djing the blues...our job

[12bars]

while reading the "what is our job" thread, i was wondering this...

what is the job of blues djs? how much can we "educate"? it seems to me that often blues dancing is not danced to blues music, nor do rooms billed as blues rooms often play blues music. as both a blues dancer, and lover of the blues, i want to hear and dance to blues music (how ever that is defined, or not). i see a possible diffrence in the "educate" outlook with blues dancing in particular. contempo blues dancing is really still trying to find its self. the dance, and what it is, is being created as we speak. how much can we or should we influence the dance by the music we play?

[Bob the Builder]

while reading the "what is our job" thread, i was wondering this...

what is the job of blues djs? how much can we "educate"? it seems to me that often blues dancing is not danced to blues music, nor do rooms billed as blues rooms often play blues music. as both a blues dancer, and lover of the blues, i want to hear and dance to blues music (how ever that is defined, or not).

You can also replace the word "blues" in the above with and many other words and you will find the same thing eg swing.

what is the job of swing djs? how much can we "educate"? it seems to me that often swing dancing is not danced to swing music, nor do rooms billed as swing rooms often play swing music. as both a swing dancer, and lover of the swing, i want to hear and dance to swing music (how ever that is defined, or not).

I haven't come across a scene yet, that has the odd nigth that is advertise as one thing and it ends up being another thing.

Brian

[Roy]

I have done allot of moaning on the subject before. and have just come to the realization that to dancers (in general) a blues room means slow blues dancing not blues music. So anything that is slow is acceptable. Including the latest trend of some DJ's DJing soul/motown/funk along with slow jazz in blues rooms. When a DJ plays almost no actual blues in a blues room it makes me wonder if that DJ even knows what blues is. To me this is a travesty because there is so much good blues music out there which most dj's have not explored that are great for both blues dancing and actually be blues music. I do believe that this situation is much better then 2 years ago. I have heard at least 70% blues in a number of blues rooms and blues parties in the past year, including Soflex04, CLX04, CLX03, and ATLX04, 2 of Mihai's blues parties in SF (11/03 & 12/03), and Titus's blues parties in Chicago (10/03). At CLX04 I believe the blues room was actaully 100% blues music. I have not been at any of the recent St. Louis events so I can't state what is happening there.

There are so many varities of blues, I heard Stace play almost all Texas Blues at a blues room in Soflex in Jan/04, and I thought it was awesome, it was quit different then the standard fare in a blues room. 12bars did a great job with almost all traditional blues at ATLX. This is also different then what you normally hear. Soloman is awesome at DJing slow blues. I have been told my blues playing is similar to Solomans, but I dont entirelty agree I tend to mix in more tempos in the 110-130 region and will play a few slow jazz songs an hour for variety. I am in the process of expanding my Texas blue and traditional piano blues which I would like to add in more to my blues sets. I also have to make a point of putting in more traditional blues which I noticed I have dropped in recent blues gigs.

[mousethief]

Criminy...

I disagree that Blues room should be a Slow Lindy room. If you're going to do Lindy Hop, get in the room with the other Lindy Hoppers! Neither do I think it should go far from Blues (however defined). Trying to stretch it into 350 different genres didn't do any good for Lindy Hop but it's more acceptable in the Blues room. I just don't think it should be the norm.

Kalman

[Nate Dogg]

A lot of folks want slower music with a sensual vibe to it. They could care less whether or not it is blues.

Living in Austin, there is live blues every night in a variety of clubs. Only a small portion of it would go over well in a "so-called" blues room.

I for one, really don't mind. I think it is ok for a dance name to be somewhat misleading (i.e. you can swing dance to non-swing music (West Coast Swing is never done to swing music, East Coast Swing is often done to rockabilly or rock and roll), and you can blues dance to non-blues music).

I think the reason you see some soul, other styles of slow music seeping into the alt rooms is that people are responding to it and having fun.

[Nate Dogg]

while reading the "what is our job" thread, i was wondering this...

what is the job of blues djs? how much can we "educate"? it seems to me that often blues dancing is not danced to blues music, nor do rooms billed as blues rooms often play blues music. as both a blues dancer, and lover of the blues, i want to hear and dance to blues music (how ever that is defined, or not). i see a possible diffrence in the "educate" outlook with blues dancing in particular. contempo blues dancing is really still trying to find its self. the dance, and what it is, is being created as we speak. how much can we or should we influence the dance by the music we play?

Another thing,

Did the blues room/blues dancing catch on because dancers had a longing to dance to blues music?

or

did it arise from the desire to dance to slower music.

Every blues dance class I have ever taken seems to emphasize the slow and sensual part. I don't hear much uptempo Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, B.B King, etc... Just two weeks ago, Steven Mitchell's blues class was slow and sensual.

The social dancing often reflects what people learn in class. Students come out with slow dancing technique and concepts, not blues music appreciation.

In practice, when the dancers in my scene go out and dance to live blues, most of the songs are uptempo and the dancing mostly looks like an interpretation of lindy hop or WCS.

If see a live big band and they play a slow swing number, the dancing looks a lot like blues dancing.

[Drew]

Mainly it is your interpretation of 'blues':

is it that which is in 12 bars?

is it that which is exclusively slow?

is it that which is exclusively melancholic in subject matter?

I think 'blues' in terms of music can be any combination of the three. However, most of the blues dancing I've seen is attempted sensuality to music that only need be slow.

[mousethief]

Another thing,

Did the blues room/blues dancing catch on because dancers had a longing to dance to blues music?

or

did it arise from the desire to dance to slower music.

Maybe it caught on because jazz and blues are intimately related? Or because the music has always made people want to dance?

People have always danced to blues music. Buddy Bolden played the sensous throughout Storyville for dancers before Ellington ever penned "Soda Fountain Rag." We're not innovators here.

My main question is why do people attend a swing dance to hang out in the Blues room all night?

Kalman

[Nate Dogg]

My main question is why do people attend a swing dance to hang out in the Blues room all night?

Kalman

Not true for everybody, but true for many. A portion of the population wants to dance to slower, sensual music.

This is crazy talk, but for a lot of people, the keyword is dance, not swing.

[mousethief]

Then maybe we should all go work for WeddingDJs then. Start up the DrunkWeddingDJs board. And we can chicken dance and hand jive all night long.

All this mishmash about "dance, all dance, any dance" is great if you're a modern, solo dancer. It's even great for influences. But it's self-important BS when you have a partner and you're in a specific culture. Try "dancing" whatever you want at a tango event or a salsa club.

Blues rooms and lindy rooms are now pretty much separate cultures. Sad, but true. They are not part of one homogenous event, like you would find at (pre-lindy) the Lincoln Gardens or the Savoy Ballroom. They are separate rooms with different dance styles, different music and a different culture.

Kalman

[gatorgal]

There are so many varities of blues, I heard Stace play almost all Texas Blues at a blues room in Soflex in Jan/04, and I thought it was awesome, it was quit different then the standard fare in a blues room. 12bars did a great job with almost all traditional blues at ATLX.

I unfortunately didn't get a chance to hear Stace's set, but several people loved it. One of the highlights of the weekend.

Devona also had a great set at ATLX. This past weekend was the first time I'd been asked to DJ in a Blues room and I was very happy with my sets and quite frankly surprised by the feedback I received.

Like everything in my little DJ world, it's all a learning process for me. I like different kinds of music, but admittedly don't have a lot of traditional blues in my reportoire. I would appreciate any suggestions you and Devona might have... just PM me.

I disagree that Blues room should be a Slow Lindy room. If you're going to do Lindy Hop, get in the room with the other Lindy Hoppers!

Using ATLX as an example, I don't mind hearing slower Lindy in a Blues room and had no trepidations in playing it. It seemed to go over well no matter who was spinning.

Blues rooms and lindy rooms are now pretty much separate cultures. Sad, but true. They are not part of one homogenous event, like you would find at (pre-lindy) the Lincoln Gardens or the Savoy Ballroom. They are separate rooms with different dance styles, different music and a different culture.

I would disagree with this but I honestly have not attended enough events to have an educated opinion. It could be quite something over my head.

But I will say this... I don't think the average dancer that goes to an event really makes these distinctions like we do. I've seen plenty of people peacefully co-exist between both rooms and both worlds as it were.

Tina

[mousethief]

I dislike the notion of Slow Lindy room when it's supposed to be a Blues room. I can (and have) played non-thigh rubbing songs in a Blues set but they are rare.

I have been to events with Slow Lindy rooms advertised as such. Do we really need to be that divided?

Kalman

[mark0tz]

My main question is why do people attend a swing dance to hang out in the Blues room all night?

Whoever's djing the main room and/or the blues room has a lot to do with that.

[gatorgal]

I have been to events with Slow Lindy rooms advertised as such. Do we really need to be that divided?

I can understand a division btw Lindy/Blues or Lindy/WC but not Fast Lindy/Slow Lindy (if that was how it was separated). That does seem weird.

Tina

[mousethief]

My main question is why do people attend a swing dance to hang out in the Blues room all night?

Whoever's djing the main room and/or the blues room has a lot to do with that.

Put good DJs in both. Just make sure that they're not playing the same books. Hell, you cannot play a slow drag in the main room? EVER?

Kalman