#155
Post
by Jerry_Jelinek » Thu Apr 15, 2004 10:17 am
Hi Brenda,
>Jerry - I've been wanting to ask you this question (whether you dance
>or not) without appearing to be rude.....
It is never rude to ask a thoughtful question. So ask away.
>The way I listen to jazz and my appreciation for it has changed
>dramatically since I started swing dancing, and even more dramatically
>once I started DJ'ing (since I had to expand my definitions of
>danceable to include stuff for folks a lot better than I am).
I grew up in a very musical environment. My father played piano for
himself. All of my siblings had musical lessons and we all have grown
up with different musical tastes. Very eclectic group of people!!!
With the broad exposure I've had to classical, country, ragtime,
bluegrass, rock, prog. rock, blues, jazz, swing, advante-garde of all
sorts, I have a pretty broad appreciation of music in general. What
attracks me to the world of jazz is the expression of emotion in the
music. It does things to my emotions that no other style of music
can.
Over the last 7 years (while working at the radio station), I've
really grown in my appreciation of swing, pop swing, and lighter jazz.
Being a community run radio station, we are staffed by volunteers.
The vast majority are retired residents who grew up in the era. Being
exposed, through them, to the vast variety of swing, jazz, pop music
of the 20s-60s, my tastes have broadened.
Over the last 2 months, while reading and making comments here and
there on this SwingDJ board, my musical knowledge has continued to
broaden.
This leads me to answer your original thought:
>Are you inspired to learn how to lindy hop yet by our discussion here?
>I hope so
I make no pretense about my ability to dance. I've been asked several
times by the swing dancers/promoters/instructors around town about
joining in on the fun. I really don't have any desire to do so.
My enjoyment is the music. Adding the element of dance becomes the
icing on the cake. I love to hear live jazz and swing. Supporting
the live musicians is really a priority to me. When the dancers feel
motivated enough to "cut a rug" to the music, then fine. I can sit
back and enjoy the dancers swinging and twisting about.
In reading the forum and especially getting a clearer picture on the
music the current generation of dancers enjoy, it actually is a bit
dissapointing. There is so much more music in the swing style that
the dancers just seem to ignore because it doesn't have the
jump/shuffle rhythm of early R&B, or maybe the 'four of the floor'
style of Basie and classic swing. That frustrates the heck out of me.
There is so much more music to learn about in the swing and lighter
jazz style that I really love. If the music has to be 'danceable',
then I'm really begining to understand why I'm not interested in
learning to dance.
This is not a negative against the current swing dance scene. I think
it is wonderful that younger people are getting into the sounds of
Basie/Lunceford/Henderson/Goodman/Hampton/Jordon etc. I feel it is a
natural extension to learn more about the history of the style and
where the style evolved into. Thus the appreciation of the music
becomes an extension of emotional expression on so many different
levels, not just in dance.
I know that is a bit long winded, but that is the true love I have for
the swing and jazz music. Hope I didn't bore too many reading this.