djing the blues...our job

[Yakov]

what i mean by not using AMG as gospel:
Instead of counting how many times AMG uses the word "blues" in a paragraph on Rhythm & Blues, you could discuss the music. like how the swing tradition forked during & after WWII: one direction was complex bop, one direction was what became "mainstream swing," one direction was Rhythm and Blues. Many of the musicians associated with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, for example, developed in that direction. The old-test. Count Basie Orchestra were definitely moving towards R&B before they disbanded; compare the first Decca CD (1933?) to the last Victor CD (1949). What a difference in rhythm! (The difference can't be heard as clearly on the Proper Box survey set because of the selections chosen.) But it's still coming from a strong swing tradition. See: the "Honkers & Shouters" and "Gettin' Funky" proper boxes. etc etc etc. Instead of surfing the internet, you're IMHO much better off studying the music through listening to recordings and perusing the rich field of available dead-tree published criticism from the last 70 years. that's what i'm saying.

regarding two-room dances:
ok, now i see where y'all are coming from. the only two-room dances I've been to are in Pittsburgh. Here, the big room and alt room are separated by a "lobby" type area (with refreshments, water, and bathrooms), and you can see into both rooms from that space (the doors have windows). if you poke your head out of the blues room you can hear and see everything going on in the main room. this encourages a healthy constant flow of people between rooms, and also keeps the back-room DJ informed as to what he shouldn't be spinning. so i guess i haven't experienced a lot of the problems you describe.

sorry for ranting.
yakov.

[julius]

i think most people here would agree that we'd like to hear more actual blues for slow dancing.

but it's a side project compared to trying to get more actual swing for lindy hop.

hee hee.

[mousethief]

It's twue! It's twue!!

It's twue! It's twue! It's twue!!

Kalmvan von Schtupp

[Nate Dogg]

The rooms were pretty separate at the Austin Exchange (at the Fed, down a long hallway, pass the casino tables and the lounges), I still saw plenty of flow between rooms, I also saw a minority of dancers who choose to stay in the alt room. People did what they wanted to do and they were happy.

I just don't see the polorization that Kalman sees. I see a lot of happy customers. At the dances when we had everybody in the same room, everybody still seemed like one big happy group.

Usually, a main room should be the dominant room. If it is not, you can usually point to the main room DJ, I bet that he or she was not responsive to the wishes of his or her crowd.

If you have the dancers and the space, alt rooms are a definite value add. But, you need to pay attention to the styles of the rooms and the DJs. Contrasting rooms work the best from my experience. Call them polarizing if you want, I still see it as a way of offering the customer more.

Alt Rooms will be back at ALX this year, Sep 17th - 19th, hope to see everybody there.

Nathan

[julius]

as devona can attest i like dancing slow. but i think i would enjoy it even more if blues rooms dumped most of the pop songs and electric blues. my personal preference is for acoustic blues (no electric guitars or funky hammond B3 stuff) in a jazz or traditional blues style.

kalman mentioned dinah washington. yeah, i could get into that. mais oui.

[Yakov]

wow, acoustic blues? that's a pretty radical view, methinks.. who do you have in mind?

[mousethief]

I just don't see the polorization that Kalman sees. I see a lot of happy customers. At the dances when we had everybody in the same room, everybody still seemed like one big happy group.

Successful events like Austin are their own queer bird. Keep Austin weird, right? Austin gets hundreds of dancers at a well-advertised event that clearly spells out what the rooms will be. I would, however, advocate 86'ing the Fast room, because if the main room swings hard enough, there should be no need for it.

However, having DJ'ed for event to event across multiple scenes in multiple rooms throughout the country, MY perception is that the same people - when offered a Blues room - always pick the blues room. THAT concerns me, because they could just as easily stop dancing Lindy Hop if they're not actively involved in the main event.

And I've had notable people run up to me at an after-hours and basically tell me how to do my job, even though the floor is full of dancers who applauded after the song was over. That's something I find offensive, the expectation that a dance HAS to be a certain way, that you HAVE to dance a certain way, that after-hours MUST be slow or that blues rooms MUST be XY & Z.

Furthermore, I might suggest that the explosion of DJs has led organizers to feel some imagined need to accomodate DJs, which leads to having 16 DJs over a weekend. I would rather hear local DJs when I travel or 4-6 good national DJs.

Kalman

[julius]

wow, acoustic blues? that's a pretty radical view, methinks.. who do you have in mind?

i don't mean solo guitar like robert johnson. i mean blues played on acoustic instruments: drums, bass, piano, horns, guitar, voice, etc.

i am not an expert on blues so i can only name dinah, billie holiday (for that slow mood that isn't necessarily actually blues), some stuff on lawrence brown's album ... i need to look at the "slow music" CDs i've burned. yes, i don't know my DJ book.

[mousethief]

Anyone ever tried "Mamanita" by Jelly Roll Morton in a blues room? I'm just curious...

Kalman

[gatorgal]

Even after meeting Kalman at ATLX I'm still not convinced that he and julius aren't the same person.

Tina

[Jerry_Jelinek]

... like how the swing tradition forked during & after WWII: one direction was complex bop, one direction was what became "mainstream swing," one direction was Rhythm and Blues....

This is very true. I would also add a resurgence of 'traditional jazz' to this list.

The labels like Commodore Records and Hot Record Society were rooted in the preservation of traditional jazz. Especially New Orleans and Chicago jazz styles.

People like Eddie Condon, Louis after 1947 with the All-Stars etc were very much keeping a more traditional style of jazz alive.

[mousethief]

Even after meeting Kalman at ATLX I'm still not convinced that he and julius aren't the same person.

Tina

Grrrrrrr....

Kalman

[julius]

Even after meeting Kalman at ATLX I'm still not convinced that he and julius aren't the same person. :)

well, all white people look alike.

[julius]

This is very true. I would also add a resurgence of 'traditional jazz' to this list.

When I go to trad jazz festivals the audience is composed almost entirely of 70+ year old folks. It makes me wonder if they all became fans because of the post-war revival of trad jazz. They certainly weren't around for the original era (unless they are aging EXCEPTIONALLY well). What depresses me is that in 20 years that audience will be mostly gone. Who will be the audience for trad jazz then? I'd love to see today's dancers be the next generation of appreciators so that the music can go on for another 50 years, but I think there's too few of us.

[mousethief]

Even after meeting Kalman at ATLX I'm still not convinced that he and julius aren't the same person.

well, all white people look alike.

You two need to make some love child to torment me in my later years.

Kalman