Shorty Dave wrote:....Jerry, I have to respectfully disagree with this comment. Off the top of my head I can immediately think of four Basie tunes that Frank wrote and arranged that I DJ at dances all the time: 4,5,6, Down for the Count, Shiny Stockings, and Blues in Hoss' Flat....
I should have been a wee bit more specific. Without putting words into Frank's mouth, I would guess he would say that he writes and arranged music for Basie that was swinging music. If you can dance to the song great, but that wasn't his main objective. I'm guessing this based on the style of music he did for Basie.
Shorty Dave wrote:....Additionally, many (most?) of Frank's early gigs in Basie's orchestra were for dances.....
This would be in the mid 50s I'm guessing. By then the dance gigs for the big bands weren't in the style of the Savoy in the late 30s.
I have some tv video of Basie, Ellington, Goodman from the late 50s and into the mid 60s. There is virtually zero lindy dancing. It is all social dancing in a very subdued style. Funny I just recall that in a Ellington video some people are dancing to some of the Mary Poppins arrangements that Ellington played (guess around 1966).
Shorty Dave wrote:.....That's why you'll hear Splanky's ranging from 110bpm to 160bpm and Jumpin' at the Woodsides from 200 and change all the way up to 300bpm.)
I've noticed the same tempo differences in live recordings of these songs.
The live stuff I've heard are from concert settings. But your right, the tempos vary widely on some things.
Overall I'll stand by my impression that Frank wrote swing music for listening and playing. If dancers liked it, fine. But that wasn't his main goal.
A good discussion to ask Frank sometime.