alain’s dance blog

I didn’t start recognizing the name of tunes I danced to until I purchased my first jazz compilation album, Early Basie. That’s when I recognized popular Count Basie songs like Shorty George and Jumpin’ at the Woodside, songs that get played a lot at swing dances. My first purchase led to more discoveries, and I was soon spending a lot of money on swing music.

How to save money

It’s true that buying music isn’t affordable for everyone, but there are ways to smartly spend your money. You can borrow CDs at La Bibliothèque Nationale to preview what you want to purchase. You can buy individual songs on iTunes. You can encourage independent artists on CD Baby.

One of the ways I found to save money was to buy Proper box sets on eBay. It’s the most bang for the buck, and you almost can’t go wrong with them. For example, I bought the Lionel Hampton Story - 92 recordings on 4 discs - about a year ago for $30-something. Almost all danceable songs. That’s less than $0.40 per song.

Finally, you don’t need to buy everything all at once. Pace yourself. Give yourself a budget. I know this is a bit of a cliché, but it’s not having all the music in the world that’s important, it’s the journey you took to get there. Exploring different artists you’ve read or heard about, discovering new sounds and voices - that’s what you should enjoy.

So take your time.

Here’s a thread on yehoodi about starting a collection. I especially like Swifty’s recommendations. On a more general note, you might want to check out these Swing 101 links posted by Rayned Wiles on swing djs. Happy hunting.

For Lindy Hoppers, if you have to remember one musician, remember Count Basie.

Count Basie is probably the most significant band leader for swing dancers. His bands played the most swinging songs. His bands played for dancers. And his rhythm section was always relentlessly driven.

“Count Basie was among the most important bandleaders of the swing era. With the exception of a brief period in the early ’50s, he led a big band from 1935 until his death almost 50 years later, and the band continued to perform after he died. Basie’s orchestra was characterized by a light, swinging rhythm section that he led from the piano, lively ensemble work, and generous soloing.” Read the rest of the article by William Ruhlmann here.

Swing DJs and jazz historians alike distinguish between two periods of Count Basie recordings, Old Testament (pre-1950) and New Testament (1952 onwards).

Here is the easiest way to distinguish the two. The “Old Testament” band recorded in Lo-Fi - meaning that you’ll hear an older, scratchier sound. In contrast, the “New Testament” post-war band recorded in modern Hi-Fi, with a sound we are more accustomed to today.

My pick for “Old Testament” Basie: Best Of Early Basie

Best Of Early Basie has most of my favorite Basie tunes. You probably noticed this on my Top 5 Basie, as three of my favorites can be found on this compilation album. In addition to those classic Lindy Hop tunes, you can also find the amazing jam song Doggin’ Around, a song with so much energy you’ll end up sweating with a smile.

My pick for “New Testament” Basie: Chairman Of The Board and Count Basie At Newport

For New Testament recordings, I love Blues In Hoss’ Flat off Chairman Of The Board. It really swings! And just like Jenifer, I also adore Evenin’ off Basie At Newport. Jimmy Rushing has such a great voice on this recording. This 1957 concert at the Newport music festival on Rhodes Island brought together some of the best known jazz musicians having played with Basie - musicians like Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet and Roy Eldridge. As a result, the performances are stellar. All the songs on this album are worth listening and dancing to.

Today it was the Count of Swing. Next time, it’s on to the Duke.

We all have our favorite songs to dance to. It could be “Moondance” by Van Morrison. It could be “Take the A Train” by Duke Ellington. It could even be Mystery track number 19 (yes we all love it here in Montreal and nobody knows who the musicians are… help!).

Here are my top 5 favorite Count Basie tunes

1. Favorite slow: “Blues in the Dark” 89 bpm - Best Of Early Basie
2. Favorite midtempo: “Splanky” 157 bpm - Live at the Sands
3. Favorite fast: “Shorty George” 210 bpm - Best Of Early Basie
4. Favorite fast jam: “Every Tub” 245 bpm - Best Of Early Basie
5. Favorite all around: “Until I meet You (Corner Pocket)” 154 bpm - First Time! Count Meets The Duke

Let me know what you think of these songs, and which Count Basie songs you think should have been on this list.

A common complaint among swing djs is that most dancers do not care about the music they dance to. By caring, I mean that they do not bother to learn the names of the musicians, the name of the songs, the history of the music.

Of course, this is a generalization. I’m not saying that all dancers are like this. But I think there’s room for improvement.

So starting today, I will be posting a Top 5 series on my favorite musicians and band leaders, followed by some historical blurb about them. I hope that these posts will encourage you (dancers) to cross over to appreciating jazz music as listeners.

Following my previous post on the MTLX, you might be wondering why you should attend a Lindy Hop exchange.

Here are a few good reasons:

• If you are hosting an exchange in your city, you get to meet cool Lindyhoppers from around the world. You get to introduce them to your city, introduce them to your language. In short, you get to share your home with strangers.
• Exchanges are for dancing, eating, sleeping and the occasional hooking up. That means that your weekend is not interrupted by teachers talking or competitors performing. It means you never stop dancing.
• When you go to an exchange, you go to have fun and to meet people. Nobody has pressure on their shoulders (like at a competition). Everyone is there to share in fun, sweat and style.

An exchange is Lindy Hop at it’s purest form: social dancing. Read what Adam thinks about Lindy exchanges.

Let me know why you like dance exchanges.