SwingDJs

julius wrote:Just out of curiosity, have any of you ever DJed a dance/event with some of the oldtimers (Dawn, Frankie, Norma, etc.) and asked them afterwards what they thought about the music? I can't decide if they'd be brutally honest or polite, and also I'd be interested in hearing what their evolution in musical taste is like. (I've heard Dawn's lecture on bhangra.)

Actually, they would be (have been) both brutally honest AND polite.

I vote for Brutally honest.

If you want the most brutal and unsolicited opinion, just DJ at an event where Lanza is at

GemZombie wrote:I vote for Brutally honest.

If you want the most brutal and unsolicited opinion, just DJ at an event where Lanza is at

Who is/was worse? Lanza or the late Bernie D.?

Haydn wrote:

trev wrote:Dawn is not afraid to tell it like she sees it. She was slamming the Seattle DJs after the Masters event for playing too much early jazz that doesn't (in her opinion) swing.

Any idea which bands and periods she was referring to?

She wasn't specific, but I got the impression she prefers 50s Basie over say, 30s Fletcher Henderson (for example).

trev wrote:

Haydn wrote:

trev wrote:Dawn is not afraid to tell it like she sees it. She was slamming the Seattle DJs after the Masters event for playing too much early jazz that doesn't (in her opinion) swing.

Any idea which bands and periods she was referring to?

She wasn't specific, but I got the impression she prefers 50s Basie over say, 30s Fletcher Henderson (for example).

I have gotten the same impression from Dawn when I met her at Herrang. 50s-60s swingin big bands are right in her pocket. When I played a 60s Buddy Rich recording she was applauding after the song.

LazyP wrote: 50s-60s swingin big bands are right in her pocket. When I played a 60s Buddy Rich recording she was applauding after the song.

That's a short list...especially the 60s.

'60s swingin' big bands' is pretty much an oxymoron.

In her lecture, I've heard her use 'For Dancers Only', and I think it was the Jimmie Lunceford 1930s original.

I can't speak for Dawn and wasn't at the event, but there is a big difference between swing and hot jazz. I think some hot jazz fans don't even consider swing as a form of jazz.

Both sides are being ridiculous. It's all jazz. People, including Dawn, need to be a little more open minded about jazz. It is a very broad spectrum of musical style.

I not advocating that you like or prefer all of it. Just that you consider it. She should not bust people for playing hot jazz just because she doesn't like it. And vice versa. If she prefers new testament Basie- good for her.

But hot jazz can swing, and big band swing can also be jazz. It's all in there if your mind is open to it and your ears can hear it.

CafeSavoy wrote:I can't speak for Dawn and wasn't at the event, but there is a big difference between swing and hot jazz. I think some hot jazz fans don't even consider swing as a form of jazz.

You can go back and read articles from the 1930s and see that the lovers of the 'real Jazz' would sneer at Swing music and felt it was beneath them.

The only thing I now keep in mind when I read those comments is that many of them were written by young guys in their 20s who were very dedicated to what they loved and felt that everything else counted for little.

When you are that age and that obsessed with your love, that's the way you think. You tend to blow off a lot of good stuff out of doctrine and ignorance.

Albert System wrote:Both sides are being ridiculous. It's all jazz. People, including Dawn, need to be a little more open minded about jazz. It is a very broad spectrum of musical style.

I not advocating that you like or prefer all of it. Just that you consider it. She should not bust people for playing hot jazz just because she doesn't like it. And vice versa. If she prefers new testament Basie- good for her.

But hot jazz can swing, and big band swing can also be jazz. It's all in there if your mind is open to it and your ears can hear it.

Oh...is there some type of a 'rivalry' going on between "both sides"?