My First Gig

Everything about the swinging music we love to DJ

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julius
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My First Gig

#1 Post by julius » Mon Dec 01, 2003 2:43 pm

Now You Has Jazz (Crosby and Armstrong) 175
Undecided - Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Shavers approx 220
Tippin In' - Fulton Street Jazz Band 130
Pie Eye's Blues - Chicago Six 142
Skyliner - Barnet 222
Too Good Lookin' - Lorraine Feather approx 180
Easy Does It (1937) - Basie 151
Golden Bullet - Basie 225
Cherry - Benny Carter 173
King Porter Stomp - Teddy Wilson 212
Sweet Georgia Brown - Alden and Hyman 226
Lottie - Basie 142
Skol Sister - Basie Octet 183
Topsy - Basie 200
You Rascal You - Armstrong 226
Backwater Blues - Laverne Butler 118
Miss Brown To You - Teddy Wilson 158
Midriff - Ellington 180
Drummin' Man - Krupa approx 210?
Massachusetts - Maxine Sullivan 148

How many of you remember your first gig? I wrote my setlist down for kicks but I'm thinking I will make it a regular practice. Obviously I kind of tuned the music to the faster, more classic side, but a lot of that stuff is actually recorded in the 50s or later, I think. Any feedback is welcome ... I can't get any negative comments out of Jive Junction (!) so I figured I'd try to fish for it here.

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Swifty
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#2 Post by Swifty » Mon Dec 01, 2003 3:04 pm

I have written down most setlists from our weekly event, because people often ask what I played. I have a horrendous memory and can just refer them to where I put them online.

Nice set! I can't remember the last time I heard "Massachusetts."

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yedancer
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#3 Post by yedancer » Mon Dec 01, 2003 3:29 pm

Darn. I'm sorry I missed it.
-Jeremy

It's easy to sit there and say you'd like to have more money. And I guess that's what I like about it. It's easy. Just sitting there, rocking back and forth, wanting that money.

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kitkat
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#4 Post by kitkat » Mon Dec 01, 2003 4:11 pm

No idea what I did my first time in France, but my first public set in the U.S. was:
Coleman Hawkins - something unlabeled
Bunny Berrigan - Jazz Me Blues
Duke Ellington - Harlem Airshaft
Jay McShann - Swingmatism
Bunny Berrigan - Can't Help Lovin' that Man of Mine
Count Basie - The Apple Jump
Duke Ellington - St. Louis Blues
3 requests
Woody Herman - Blues on Parade
Duke Ellington - Minor Goes a Muggin'

I wish I'd brought a CD player to that event, as I couldn't listen to potential next songs and stuck to things I thought I could remember. I had a lot more album/artist diversity on the Seine.

julius
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#5 Post by julius » Mon Dec 01, 2003 4:29 pm

Swifty wrote: Nice set! I can't remember the last time I heard "Massachusetts."
I had to dig deep to play something slow.

haha. um.

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gatorgal
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#6 Post by gatorgal » Mon Dec 01, 2003 4:44 pm

Have no idea what I played for my first set. I didn't think to write it down. Was just busy trying to figure out what to play.

The only difference between now and then (about a year ago) is that I write down what I play. :)

Tina 8)

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Yakov
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#7 Post by Yakov » Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:14 pm

i remember massachusetts being overplayed on long island for a while

Lindy Bomb
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#8 Post by Lindy Bomb » Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:04 pm

I almost always keep a written setlist, for my own benefit. It helps me keep tack of what I play and how often. That way I'm more conscious of if I'm playing a few songs to death or pulling out nothing but obscure stuff.

Love the stuff you played Julius. Heck, I simnply adore Skyliner...so anyone who plays it pretty much makes me a happy camper for the night.

julius
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#9 Post by julius » Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:29 pm

Lindy Bomb wrote: That way I'm more conscious of if I'm playing a few songs to death or pulling out nothing but obscure stuff.
Yeah, it was useful so that I could remind myself to play something everybody (some? most?) would recognize every so often. Or to see if I was getting in a rut. Of course what seems like variation to me is monotonous to others. It's hard to find the right balance. I mean, the Teddy Wilson trio followed by the Dick Hyman group with Howard Alden could be viewed as really similar I guess. I dunno. I threw in Backwater Blues because somebody said the previous stuff was a bit too similar, haha.

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lindyholic
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#10 Post by lindyholic » Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:36 pm

My first gig was in Vancouver, before I even DJ'd in my home town. Apparently I did really good, I can't exactly remember it perfectly, but I remember people telling me that it wasn't too bad. I remember having a lot of fun doing it though :).

I have tried the set list thing, I'm not a big fan of it. I find it destracts me too much from DJing. So I've stopped the set list thing.

Harrison
www.lindyhopper.ca, Canada's Swing Site.

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Matthew
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#11 Post by Matthew » Mon Dec 01, 2003 7:48 pm

That looks like a lot of fun.

My first set was at the end of the night, and there were few to no swing dancers left. There was, however, a large group of younger people who didn't really know much swing. I did manage to get them moving (or at least away from the sidelines), but it took a very unconventional set to do it. I got complimented, though, and I think they really had fun. It had probably been a long time since Gulfport had heard "Unbelievable" by EMF!

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djstarr
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#12 Post by djstarr » Tue Dec 02, 2003 2:00 am

Congrats Julius!

I'm glad to see you bit the bullet and took the plunge, since you obviously have an awesome collection and know your music well.

I like the "Now You Has Jazz" version w/o Crosby; it's on Mack the Knife [LIVE] which is Louis Armstrong's set at Newport '58 - Jesse played this version at HJDF and it's really fun.

I play Miss Brown to You all the time - it's a great song [the version with Billie Holiday singing - Teddy Wilson is backing, not sure if this is the same version you played]; looks like you stayed with mostly classics too which you can't go wrong with.

Did you DJ this set at Memories? If so you probably could have played a couple of faster songs - not sure if you could have gone slower or not, but it's nice to throw in something under 100 if the mood is right. That's the only thing that jumps out at me, you could do more tempo variation.

I keep setlists; my first set was a lot of Ernestine Anderson, Louis Prima, Lavay Smith, Ella, and stuff from the Ken Burns Jazz collections - Louis Armstrong, Basie and Ellington - I didn't have a huge collection when I started, and very little classic stuff - I've been buying mainly pre-war stuff since then, so my sets are a lot different now.

I think keeping a setlist is a great practice, I go and document it electronically later, and it keeps me thinking about whether I'm playing the same song too much, about how the flow works etc. I also post to the most likely forum the folks that attended the dance will read, just in case people are curious what I played --- I rarely get feedback, but I think folks like to read the set lists.

julius
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#13 Post by julius » Tue Dec 02, 2003 11:41 am

djstarr wrote: I like the "Now You Has Jazz" version w/o Crosby
Yeah, I have to get that one. Crosby is kind of square, but it's funny to hear Armstrong juxtaposed with him. Kind of. Okay, not really.
Did you DJ this set at Memories? If so you probably could have played a couple of faster songs - not sure if you could have gone slower or not, but it's nice to throw in something under 100 if the mood is right. That's the only thing that jumps out at me, you could do more tempo variation.
Wasn't a huge crowd due to holidays and US Open, but the slower songs definitely filled the floor up more, even though most of the people there were pretty expert dancers who normally love faster stuff. It's, uh, the holidays' fault, not mine. Yeah, that's it. If it weren't Memories I'd probably play a bit more slower stuff, but not much more. Under 100bpm is usually received pretty unenthusiastically in LA, but maybe I can keep trying it out or something.
--- I rarely get feedback, but I think folks like to read the set lists.
I like reading setlists too.

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gatorgal
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#14 Post by gatorgal » Tue Dec 02, 2003 1:08 pm

djstarr wrote: I think keeping a setlist is a great practice, I go and document it electronically later, and it keeps me thinking about whether I'm playing the same song too much, about how the flow works etc. I also post to the most likely forum the folks that attended the dance will read, just in case people are curious what I played --- I rarely get feedback, but I think folks like to read the set lists.
I also post my setlists, and my folks probably don't read them either! :) But it is helpful to look back and see what you've done...

Tina :)

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#15 Post by Nate Dogg » Tue Dec 02, 2003 3:04 pm

I don't have the set list with me. I remember that I was conservative. I played songs that I knew would go over well, mostly because they had gone over well before for other DJs. I had studied the scene for months before I took the plunge.

That is also the advice I have for any new DJs who are browsing this thread.

There is a time and place to play new stuff and obscurities (i.e the stuff you have in your collection that nobody has or plays). You don't want to be too "out there" right out of the box and have the dancers loose confidence in you.

Also, like Julius, my first set was on a traditionally slow night. That helped reduce the pressure somewhat.

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