SwingDJs

Lawrence wrote:The horrifying, shocking truth, though, is that the lack of swing does not make them "unLindyHoppable."

In the end, this sums up the entire thread.

mousethief wrote:

Lawrence wrote:Just as Nathan commented last night at how Kalman's remarks make him seem NOTHING like the diverse, open-minded, dare I say...

Dare! Dare!

You get the same language from me in public too!

Kalman:

When I was talking to Lawrence last night, I did not intend for my comment to get posted on the Board.

I won't bother to clarify things on this Board, I will tell you exactly what I said and what I meant in person next week in New Orleans.



Nathan

Lawrence wrote:
The difference is between your sets and what you write, here, not between your sets and "you." Your posts often make you appear to be worse than Harrison in how much vintage music you play. (Now watch, just to spite me, he'll pull the excessive "nothing but vintage music" extreme theme the next time I see him. )

I DJ more than exchanges. Dallas has a very diverse and very successful scene.

Advocating a larger mix of up-tempo and original recipes pieces should not be that surprising. I can't believe it's anathema to want more Old Testament Basie at the risk of less Oscar Peterson or what-have-you.

For the record, I watch two things several times a week. One is Hellzapoppin'. The other is Jenn & Justin doing Oscar Peterson's "Moten Swing." I don't need anything else.

I'm there because of the dancers, not the other way around. As a DJ, I never want to become so enraptured with my own greatness that I'm spinning for myself. However, that doesn't mean that I want to DJ something that doesn't swing either.

I am DJing the following events the 1st half of '04:

• Lindygras
  Atlanta
  Las Vegas
  Tulsa

Each one of these will be vastly different, based on my read of the floor and what the organizers want. Vegas wanted a token "groove" DJ, but I told them that I wanted to play swing - maybe not Reuben's brand, but something in the same vein so that the dancers did not get shortchanged. If I went from exchange to exchange playing the same songs, bleagh. Just bleagh.

So, I include a lot of older material in my sets. A lot of it doesn't sound that way. "Blackstick" is one of my fave "period" Bechet pieces but it sounds like a post-war jazz combo. But each time I hit the magic green button, it's done with the intent of maximizing the evening for the dancers. And I never want to get so far from my history that I can't nod back to the era that got us here.

Kalman

Nate Dogg wrote:
Kalman:

When I was talking to Lawrence last night, I did not intend for my comment to get posted on the Board.

Nathan

No sweat.

You're not the first person to notice. My local sets are not my exchange sets. It's a lot easier to play "Doggin' Around" at 2130 than at 0300.

Not that you shouldn't be able to do it then either.

Kalman