SwingDJs

I saw Manu posted and got all excited, since the brother never posts but then I remembered he posts as Spuds.

Kalman

I enjoyed listening to DJ's this past summer at Herrang. But I wouldn't attribute much of their variety just do their internationality (many of them were US Dj's).

One of the things I enjoyed is hearing versions from artists that were not from the US. There are a lot of fine and talented musicians in Europe playing Swing Music and I was glad that I was exposed to many of them. THroughout my stay in Europe I did a search for many of these artists which I would probably never heard unless I was there.

I regularly play some of these artists at dances and I must say, it's refreshing to hear old classics by new artists....specially when you have a German Singer trying to sing Ella Songs

Manu wrote:... but I was not in London for the LLX... Could not.

So I don't know who were there... May be Olivier (DJ BrotherSwing) or Paulo.. I have no idea...

A French chap called Laurence or Laurent definitely spun some tunes at the LLX Sunday party.

How exciting to see the LLX mentioned on Swing DJs message board...

Tom

Yeah I remember, Laurent told me he was going to be there...

Then it was this guy Laurence. I really liked the stuff he played.


Serg

If the music was Soul, Funky, oriented then he was the one...

Manu

Manu wrote:If the music was Soul, Funky, oriented then he was the one...

Manu

It was indeed.

In fact, we had 2 Frenchmen play - Laurent & Gontran both rocked sets.

I started playing Honky Tonk by James Brown because I first heard him playing. It became a very good song here in South Florida. People love it.

Serg

Hi all,

First post from a long time guest...

Noticed that someone (Serg?) said earlier that Aussie DJ's tend to stick generally to the classics and I just wanted to expand on that a little.

There's a real mixed bag in Australian DJ's, so we tend to get a bit of everything come out... Kind of like every other scene I'm sure. A lot of DJ's will stick to just classic swinging jazz, so the generalisation is pretty much correct, I guess.

My personal preference is 20's and 30's jazz so I favour classic artists like Lunceford, Millinder, Kirk, Webb, Armstrong, Bechet, Basie... etc. Of course, I can't play the music I like for a whole set and dancers here still love to cruise to loungey stuff, soul and the odd funky number.

Social dances here have had a lot more early jazz and 30's stuff of late, but I certainly wouldn't say that everyone's content with that. Lots of pressure on DJ's to keep a the variety in every set.

Choc Wheaton wrote: I can't play the music I like for a whole set

i think it is too bad if someone has to play, much less BUY, music that they don't like.

Choc Wheaton wrote:Social dances here have had a lot more early jazz and 30's stuff of late, but I certainly wouldn't say that everyone's content with that. Lots of pressure on DJ's to keep a the variety in every set.

I just feel there is SOOOOO much variety of styles, tempos and feelings of jazz music just from the swing era alone that it blows my mind that people who are excited to be doing a swing dance aren't content.

Also, if it was a live band (which is the optimal situation) you won't here them play an uptempo swing tune, followed by a groovy 60s piece, followed by a funk, followed by a soul.

I am not attacking you, i am sure you agree. this post isn't meant so much for you but just something i had to say

falty411 wrote: I just feel there is SOOOOO much variety of styles, tempos and feelings of jazz music just from the swing era alone that it blows my mind that people who are excited to be doing a swing dance aren't content.

Also, if it was a live band (which is the optimal situation) you won't here them play an uptempo swing tune, followed by a groovy 60s piece, followed by a funk, followed by a soul.

Exactly! I was having the same discussion recently with some folks who argued that DJing is all about "variety, variety, variety". I used the same argument that live gigs are much more narrow in their focus.

I think the perception of dancers at DJed events is that the DJ will provide a considerably wider range of music styles, in comparison to a live event. Dancers in fact, start to get very picky in regard to DJed events and music selection, so unfortunately as much as we DJs would like to draw parallels with live music, we have to be very careful to know how dancers view them differently.
I really like the reference in regard to verity with-in Genres and outside them. Verity is determined by the dancers so sometimes what sounds completely different to me, may sound very similar to someone else. Everyone listens to music very differently. As a DJ, I need to try to achieve some of this verity. I need to be able to pull out some great songs from multiple genres. That does mean I have to be a bit of a “Jack of all Trades” but I still have my preferred genres which will naturally be spun.
I think Choco is very spot-on, in regard to a rough generlisation of what DJing is like, in some of Australia anyway.
As a DJ I always have to remember that I have to play to the dancers. If I played what I really love at the moment, I know I’d have close to empty dance floors. That doesn’t mean I don’t get to play some music I love.
As my experience in DJing, now over the past 3 years, I’m really starting to discover how much there is in DJing FOR the Dancers. Also, going into a Set with an intention of playing “x” music Style/Song is going to cause you more problems then solve them.
DJing in Australia has come a long way in the past few years. We still have the good and the bad, but I would say the some of the good are up to a similar standard to some of the best in the US.

Brian

I am not attacking you, i am sure you agree.

The thought never crossed my mind, but thanks for clarifying anyway

Putting further thought into it, I would nevr buy or play something I didn't like, but sometimes I will play tracks that I know the dancers will like even though I don't like them AS MUCH as my preferred tracks. Just have to be balanced with it.

I think there's still a long way to go with widening musical tastes down here... in Melbourne at least. A large segment of dancers here just aren't used to some of the early swingin' jazz and are gradually being exposed to it. They don't hear that sort of music in class and become confused when they hear it on the social floor (usually the newer dancers). I think things are on the right path though. A lot of the Lindy Hop teachers, myself included, are consciously using earlier jazz tracks in class, rather than relying on the clear recordings you get with something a bit more modern.

I just realised I used the word verity with out putting the word “Balanced” in front of it. Too much verity can be just as bad as too little verity.
Choco, I believe, by acknowledging the above problem you mentioned we are half way to resolving it. I also think it’s an issue with a lot of scenes and not just Melbourne, so we ain’t alone.

Brian

brian, you're killing me. :o) "variety". ("verity" exists, but it's the quality of realness, authenticity.)

and (closer to) on topic: i actually don't like dancing to live music exactly because there is less variety. i grew up with dj'ed music, and i prefer it. i know that's considered heresy in certain circles, but...hey, there you go. i appreciate the band-dancer interaction, but really, nothing beats the last night at this year's london lindy exchange, music wise.