Shorty Dave wrote:I was just curious what are some of your favorite birthday jam songs. This of course being for people you don't know and have no reason to play something specific for them
Quite often when DJing, I am faced with a birthday jam featuring many dancers of different skill levels and musical tastes. Some of them I know well, others I have never met before. When looking for a song that will be fun for everyone involved, I pay attention to the:
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Feeling: Upbeat, energetic, swinging
Some songs just have these qualities that engage the dancers and get them clapping and having a good time while other songs sound flat and don't inspire the enthusiasm needed for an exciting jam. Birthday jams are all about celebration, and a good song helps put people in that mood.
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Structure: Interesting, playful
I'm referring to qualities beyong the actual song structure (AABA, blues, etc...). I look for songs that have a catchy melody that the dancers can play with. Some interesting dynamics and breaks are great as well. These qualities help give the inspiration necessary to fully practice the art of stealing partners. I avoid songs with monotonous sections or too many breaks.
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Tempo: Right in the pocket
Guage the dancers and find something that they will be comfortable with and that will hopefully let them shine. This really depends on the crowd, and you can go many directions with it. In general, I pick songs with a solid and clear swinging rhythm somewhere in the 140-160 bpm range.
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Length: Long enough
If the song is too short, not everyone gets the chance to go in, and it gets tedious when the song goes on too long. I've found that when you have a big crowd and several dancers in the jam, a good rule-of-thumb is a 5-minute song. Some prefer to string together a few shorter songs, but I usually just stick with a single one.
A few things to think about to improve birthday jams:
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Quality: Pick a really good song.
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Familiarity: Quite possibly make it a really good and really familiar song. This isn't the time to impress the crowd by flexing your musical muscles. Comfort food is really appreciated here, playing songs that dancers know like the back of their hands.
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Mix it up: Don't always play the same song. There is nothing more frustrating than hearing the same great song every week used for a jam when people really just want to social dance to that song.
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Make it interesting: Present the jam in such a way that gets everyone engaged and into it. Birthday jams do happen every week, but remember they are for different people each week and thus are special to those people each time. Make sure they don't get dull and routine. Try and not get too jaded and cynical just because we've been around a while - for many people this might be their first time in a jam.
Based on these criteria, I find myself frequently playing the following for general birthday jams:
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Bits and Pieces - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (Gatemouth Swings)
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Blue Devil Stomp - Joe Salzano (Savoy Nites)
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Corner Pocket - Count Basie/Duke Ellington (First Time!)
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Kansas City Riffs - Buster Smith (Legendary Buster Smith)
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Mack The Knife - Ella Fitzgerald/Duke Ellington (Cote D'azur)
Disclaimer: These preferences of course come out of my extensive experience with the tastes/preferences of the crowds I have regularly DJed for over the past several years, both here in San Francisco and across the country. Your own mileage my vary.
Jesse