Good points. I used to look for "dance" bands, but eventually found it somewhat misleading.SirScratchAlot wrote:Now I know there is TONS of danceble music in the world, I for one to think anything is danceable, But I think it would nicer if more "swing DJ's" acually did the same, keeping in mind most of the stuff played to day at Lindy Dances was never ever played live for dancers in the first place, rather for a concert crowd (as in most cases) most of these modern jazz players dont even know how to communicate or play for dances other then keeping a time, and this goes for many of the Jazz legends post dance era. Its not there fault they missed the dance era and never had the chances to witness or feel the two together night aftre night both on the floor infront of them as well as the satge beside them, These newer players hence never made the attempt to collaboarte or understand to importance of movement associated with music.
So when Playin a Tune next time stop and think, did this player or group even care about dancin? most certainly didnt. But there were those that cherished Dancers not only as fellow friends but as fellow Jazz Performers , lets not forget them by playing and dancing to their music...
if not for it's supereo rhythms and driven force, but for the simple fact they supported us for decades, even when the going got tuff after the war, they continued to support us as their own profession was in decline, all through these strugglin Years, Barnett and Basie to name Two, continued to include dance,both as a social form and performance form, even as the trend of concert jazz took a hold and over shadowed the dance bands before them.
If it was in fact all the same , it would be easy , cause we would just support the perosn who supported us, but it's not all the same, there is dancer drivin music and there isn't.
First, Bob Crosby, Paul Whiteman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and many, many others all led "dance bands." I have a Bob Crosby CD entitled "Dance your shoes off" that I should put in the "wish I'd never purchased i" thread: trite, sing-songy crap that would make even Harrison or Falty sick. But I don't think anyone would want to play their music at a modern Lindy event; indeed they are shunned because their rhythm, arrangements and such were the Swing Era equivalents of Celine Dion or Whitney Houston: sells well, but really vapid and uninspiring music. So not all Swing Era "dance bands" play dance music we would want to play.
Second, and I don't want to beat the point to death, but limiting it to Swing Era dance bands limits the search to a finite subset of danceable music because the Era of top-quality musicians consciously catering to Lindy Hoppers/Jitterbuggers is long gone. In a sense, it's just another way of saying "buy only vintage music" because there are only a handful of modern bands who specifically cater to dancers, and many if not most of them fall short on musicianship.
Third, just because a band does not cater to dancers does not mean that it is not good for dancing. Many of the musicians behind the most popular music at Lindy events were and are completely ignorant of how danceable their music was: Oscar Peterson, Ray Bryant, Lou Rawls, etc. Those musicians still can (and often DO) understand the rhythmic nature of the music that inspired the dance, in the first place. The dance does not come first, the music does. Both the dancers and the musicians who are oblivious of the dancers are tuned into the same thing: the rhythm.
Apart from stealing other's ideas, the two most reliable tactics I have found are 1) listen to CDs in the store and take risks; and 2) pay attention to and learn the members of the back-up band on your favorite albums, especially the rhythm section. For instance, Ray Brown as a bassist is a classic example. Perhaps 80-90% of his recordings were as part of someone else's band: he is most of the reason that "Gene Harris" and "Oscar Peterson" are household names in the Lindy world. Any time I find him in the back-up band, I give it a serious listen.