Very Fast Songs

[russell]

Couldn't find a thread on this but maybe info buried somewhere:

We ran a competition last weekend where the final song should be in the range 280-330 bpm. I was checking my library and I don't have much at all that is suitable in that range. Suitable in that the music is interesting with energy and the sound quality good enough to use for a competition. What are your favourites in this tempo range that meet these criteria? Are there versions of Jumpin at the Woodside in this tempo range?

[trev]

I'd be looking at stuff like:

Jubilee Stomp - Duke Ellington 281bpm
Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie - Chick Webb 285bpm
Swing Is Here - Gene Krupa - 286bpm
Lafayette - Bennie Moten - 286bpm
Hotter Than 'Ell = Fletcher Henderson - 289bpm
Jumpin' At The Woodside - Count Basie - 290bpm (from Basie in London)
Casa Loma Stomp - Casa Loma Orchestra - 296bpm
Jangled Nerves - Fletcher Henderson - 289bpm
White Jazz - Casa Loma Orchestra - 299bpm
XYZ - Earl Hines - 299bpm
Hotter Than 'Ell - Fletcher Henderson - 299bpm
Harlem Congo - Chick Webb - 300bpm
Toby - Bennie Moten - 306bpm
I Found A New Baby - Count Basie - 306bpm
Jumpin' At The Woodside (live) - Count Basie - 308bpm (Live at the Sands)
Fan It - Woody Herman - 314bpm
White Heat - Jimmie Lunceford - 325bpm

[Surreal]

Tiger Rag - Louis Armstrong - 314 bpm

Poppity Pop Goes The Motorcycle - Royal Crown Revue - 340 bpm

Hot In Harlem - Indigo Swing - 286 bpm

Hoppin John - Cannonball Adderley - 302 bpm

And just for fun... Wipe Out - 310 bpm (if you double time it)

[fredo]

nice list trev. here's a couple more.

Lafayette - Kansas City Band (kc soundtrack) (270bpm)
Every Tub - Count Basie (280bpm)
Darktown Strutters Ball - Tiny Bradshaw (288bpm) (maybe not the best contest song, but still sweet)
Ride, Red, Ride - "Red" Allen (?? bpm) haha

[anton]

Every Tub - Count Basie (280bpm)

This would be the Roulette studio version, right?

[JesseMiner]

Here are some songs that meet your citeria (great energy and sound quality, classic swing recordings, high tempo, suitable for a competition, etc...):

The Metronome All-Stars - Bugle Call Rag (Summit Meetings) (260 bpm)
Count Basie - 7th Avenue Express (Complete RCA-Victor) (262 bpm)
Artie Shaw - Traffic Jam (Self Portrait) (270 bpm)
Chick Webb - Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie (Strictly Jive) (272 bpm)
Count Basie - Bugle Call Rag (Complete RCA-Victor) (290 bpm)
Tommy Dorsey - Swing High (Yes Indeed!) (300 bpm)
Chick Webb - Harlem Congo (Strictly Jive) (308 bpm)
Charlie Barnet - Drop Me Off In Harlem (Drop Me Off In Harlem) (310 bpm)
Tommy Dorsey - So What (Yes Indeed!) (310 bpm)
Tommy Dorsey - Hallelujiah (Yes Indeed!) (324 bpm)
Charlie Barnet - Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie (Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie) (324 bpm)
Glenn Miller - Bugle Call Rag (The Spirit Is Willing) (334 bpm) (though I might not use it due to the extended drum break near the end)

* Note: I started slightly lower with tempo because I did not want to leave out those few killer tunes. While there is not a great high energy version of "Jumping At The Woodside" that I would include in the list, "Seventh Avenue Express" captures a lot of the same raw swinging energy. In fact I used it for the final song at the Hellzapoppin' competition in NYC many years ago.

Jesse

[Lawrence]

What are your favourites in this tempo range that meet these criteria? Are there versions of Jumpin at the Woodside in this tempo range?

I don't have any "favorites" in this tempo range, but I do own several versions of Woodside over 300 BPM:

• Live! One O'Clock Jump (Laserlight) (Companion CD to this one)
  En Concert En Europe (aka "Paris Jazz Concert") (RTE)
  Satch and Josh (with Oscar Peterson) (Pablo) 324 BPM
  Count Basie In London (as mentioned)

That said, I frankly think that these versions all sound rushed and that the solo work on them is sloppy as a result. The "natural" tempo for that song maxes out in the 280s. Although it might seem like splitting hairs, that 20 BPM addition makes a difference.

[djstarr]

I played Jumpin' at the Woodside from Live at the Sands album once and got feedback from a dancer who I respect a lot and who can lindy hop at very fast tempos - he said that version was really hard to dance to for him and that the drum style obscured the beat. So I nixed that version from my playlist; why play it if it's hard to dance to?

[Mr Awesomer]

I played Jumpin' at the Woodside from Live at the Sands album once and got feedback from a dancer who I respect a lot and who can lindy hop at very fast tempos - he said that version was really hard to dance to for him and that the drum style obscured the beat. So I nixed that version from my playlist; why play it if it's hard to dance to?

Why nix it cause one person was having trouble with it? Any dancer worth their salt can deal with a slighty "obscured" beat.

This bugs me cause I had an "advanced" dancer once tell me something simular about a very simularly styled song. I told them: "No one else seemed to have a problem with it."

[dancin_hanson]

I'll just add one more to the lists above:

Mills Blue Rhythm Band - Red Rhythm - Mills Blue Rhythm Band 1933-1936 279 bpm

[Eyeball]

Glenn Miller - Keep 'Em Flying!
Glenn Miller - Introduction to a Waltz
Woody Herman - Caldonia
Benny Goodman - Bugle Call Rag
Tommy Dorsey - Deep River aka Dear Old Southland 4.5 minutes!
Fats Waller (and his Orchestra) - I Got Rhythm
Harry James - Avalon
Louis Armstrong - Swing That Music

[djstarr]

I played Jumpin' at the Woodside from Live at the Sands album once and got feedback from a dancer who I respect a lot and who can lindy hop at very fast tempos - he said that version was really hard to dance to for him and that the drum style obscured the beat. So I nixed that version from my playlist; why play it if it's hard to dance to?

Why nix it cause one person was having trouble with it? Any dancer worth their salt can deal with a slighty "obscured" beat.

This bugs me cause I had an "advanced" dancer once tell me something simular about a very simularly styled song. I told them: "No one else seemed to have a problem with it."

Specifically I like the classic Basie version the best and I think there are better fast songs [if you want to go up to 280 - 300] for jams. I also appreciated his opinion since I think he is one of the better rhythmic dancers [Joshua Welter]. If that was the only version of Jumpin' at the Woodside I owned then I might have kept it.

[kitkat]

I played Jumpin' at the Woodside from Live at the Sands album once and got feedback from a dancer who I respect a lot and who can lindy hop at very fast tempos - he said that version was really hard to dance to for him and that the drum style obscured the beat. So I nixed that version from my playlist; why play it if it's hard to dance to?

Why nix it cause one person was having trouble with it? Any dancer worth their salt can deal with a slighty "obscured" beat.

This bugs me cause I had an "advanced" dancer once tell me something simular about a very simularly styled song. I told them: "No one else seemed to have a problem with it."

Specifically I like the classic Basie version the best and I think there are better fast songs [if you want to go up to 280 - 300] for jams. I also appreciated his opinion since I think he is one of the better rhythmic dancers [Joshua Welter]. If that was the only version of Jumpin' at the Woodside I owned then I might have kept it.

Reuben, I know your comment was about a different song, but on the topic of that Jumpin at the Woodside--is that the live version you played at Showdown 2005 for the fast prelims all-skate? If so, I would say that a lot more than one person "seemed to have a problem" with it. I don't know how many complained about that one, but I was disgusted as a spectator--only, like, 2 couples out of all 15 or so could keep with the beat (and only one of those 2, if either, made it into the finals--I was pissed as a spectator at the judges for failing to flunk out people who were not on the beat every last note when there were 2 couples who managed to be on the beat every last note). So it "seemed" to me that at least 26 people had quite a big problem dancing to that song, no matter what the judges thought of the other aspects of their dancing!

Again, I know you're not talking about that song w/ your comment, but I have been very happy to have never watched another contest done to that song (if people'd been sorted out by staying on the beat--by "not having a problem" with that song--maybe I'd feel differently--but to me, it's just a way to torture those of us who can see the difference between feet & beat from the audience vantage point as we cringe inside, knowing it won't make a bit of difference about sorting out wheat from chaff and that we're therefore watching that off-beat dancing for no good reason at all)

[Mr Awesomer]

Reuben, I know your comment was about a different song, but on the topic of that Jumpin at the Woodside--is that the live version you played at Showdown 2005 for the fast prelims all-skate?

I would need to see video to recall 2005, however I do recall in the 2006 fast prelims all-skate I mistakenly played the wrong version of "Lester Leaps In" when I was unexpectedly asked to bump up tempos even higher at the last minute. Definitely cringe worthy, and I accepted the blame for that one ( though it wasn't completely my fault. )

You have to also keep in mind that by the time the all skate comes around, these dancers have already been beatin' to all hell. Then they are asked to dance an entire song in the 350 bpm range. It's not going to be pretty no matter what you give them at that point.

[Mr Awesomer]

Joshua Welter

I'm surprised he'd have a problem with Woodside Live @ Sands... I would think it's probably a matter of him preferring the classic version (as everyone does) rather then an actual dancability issue.

Edit: I just relistened to Woodside Live @ Sands to make sure I'm not off my rocker. Aside from shear exhaustion, it's very dancable with a easy to follow beat. Again, it's gotta be a matter of subconscious preference.