How to start your collection of swinging jazz music
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.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:14 am
That ebay purchase is awesome. I think Lionel Hampton’s version of Flying Home swings the most.
August 5th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Yeah, I’m so happy I discovered those Proper sets on eBay.
LH’s version of Flying Home is definitely a classic jazz standard. As the story goes, Hampton was whistling the tune on an airplane in 1939, jittery about his first time flying. It was to help him take his mind off the nervousness. Benny Goodman asked him what the tune was called, and he said “We can call it ‘Flying Home,’ I guess.” And so the Benny Goodman Quartet played it that night, and the rest is — history.
The 1942 recording has the famous Illinois Jacquet solo on tenor sax. For those buying a Lionel Hampton record for the first time, look for this recording. It’s amazing!
I also really like the Charlie Barnet big band version off the Wicked Swing compilation. We use it often for the Big Apple.
September 12th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
I very highly recommend the Basie, Hampton and Bechet Proper sets, though almost every Proper set is worth the cost. The price is obviously a steal for that much music but in my opinion the greatest treasure of the Proper sets is the awesome liner notes/book that comes with each.
September 17th, 2007 at 9:51 am
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