balboa/shag music recommendations

[Matthew]

*snip*

I'm a new Bal dancer, but to me there's a smooth feeling to songs that make you want to dance Bal. And if the music has more of a vertical lilt rather than horizontal flow. *snip*

Rayned, that smooth feeling that you mention made me think of a Bal-related experience I had. It was late in the night, I had started spinning with almost nobody left, and I put on "Landing" (clip) by Moby, as an experiment. I was expecting to see some slow, smooth Lindy, but the only couple doing much with it was trying Bal. Given the song, I thought it seemed like a weird choice, but now I think that perhaps they were hearing some of what you hear (albeit in a very different genre).

[CafeSavoy]

Hey - Rayned. Doug here. We met at All Bal. Ya Kirby. I love to Bal to Kirby. To Lindy at 200 BPM I want a song with very high energy. And a lot of Kirby's up tempo tunes don't seem to have it. But balboa is much more accommodating.

Hi Doug. Say hi to Betzi. Yep, Kirby has such a mellow feeling, it's sometimes deceptive, you don't notice at first how fast some of the songs are. It's interesting how energy is a different component than speed.

[Greg Avakian]

I don't particularly like Bal and really don't like collegate Shag, but of course I try to be accomadating. Having said that, I think I have a sense of the Bal pulse, but I could be way wrong. here is my Bal/Shag mix, if anyone would like to suggest what I should cut from the mix, i'd appreaciate the feedback. Your comments don't have to be kind, I'd rather get honest feedback so I can do a better job.

BALBOA / SHAG
TITLE TIME ARTIST BPM
1 Apollo jumps (mod) 3:00 Glen gray/Casa loma orch 268
2 Avalon 3:05 Django Reinhardt 260
3 Blow Top 2:55 Count Basie 262
4 Bugle Call Rag 2:42 Django Reinhardt 222
5 Can You Take It? 2:51 Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra 264
6 Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley 2:28 Chick Webb & His Orchestra 286
7 Cottontail (mod) 3:54 Harry James 298
8 Diga Diga Doo 2:02 Al Hirt 232
9 Down South Camp Meeting 2:57 Benny Goodman 176
10 Every Tub 2:56 Count Baise 284
11 Fantail (mod) 2:56 Count Basie 220
12 Flight of the Foo Birds (mod) 3:08 Count Basie 272
13 Flip Flop and Fly 3:30 Count Basie / Joe Turner 192
14 Flying Home (mod) 6:15 Duke Ellington 208
15 Four or Five Times 2:51 Lionel Hampton & His Orc 204
16 I got rhythm 2:41 Slim and Slam 298
17 Limehouse Blues 3:14 Glen Gray 312
18 Moten Stomp 2:45 Fletcher Henderson 224
19 Rhythm of the Tambourine 2:41 Fletcher Henderson 268
20 Sing You Sinners 2:43 Fletcher Henderson 200
21 Sing, Sing, Sing 2:32 Fletcher Henderson 224
22 Sweet Georgia Brown 4:10 Benny goodman 222
23 Swingtime in the rockies (mod) 4:04 224
24 Tempo and Swing 3:24 Lionel Hampton & His Orc 292

The word (mod) refers to the piece of music having a modern sound -ie not vintage. I specificly chose some modern versions of songs so I'd have a few high quality sound recordings. I'd prefer to play early swing for Bal dancers, but if the sound system sucks, I'd hope these would be good substitutes?

[Doug]

Greg - I haven't really considered your specific song list (I will), but first a generic comment re tempos. I DJed band breaks at Bal Rendezvous and played only a couple of songs over 200 and a LOT in the 185-200 bpm range. I got no complaints and the organizers (and a couple of the old time balboa dancers who were there) actually thanked me for that. The band admittedly was playing some fast numbers. But Bal is especially nice in the 185-220 bpm range, meaning that one can be mellow and just dance and have a good time all night. I think of this as corresponding to the 130-160 Lindy tempo range. Stuff over 240 or so gets harder to dance socially with people that you haven't danced with previously - at least this is true for me: Think Lindy at 190+.. Other balboa dancer/dj opinions??

[Mr Awesomer]

Yes, good Bal music has that certain feeling to it, and tempo has nothing to do with that feeling. I've always preferred Bal at slower tempos... 120ish even. Songs from Greg's list would make me want to Lindy Hop, though I'd prefer less standards.

[Greg Avakian]

Thanks, I should have said that I have lots of "fast lindy" music in the 180-240 zone.

As a generalisation, relatively few people are going to Lindy Hop at 260+, so I was looking for stuff that would be more Bal feeling. At slower tempos I think one could just follow the rule of just playing good lindy music and letting people choose. I would think a jenky version of Moten swing/You're driving me crazy" would make a lot of people want to do Bal at a really slow tempo...?

Meanwhile, I have been in a few situations where people asked for fast music for Bal, so that's what I was aiming for.

I totally agree it's not just about tempo. As an example -and maybe I'm completely wrong- I would play Basie's "Yeah man" (308 BPM) to get Andy Reid to go nuts doing swing outs -but I just don't hear it so much as a Bal.

(Sample here)

[Doug]

There is an interesting thing with energy at high tempo. It seems to me that "fast lindy" music generally wants to be high energy. It makes you want to do Charleston, to MOVE. A lot of good balboa music can be uptempo but lower energy. Consider the example of Kirby that Rayned & I were talking about earlier. I don't hear much Kirby, especially uptempo Kirby, played for fast lindy. OTOH, he works well for balboa. And if I play a way high energy song like Jumpin' at the Woodside, I expect to see more Lindy than Balboa.

Similarly, there are a lot of other mellow small group sessions - Johnny Hodges for example, that don't have the Lindy energy for me but really feel good to dance Balboa to. It seems that there is indeed a characteristic lilt that is more important than raw energy for bal.

But opinions ceratinly may differ.

[GemZombie]

Ya, i'm finding more and more that fast music makes me want to lindy... so i'm of the same mindset as Reuben there.

Slower Songs (well medium tempo) with moderate energy often inspires a little bal, or lower energy sections in fast tempo songs will do the same.

One of these days i'll try to make a list of songs that i end up bal-ing to and see if there's a pattern.

[russell]

I mentioned this on balboanation but there might be more traffic here
I read really good reports about the DJed music (and the live music) at the recent All Bal Weekend and was wondering if some of the DJs were prepared to post playlists (or send them directly to me). I am getting a little tired of my current balboa selection and need some inspiration
Any contributions greatly accepted.
(any comments about what made the music so great would be helpful too)

[zzzzoom]

I have dj'ed at All Bal for a couple of years now and this year, I dj'ed two sets - both on Sunday night. The first one was called 'Bal for Tired Feet' and was all slower tempos. The second one was all Chick Webb (we had a 'battle of the bands' between Chick, Count Basie and Benny Goodman)

I may have played some of these for the Bal for Tired Feet (I didn't save a list of what was played)


Bouncing Rhythm - Skeets Tolbert 154
I Hate to Talk About Myself - Fats Waller 156
Bojangles (Alternate Take) - Duke Ellington 162
Rug Cutter's Swing - Glenn Miller 162
Stop Look And Listen Tommy Dorsey - 162
STRICTLY SWING - ERSKINE HAWKINS & HIS ORCH 163
Sun Valley Jump - Glenn Miller and his Orchestra 164
Strictly Jive - Chick Webb 169
ROCKIN' ROLLER'S JUBILEE - ERSKINE HAWKINS & HIS ORCH 169
Dunkin' A Doughnut - Andy Kirk 170
ME, MYSELF AND I - BOB HOWARD & HIS ORCH 170
Help Me - Edgar Hayes - 170
Breakin' In A Pair Of Shoes - Frankie Trumbauer 170
Queen Isabella Edgar Hayes & Orchestra - 171
The Apple Jump - Count Basie 172
Keep The Rhythm Going - Mills Blue Rhythm Band 172
DISAPPOINTED IN LOVE - EARL HINES & HIS ORCHESTRA 173
HERE WE GO AGAIN - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra 174
ONE O'CLOCK JUMP - METRONOME ALL STAR BAND 174
I'VE A STRANGE NEW RHYTHM IN MY HEART - ARTIE SHAW 175
Zaggin' with Zig - Ziggy Elman 175
WALKIN' THE DOG - BUNNY BERIGAN & HIS ORCH 176
Feedin' the "Bean" - Count Basie 176
SCATTIN' AT THE KIT KAT - DUKE ELLINGTON & HIS ORCH 176
Blue Lou [Take 3] - Metronome All Stars 176
Shuffle Rhythm - Jan Savitt And His Top Hatters 177
JUBILEE SWING - ELLA FITZGERALD & HER ORCH 178
Full Dress Hop - Gene Krupa 178
Sweetheart Honey Darlin' Dear - Gene Krupa 178
Peckin' - Benny Goodman 179
When Buddha Smiles - Benny Goodman 180
The Right Idea Charlie Barnet - 180
Rump Steak Serenade - Fats Waller 180
I'll Always Be in Love With You - Fletcher Henderson 180
JUKE BOX JUMP - GEORGIE AULD ORCH 182
MINNIE THE MOOCHER'S WEDDING DAY - BENNY GOODMAN 183
MISS ANNABELLE LEE - CHARLIE BARNET & HIS ORCH 183
Jivin' With Jarvis - Lionel Hampton 185
Tuesday at Ten - Count Basie 186
Good Morning - Jan Savitt 186
Blue Minor - Mora's Modern Rhythmists 186
Swing '02 - The Royal Garden Trio 186
Jeep Jockey Jump - Glenn Miller 187
HIP CHIC - DUKE ELLINGTON'S FAMOUS ORCH 188

[dogpossum]

I have dj'ed at All Bal for a couple of years now and this year, I dj'ed two sets - both on Sunday night. The first one was called 'Bal for Tired Feet' and was all slower tempos. The second one was all Chick Webb (we had a 'battle of the bands' between Chick, Count Basie and Benny Goodman)

I may have played some of these for the Bal for Tired Feet (I didn't save a list of what was played)


Bouncing Rhythm - Skeets Tolbert 154
I Hate to Talk About Myself - Fats Waller 156
...

I would have loved to have heard that set... and danced to it!