Band - Rhythm Is Our Business - 3:48 - 105
2. Solid As A Rock - Count Basie - Count Basie Et Son Orchestre 1950-1951 - 3:03 - 135
3. Gettin' In The Groove - Panama Francis & his Savoy Sultans - Gettin' in the groove (Paris 1971) - 3:06 - 130
4. Jump Through The Window - Roy Eldridge - Little Jazz Giant - 2:44 - 145
5. Bei Mir Bist Du Schane - Janis Siegel - Swing Kids - 4:11 - 150
6. It Takes Two To Tango - Lester Young - Lester Young: 1951-1952 - 3:14 - 100
7. Honeysuckle Rose - Louis Armstrong - Satch Plays Fats - 2:56 - 170
8. Tain't What You Do - Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:06 - 160
9. Easy Does It - Paul Tillotson the Love Trio - Lindy Hop Blues - 2:57 - 130
10. Minor Swing - The Boilermaker Jazz Band - Give Me Your Telephone Number - 3:41 - 195

My performance class performs

The performance class that Jenna and I taught at Big City Swing over the past couple months finally had their debut at Swinger's Ball last Saturday. They completely rocked it. Here's video:

Playlist from Now You Has Jazz

Just back from my DJ/Music-lover's workshop. Most of the folks that came were really just curious to learn more about music, not necessarily specifically because they are interested in DJing. I promised to post the music I played, so here it is. I'll ask Dave if he can remember what he played, and if so I'll add that to this list.

• Take It Easy Greasy - Lil Johnson - Lil Johnson & Barrelhouse Annie Vol. 3 1937 (This was an example of a song I really like that I don't spin due to recording quality.)
• It's Only a Paper Moon - Oscar Peterson - With Respect to Nat (In contrast, this track has great fidelity.)
• Shake That Thing - Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Shake That Thing (Example of music with a two-beat feel, good for teaching beginner's six count, but not so much for anything that involves triple-steps.)
  
• Jersey Bounce - Benny Goodman - B.G. in Hi-Fi (Example of classic big-band sound, rhythm that makes you want to triple-step, and very good recording quality.)
• Groove Juice Special - Slim Gaillard - Chronological, 1938-1946 (Example of a song I love that I don't play because of the tap-dancing solo in the middle.)
• In the Mood - Glenn Miller - Ken Burns' Jazz (Example of stereotypical big band music.)
• In the Mood - Glenn Miller - Best of the Lost Recordings (A slightly faster rendition, that I like more and would actually DJ.)
• There's Rhythm in Harlem - Mills Blue Rhythm Band - Mills Blue Rhythm Band: 1933-1936 (Same riff as In the Mood, but this rendition kicks ass.)
• Tar Paper Stomp - Mora's Modern Rhythmists - Call of the Freaks (I didn't play this during the workshop, but this is another track with the same riff as In the Mood. Mora's Modern Rhythmists is a great modern band that plays in the style of a 1930's big band. They're amazing to dance to live.)
• Brown Derby Jump - Cherry Poppin' Daddies - Zoot Suit Riot (Neo-Swing, baby!)
  
• I'm Gone - King Pleasure - King Pleasure Sings (First swish from our "wine-tasting." We decided that this is an interesting, challenging track for more advanced lindyhopper/blues dancers to play with, but not good for beginners.)
• Everything is Jumpin' - Artie Shaw - The Very Best Of Artie Shaw (Great, really swingin' big band music. Good for dancing, no matter what your skill level.)
• Fiddle Dee Dee - Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton Story 1: Hot Mallets (Interesting, mysterious introduction, followed by really swingin' small-group.)
• Lazy River - Bobby Darin - The Ultimate Bobby Darin (This was used to illustrate transitioning between styles.)
• Give My Regards to Broadway - Pete Fountain - The Dixieland Kings (Going right from Bobby Darin to this would be disconcerting, but with the right song in between, we made it work.)

If you were there this afternoon, thanks for coming out! And thanks for your participation and questions--it made for an interesting afternoon. And thanks for the rootbeer. If you have a comment or follow-up question, feel free to leave it as a comment to this blog post.

From the feedback I've gotten so far, it sounds like the stuff we covered this afternoon might have assumed too much prior knowledge of jazz. We didn't really talk explicitly about different genres or styles of jazz/swing dance music--and unfortunately we didn't get to my Old Testament/New Testament Basie band example. It's too bad, as I think it would have been really interesting and eye-opening for many people. So....just have to do another workshop, I guess. Maybe next time, it should focus just on introducing people to different styles of music. Title it "A Basic Primer in Music for Swing Dancing" or something like that. What do you think?

You will has jazz tomorrow!

My DJ/Jazz-Lover's workshop is coming up tomorrow at Big City Swing. See details in this earlier post. Lippy and I will be sharing our secrets, we'll be listening to a lot of great music and then getting nerdy about why it's awesome, and we'll probably end up arguing a fair amount about whether your music really swings. Plus: a "wine-tasting" (?!?!) and "the Flow Challenge."

I guarantee that you will leave thinking that I am an even bigger geek than you already suspected.

P.S. Bring rootbeer!

P.P.S. to Chris: Do you want to play music, or do you want to be a DJ?

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