ECS/Lindy/WCS - Bridging the Gap

[funkyfreak]

Baiting???

Perhaps that's just my overgeneralization of it?

-FF

[mousethief]

yours would like high-energy fast music, whereas mine would like music you could sink you teeth into and doesn't fly by too fast to enjoy.

There is a significant crowd that wants exactly the opposite, and really enjoys hearing accessible swing music...

Italics mine. Baiting yours.

-FF

Oh Jesus. Good call, FF.

Kalman

[julius]

If, in the end, you think your newbies want groove and I think my newbies want something more energetic, then we will have to agree to disagree. Not having experienced the Austin scene, I can't say exactly what your newbies are like.

But in all my travels I have mostly seen high energy music get beginners on the floor.

[julius]

I understand your point about high-energy music attracting people, but most of those people would have been roped in through the Neo Swing craze six years ago if high-energy music was what they wanted.

I don't see why a fad from six years ago would rope in everybody who wanted to dance to high energy music. As fads go, it wasn't exactly culturally all-pervasive. Plus six years ago some of LA's newbies were, uh, 12?

[mousethief]

Even better, those same beginners still come to me with requests from 5+ years ago.

Can I hear Zoot Suit Riot? No? Then Jump, Jive & Wail? No?? Then something by Brian Setzer? Aw jeez, nothing?

Kalman

[Nate Dogg]

Even better, those same beginners still come to me with requests from 5+ years ago.

Can I hear Zoot Suit Riot? No? Then Jump, Jive & Wail? No?? Then something by Brian Setzer? Aw jeez, nothing?

Kalman

It depends on what kind of newbie you are dealing with.

For me, for jitterbug/east coast swing/jitterbug beginners, the more six count friendly the song is, the easier it is for beginning leads. A lot of neo swing, classic swing, and jump blues fits into this category. A good portion of so-called groove music does not.

However, if they are newbie lindy dancers taking lindy lessons and so forth. The music selection is very different. In that case, the so-called groove music does work better for the new dancers. Since, they can do their swing out slower, etc ....

As a rule of thumb, I think back to how I would have danced to a track back when I was a beginner, as well as what the song does for me as an experienced dancer.

Often times, when I am in a room filled with people who only know six count and they just learned it that night, I will go back to what I danced to when I was in their shoes, than means neo-swing, old rock n' roll, jump blues, faster swing that you can six count to, etc... In fact, that was exactly what I did last Saturday when I was in San Antonio. The experienced dancers who frown upon such music selections are usually not in the room to be offended. Typically, as they start to show up, I start to play more lindy centric music.

[Lawrence]

As a rule of thumb, I think back to how I would have danced to a track back when I was a beginner, as well as what the song does for me as an experienced dancer.

Often times, when I am in a room filled with people who only know six count and they just learned it that night, I will go back to what I danced to when I was in their shoes, than means neo-swing, old rock n' roll, jump blues, faster swing that you can six count to, etc...

If we all merely thought back to the way we interpreted swing when we were beginners, then the scene won't evolve, learning curves won't diminish over time, and we'll be stuck trying to recruit people ten years from now with music that recruited us ten years ago. Or we would all end up dancing like Nathan when he was a beginner.

I agree with using that experience as a factor, but not as a guiding beacon that solely controls what you play. Perhaps there are faster or better routes up the same mountain than the one you took.

[Lawrence]

I understand your point about high-energy music attracting people, but most of those people would have been roped in through the Neo Swing craze six years ago if high-energy music was what they wanted.

I don't see why a fad from six years ago would rope in everybody who wanted to dance to high energy music. As fads go, it wasn't exactly culturally all-pervasive. Plus six years ago some of LA's newbies were, uh, 12?

It was pervasive enough when it was a part of the halftime show at the Superbowl, but, yes, I do keep forgetting how young some people are....

[mousethief]

And pervasive enough to be a national commercial, as well. Unfortunately, one argument does not prove or disprove the other.

Kalman

[falty411]

In my 5 years of Djing I have never heard a newbie request Harris' version of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", Rod Stewart's "Having a Party" off his Unplugged disc, or any other "with a rich, deep, hard-grooving swing".

What I have heard requests for from newbies:

Sing Sing Sing
Jump Jive and Wail
Jumpin at the Woodside
Shout and Feel It
Zoot Suit Riot
Go Daddy-O
"That song" off of the Swing Kids Soundtrack
etc....

[yedancer]

In my 5 years of Djing I have never heard a newbie request Harris' version of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", Rod Stewart's "Having a Party" off his Unplugged disc, or any other "with a rich, deep, hard-grooving swing".

What I have heard requests for from newbies:

Sing Sing Sing
Jump Jive and Wail
Jumpin at the Woodside
Shout and Feel It
Zoot Suit Riot
Go Daddy-O
"That song" off of the Swing Kids Soundtrack
etc....

HAHA. That's exactly what I was going to point out.

[Nate Dogg]

If we all merely thought back to the way we interpreted swing when we were beginners, then the scene won't evolve, learning curves won't diminish over time, and we'll be stuck trying to recruit people ten years from now with music that recruited us ten years ago. Or we would all end up dancing like Nathan when he was a beginner.

I agree with using that experience as a factor, but not as a guiding beacon that solely controls what you play. Perhaps there are faster or better routes up the same mountain than the one you took.

Who said I was trying to recruit with it?

I don't recall saying that my past experience is guiding beacon that soley controls what I play. The rule of thumb I did mention is that I try see things from the dancer's point of view. When the room is all newbies, that is the viewpoint that matters the most.

[CafeSavoy]

Basie is my number one pick for any dance, Old or New or Atomic. I find that I enjoy older over newer but that might not always manifest itself in my sets.

Kalman

i agree with though that there's alot of fluff in the basie recordings. i ripped about 1500 songs and less than 600 will make my book. Actually i'm hoping to get it down to less than 400.

[CafeSavoy]

I think that faster, high-energy music is more attractive to newbies. This is based on personal observation over the past year or so.

Cool. Just curious since it seems some of this discussion is just folks projecting their tastes on newbies. I tend to agree that music with energy and clear rhythms seem to work better; also interesting lyrics. Which is probably why Buddy Johnson was probably the most popular band of his day. It is interesting that many jazz fans tend to look down on jump and rock'n'roll but they probably will draw more people than some of the more esoteric genres both old and new.

[funkyfreak]

It is interesting that many jazz fans tend to look down on jump and rock'n'roll but they probably will draw more people than some of the more esoteric genres both old and new.

This can be very true because of the reasons you mentioned.

-FF