alain’s dance blog

Our friends from Albany did a great job this weekend with the Albany Chill Lindy Hop exchange. I went down this weekend with a group of Montrealers, and we had a great time. Albany dancers rock!

The Saturday night band was amazing. The lineup featured the fabulous Barbara Morrison and an inspired band led by Gordon Webster on piano, Roland Barber on trombone, Brianna Thomas on vocals, Elias Bailey on bass and George Reed on drums. The energy at the dance was just unbelievable.

Gordon played at SONH a few weeks ago, and he’s a dancer so he knows what we like. This summer he released a CD featuring slow blues danceable songs. And let’s not forget the lovely Barbara Morrison - she’s just amazing. If you’ve never heard her, pick up the 9:20 Special album which is filled with dancer-friendly tracks.

Great job, Albany!!!

The New York Palladium-Times reports that Ramona Noel Staffeld will appear at the Oswego IDOL fundraiser.

The Pittsburg Post-Gazette published a nice article on Coal Country Traditions, a nonprofit organization in Pittsburgh with the mission to preserve many styles of dance, including swing.

And most interesting mention of Lindy Hop this week was found in the Edmonton Journal, where freelance music reporter Mari Sasano mentions Lindy Hop in a K-OS show preview. Seemingly out-of-nowhere.

Toronto-based k-os makes songs that are smart, but also infectiously dance-able. Who didn’t do the lindy-hop to Crabbuckit in 2004

On a side note, there are two awesome events happening this weekend near Montreal. The Canadian Balboa Championship run by Jason Herron, and the Albany Chill Lindy Hop exchange run by our friends in Albany. Both events are a three hour drive away. I’ll be in Albany for Barbara Morrison and Gordon Webster!

Here are my top 5 favorite Sidney Bechet tunes for dancing Lindy Hop and Charleston

1. Favorite slow: “Egyptian Fantasy” 104 bpm
2. Favorite midtempo: “Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho” 179 bpm
3. Favorite fast: “When The Saints Go Marching” 252 bpm
4. Favorite fast jam: “Shake It And Break It” 218 bpm
5. Favorite all around: “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me” 143 bpm

Let me know what you think of these songs, and which Sidney Bechet songs you would have put on this list.

Past Top Song posts: My Top 5 Count Basie songs, My Top 5 Duke Ellington songs

Some of you were surprised to discover that I paint on t-shirts - I remember now that I took down my t-shirt website a while ago. So here goes… the first in a series of handpainted t-shirts by yours truly, inspired by Lindy Hop dancers.

This one depicts the Solo Charleston dance-off at Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown 2006 between Max Pitruzzella and Sharon Davis. Max had injured his right arm, so he danced with his arm in his shirt. To me, this was a truly memorable moment. Sharon tore down the house with her gutsy performance (and yes, she won).

Can’t wait for Showdown this year. In two weeks!

The Harlem Hotshots on Sweden’s version of America’s Got Talent. The dancers are Sakarias Larsson and Frida Segerdahl, Daniel Heedman and Åsa Palm, Mattias Lundmark and Hanna Zetterman.