SwingDJs

A few artists with good stuff on there that I see in my downloads directory are Bill Elliott, Carmen McRae, Basie, Dave Frishberg, Ella, Ellington, Fats Waller, Fletcher Henderson, Helen Humes, Irene Reid, Jimmy Rushing, Jimmy Scott, Joe Williams, Junior Mance, Ken Peplowski, Kenny Burrell, Hamp, Lo...

Yeah, I love "Gravy Waltz" and "The Jitterbug Waltz". Another good, though long, version of the latter is Roland Kirk's. Folks seem to have fun with it when I play it, but not everyone is brave enough to attempt it so I don't usually play it last unless I go into overtime. I want...

I agree that planned jams (other than birthday jams & such) aren't really in the proper spirit. I will occasionally try to ignite one when I'm DJing, though, by playing an appropriate song, clapping, getting on the floor myself, etc. I find that playing a good jammable tune after folks do a Big ...

I mostly like to keep politics off the dance floor, too. I've played Bill Elliot's "Swinging Stars & Stripes" on a few appropriate occasions (e.g. July 4th). I don't really consider that a "political" song, though in the current context I can see how it might be construed tha...

I guess there's nothing wrong with mixing in a little neo-swing now and again. But if I want music that "fun" and has lots of "energy", I tend to look to Cab Calloway, Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, et al., or a newer act like Bill Elliott, rather than to neo-swing groups. Playin...

I used Bruce Cockburn's cover of Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" for the first half of a jam recently. It's not exactly a tune that will fit for everyone, but it worked surprisingly well in this particular case... I got jammed to Dany Doriz' "Vine Street Ramble...

Thanks for the review, Larry. DiscT@2 sounds like fun--I miss the fun little messages that used to get etched onto the inner groove of LPs...

AFAIK, the only CD players I've used that could cue to the index were some sweet ones--I think from Denon--that were designed for broadcast applications. They would also cue to the freakin' millisecond, which is great for comedy and stuff--seems it's harder to cue accurately with typical home units ...

I like Wil Smith. He raps happy.

No, seriously. You can Shim Sham to "Gettin' Jiggy With It" and "Da Butter" is a sweet WCS tune...

Here in Connecticut we very often end Swing dances with a Waltz. "Rainbow Connection", either Kermit the Frog's or Kenny Loggins' version, is a nice way to end a night. A local favorite is "The Lover's Waltz" by Jay Ungar & Molly Mason. (Peter Davis and some of the other LHH ...

If there's a beginner lesson that night, I tend to start with slower rather than faster stuff. Once the room starts filling with experienced dancers, then I kick up the tempos and the complexity of the music.

I love Harry James, but damn! if when his front line kicks in don't I always run for the volume knob! ;) I need a compander/compressor thingie for my DJ setup. Anyone know of a decent cheap one? Yeah, I know, those things can be abused, but I'm talking about just trying not to make folks' ears bleed...

I have no problem fading (and segueing) Disco, Hip Hop, and such, but generally don't care for it with Jazz.

Well, it's about time I made my way over here to the web discussion... I've been reporting haphazardly to Alan's charts at swingtop40.com, but frankly it's such a PITA that I'm not surprised few DJs seem to bother. I just started reporting to a new site, though, and those of you with Internet "...