SwingDJs

Anyone have any luck or experience playing a song that goes into doubletime halfway thru?

I'm finding some good songs, but I'd think they would turn off beginners or casual dancers - especially ones who don't care for faster music in the first place.

Rayned plays them from time-to-time on a Wednesday night @ k2. Definitely for the more advanced crowd who doesn't mind having a little fun. I personally enjoy them.

mark0tz wrote: Definitely for the more advanced crowd who doesn't mind having a little fun. I personally enjoy them.

I know plenty of beginners that enjoy "a little fun" as well.....hehehe

What sometimes works better instead is a song that goes into half time partway through, then kicks back into normal time. I guess I'm thinking of "Ain't Misbehaving" by Maxine Sullivan at the moment. I quite like that song.

I can't think of a song that I enjoy such a drastic change in tempo. I enjoy it when the tempo kicks up a bit or slows down a bit to change the feeling of the song up--e.g.Oscar Peterson's D&E and Gene Harris' "Summertime"--but cutting it in half or doubling the tempo is too much of a change. It throws me off as a dancer, even though it might be more appropriate or fitting, musically.

there are a bunch of songs that normally start slow, kick up in tempo and then slow down again. an example is "after you're gone." what's more common is songs that start slow for a minute and then speed up. ella's "how how the moon" would be an example.

Nando wrote:Anyone have any luck or experience playing a song that goes into doubletime halfway thru?

I'm finding some good songs, but I'd think they would turn off beginners or casual dancers - especially ones who don't care for faster music in the first place.

what are some of the ones you've discovered?

Well, since I've just gotten my home computer and finally started getting my collection ripped and I'm in the middle of categorizing and checking BPMs (which I still hate BTW, but at least it's getting me to listen carefully to all my songs.) I heard a couple, but the only one I can find right now from ruffling thru my notes is Ella Fitzgerald's 'How High the Moon' from the Decca collection. The first verse is 164 but then changes to 224, which isn't double time, but it's enough to probably turn off some dancers if they're happy in the slower speeds.

I'll try and hunt down the others and let you know at HJDF!

Ron wrote:What sometimes works better instead is a song that goes into half time partway through, then kicks back into normal time. I guess I'm thinking of "Ain't Misbehaving" by Maxine Sullivan at the moment. I quite like that song.

I've got a badass Fats Waller recording of Ain't Misbehaving that does the same thing.

Personally, I love playing stuff like this- but I have to remember not to go overboard. The crowd has to be right for it. If it's mostly beginners, I shy away from them- although I might play one or two. If there are mostly experienced dancers I feel alot more confident playing them.

They usually go over pretty well, although I'll occasionally see a pained look from someone who ends up doing half time east coast with a beginner 'cause they didn't know the song was going to kick up a notch.

There's a Bechet song called "Characteristic Blues" that does it, with commentary "You done woke up too much now! slow that thing down.. that's right, now ya got me in the mood.".. I think the only time I ever played it was actually at a house party with dancing, cuz I wanted to dance to it.. I'll hafta experiment with it sometime..

The version of "Take the 'A' Train" from Uptown, Duke Ellington, has both double time, and half time all in one. It's rather long, and so I actually might snip it once the half-time comes in (somewhere around 4:30), but it's a fun version nonetheless.

However, the entire CD was so poorly produced!!! The recording quality is wretched. The executive producer, George Avakian, should really find another line of work.

OK end sarcasm. The CD is great, the recording quality is top notch, the selections make for a very fun ride, and I'm definitely going to actively seek out more George Avakian productions in the future. Turns out I already have a few... e.g., Joe Williams at Newport '63. Greg, your dad is cool

mark0tz wrote:The version of "Take the 'A' Train" from Uptown, Duke Ellington, has both double time, and half time all in one. It's rather long, and so I actually might snip it once the half-time comes in (somewhere around 4:30), but it's a fun version nonetheless.

However, the entire CD was so poorly produced!!! The recording quality is wretched. The executive producer, George Avakian, should really find another line of work.

OK end sarcasm. The CD is great, the recording quality is top notch, the selections make for a very fun ride, and I'm definitely going to actively seek out more George Avakian productions in the future. Turns out I already have a few... e.g., Joe Williams at Newport '63. Greg, your dad is cool

Hehe ...I didn't see this thread until now.
Thanks, I'll tell him, but I think he already knows. I would love to drag him out for a Q&A session, but you know that would take time and blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, I was going to recomend an over played song that so many people still seem to love -especially beginners: "Darktown strutters ball" by Alberta Hunter. Her album "Amtrack blues" is a great CD.

Greg Avakian wrote:Anyway, I was going to recomend an over played song that so many people still seem to love -especially beginners: "Darktown strutters ball" by Alberta Hunter. Her album "Amtrack blues" is a great CD.

yes, a guy here this summer from Chicago brought this CD to Sonny's and played "Sweet Georgia Brown" off of it - I liked it enough to go out and buy it - maybe I'll try my luck tonight with "Darktown Strutters Ball"

I love Alberta Hunter's stuff. She has another good version of Darktown Strutters' Ball on her Downhearted Blues, Live at the Cookery CD. It's a has be added energy of being a live recording.

Toon Town Dave wrote:I love Alberta Hunter's stuff. She has another good version of Darktown Strutters' Ball on her Downhearted Blues, Live at the Cookery CD. It's a has be added energy of being a live recording.

cool. Yeah, the version off of Amtrak Blues went over really well; it's also such a cool song in general - I haven't heard a version of it that I don't like yet.