Uptown Jump - Glenn Crytzer's New Swing

If you’ve been a Lindy Hopper for any length of time you’ve imagined what it must have been like to attend an event at the Savoy - the joy of dancing to a live Count Basie tune in 1937 or anticipating hearing the first performance of a new song by Chick Webb’s Orchestra. Outside of a very specific time frame, the composition of new Swing Jazz music specifically for dancers is very rare and the idea of waiting for that next new release of brand new, never heard before music, is not a feeling we’re used to.

Even among the recent resurgence of bands and composers so many stick to covering the classics, and it makes sense why. Dancers like their standards. Musicians learn the standards and perform the songs that get people out of their seats. Creating new authentic Swing music is a risky undertaking, especially in the aftermath of the neo-swing era. You’re setting yourself up to be compared to the great original composers and dissected by a very critical audience.

Enter Glenn Crytzer’s newest album, Uptown Jump. Eighteen original compositions made for dancers and swing jazz connoisseurs alike. Yes, eighteen!

The overall sound quality and instrumental composition are very similar to Crytzer’s previous recordings. That is to say that although the songs might be brand new, there’s a comfortable familiarity to the uncompressed tonal quality. Maybe this is due to my regular use of his previous recordings, but these recordings feel like they belong turned up over the main speakers at your local swing dance.

There’s a wonderful variety among these eighteen songs. In regular Crytzer fashion he mixes into the bulk of instrumental pieces the occasional vocal number and avoids the sin of each song sounding too much like the previous. For example, What Did I Do? (An Ambiguous Love Song) is a solid mid-tempo vocal number. Next they throw it down with the up-tempo Uptown Jump - perfect for a jam circle. And then comes Le Fantome de Saint Bechet, which is not only a great name but a wonderful bluesy jazz piece.

There’s a playful, fun soul beneath this entire album. Crytzer is never too self-serious, yet Not Far to Fargo and Mrah!, just to name the first two that come to mind, are begging for a talent greater than mine to choreograph an awesome routine to.

Just like the albums before it this is a must buy for every swing dance DJ or vintage swing jazz fan, and the excitement of good brand new swing jazz music just can’t be ignored. Available on Bandcamp. Also, check out Glenn's other work.

"All Of Me" - Sydney Bechet

If that opening piano section doesn't make you want to dance I'm not sure that you have a heart. And if the following section doesn't get you moving I'm also curious about the existence of your soul. 

The more I listen to Sydney Bechet the more I begin to understand his genius and the talent of his musicians.

This song along with other dance hall favorites like "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" and "Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho" seems to stand right on that dividing line between Hot Jazz and Swing.  The songs swing, for sure, but the instrumentation feels more like Hot Jazz with a melody and counter-melody dancing around each other. It makes for a playful combination of two instruments that you don't get in much swing music with larger bands and written instrumentation.

"All Of Me" makes me want to dance slowly, smoothly, expressively. Those of you who know me know that I enjoy fast Lindy Hop and Balboa and usually pass on the late night Blues events, but if those same late night blues events played more Jazz like this and less of what they normally do, I'd be much more willing to stay out late.

Let's bring back the "Slow Jam" and request a song like this again soon, circle up, and take turns killing it, slowly, smoothly, expressively.

Aww yeah.

That's my Jam!

Youtube's of the other songs mentioned:

"Down South Camp Meeting" - Benny Goodman

That's My Jam!

When two guys as brilliant as Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman put their heads together, you get songs like "Down South Camp Meeting."

You might be more familiar with Benny Goodman.  He was, after all, the King of Swing and helped to bring Swing Jazz into public acceptance. This was the 1930's and conservative whites were not comfortable with their children listening and dancing to what they considered to be "colored people's" music. Benny Goodman began a trend that happened again and again in every generation of the 20th century - he was the white guy playing the black people's music who helped bridge the gap. Some would consider him the Elvis of his time.

What you might not know is that the musical genius behind the scenes who composed much of Goodman's music was a man named Fletcher Henderson who did not happen to be white. Together Henderson and Goodman would influence the entire progression of popular music.

If you pull up my Great Lindy Hop and Balboa Playlist on Spotify and sort by artist you'll see a whole bunch of songs by Benny Goodman. "Down South Camp Meeting" stands out to me because of just how dance-able it is.

First, it swings. It swings hard. The syncopations fall right into the pocket. It's one of those songs that just feels right. It feels comfortable. It rises and falls. It grows and shrinks. The themes repeat, but with enough variety that they are playful and familiar, not annoying or dull. It's a tune that makes you want to move your feet.

If you're interested in learning more about Henderson and Goodman I'd recommend checking out Ken Burn's documentary "Jazz" which is on Netflix currently, or the BBC documentary "The Swing Thing" which I've posted below. Both touch on this topic among a host of other awesome stories about swing.

"Diga Diga Doo" - Artie Shaw

That's My Jam!

What's my jam for this week?  A little song with a lot of versions.  Searching Diga Diga Doo on Spotify brings up a long list of songs.

Many artists have taken a swing at this song over the years, but none of them sound more dance-able than Artie Shaw's version in the clip above.  You can check it out here on Spotify too.

This version swings so hard.  The beginning horns are like a siren's call to the dance floor.  The rhythm section is seated right behind the beat, right in the pocket.  Everything about this song is inviting the listener to get up out of their seat.  Also, if you listen carefully, you can hear what sounds like a "Hey!" from a band member right at 1:09.  The band is just jamming this out.

Another version of note is Duke Ellington's (original?). It contains aspects of Hot Jazz with a rhythm section emphasizing the bass on 1's and 3's but not the 2's and 4's for most of the song.  The beat feels more vertical and staccato.  Of course you can force dancing on anything, but it doesn't feel as natural as Artie Shaw's version.  It's also a less comfortable tempo.



What about more recent versions?

I've searched around and there are a few, but none of them have the same spirit and feel as Artie Shaw's.  Many push the song way faster, or take it back to a Hot Jazz feel, which make it less enjoyable for dancing.

Usually I stay away from mentioning Neo-Swing bands as a general rule.  They rarely play actual Jazz with most songs being dressed up Jump Blues or just Rock-n-Roll with horns (which, because of accenting the back beat, the 2's and 4's, are less comfortable and effective for Lindy Hop, and evolve dancer's movements in a different direction.  Think Boogie Woogie or Jive.), but I thought it would be interesting to shortly (or maybe longly) discuss Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's version.  Give it a listen.




I try to be fair and scientific.  I like to test things out and see the evidence before determining a judgement.  So how do the Big Bad's fair?

Well, they're all over the place.  I do find a common theme or feeling in a lot of their music.  It's as if they and the whole genre has the effect of feeling like it's trying too hard to be the cool kid - it's as if the band is more interested in showing off musically and being cool than actually catering to dancers and creating a solid and pleasant foundation.  There's also this strange feeling about the faux-vintage look.  It's as if they dress and present a false image of the past, similar to how you can pull up an 80's movie about the future and it doesn't really look like the actual future, more like the future of the 80's had trends never changed.

I'm a bit torn though because there are pleasing elements.  When the song gets past the overly complex and showy intro and into the first sung verse the rhythm chills out and breathes, giving a nice solid 4 on the floor beat with slight piano accents on 2 and 4 - which isn't overbearing.  It's actually kind of nice.  Then the trumpet solo comes in, which actually hearkens back melodically to the chorus, which is, again, surprisingly nice as a dancer.  The rhythm morphs again into more of a Hot Jazz feel, but it's better than a heavy snare back-beat.

Then the scat section happens, and there's a heavy snare back-beat.  Sigh.  Well, I thought we were staying away from Rock-n-Roll with this one since it is a Jazz standard, but I guess not. Modern drummers just can't seem to stay away from the snare drum.

The song continues to change feeling at every new section.  At one point you can feel an almost Electro-Swing influence.  They just can't make up their mind.

In my opinion, what might make for interesting and creative listening decisions removes some of the appeal for social dancing.  And although you could argue that the song as a whole "swings" it doesn't do so in a pleasing and uniform way.

Some of you might argue just the opposite, that a song like this gives you fun changes to play with and the rhythm differences keep the dance interesting.  But how many of you know 3 or 4 different dance styles to use to match the changes as they come?

Let's compare this to Artie Shaw's version.  The song structure sticks with the classic AABA Jazz structure.  The horn section holds out notes, the melody is less sharp and flows better, there aren't large and overbearing breaks between song sections - they just flow together.  The rhythm is just SOLID and swings consistently the whole way through.  Even the drum solos are short, unique and interesting whereas BBVD's drummer does that stereotypical low tom drum thing that all the New-Swing bands do.  There's a rise and fall to the overall song and the climax toward the end keeps it's cool.  The BBVD version gets abrasive and chaotic.

Though the recording of Artie Shaw's version is old, it's still clear enough to hear the elements (and people yelling "Hey!" in the background during the performance).  It's also not overly "compressed" like many of today's recordings.  Horns, especially, don't sound as good or natural with modern compression.  The BBVD version is harsh, loud, and compressed.  Yes, you can hear everything, but you hear it all at the same volume at the same time.  There's no space between the sounds - no individual volumes to different instruments.  Plus I generally prefer instrumental vs vocal songs for dancing if given the choice.

In many ways these versions are opposites.  The very things that draw me, as a dancer, to Artie Shaw's version are not present in BBVD's which they, in tern, replace with the very things that push me away as a dancer.  I would argue that Artie's version is actually better for both new and seasoned dancers at the same time.

In short, Artie Shaw's version works as a strong foundation with which to place your dancing on top of, to showcase what you can do to jam with the music with you and your partner's bodies.  The BBVD version takes all the jamming room for themselves and makes you, as the dancer, bend to them.


As always, check out The Great Lindy Hop and Balboa playlist on Spotify for more wonderful tunes for dancing!

"When I Grow Too Old To Dream" - The Cats and the Fiddle

I've decided after some time off from the blog that I'd start this baby back up with some new ideas.  The first of these is a semi-regular series where I highlight a specific song or artist.  I think we'll call it...

That's My Jam!

So what's my jam this week?



"When I Grow Too Old To Dream" by The Cats and the Fiddle.

I recently included this in the Advanced J&J Prelims a few weeks ago at the Zendah Grotto.

In my mind there is a category of song that screams, "Swing Out!" and this is clearly one of those songs.  Even if you can't exactly dance at the moment just listening to it makes me tap my feet and want to move.

Now, I'm no expert on this group, and very little is revealed in their Wikipedia article about what these guys were like, but I have my suspicions.  

As many musicians know, you spend a lot of your time hanging out and just jamming on the songs you know. This recording feels like the hundredth time they played this song - they've got this thing down and they've experimented with a hundred different ways to improv vocally and instrumentally with this, and now this song is all feel.  It just jams out.  It's been boiled down to it's primal instrumental groove, and the melody dances around the remnant of the original.

For contrast, here's Nat King Cole's version recorded a good decade plus later.

It's slower, groovier, and the melody is a lot straighter.  And it's still a good song.

An additional fun note.  Many of you will know of Lindy Hop instructor Mike Faltesek.  His band, Falty and the Defects, just recently released their first album and this song is one of their Jam's too.  Check it out at Reverb Nation and give them a like on their Facebook page.  Who knows, maybe someday we'll get them to come play down here in Florida.

Why you should know who Laura Windley is...

At EBC this year I met a Care Bear.  Well, I didn't actually meet a Care Bear, but a woman dressed as a Care Bear during the first night's Halloween costume contest.

But that's not exactly true either, you see.  I didn't meet her when she was dressed as a Care Bear, but 3 nights later when she was dressed in a nice vintage outfit.  Confused yet?

Her name is Laura Windley and she's a pretty awesome individual.  Yes, she created a home made Care Bear outfit, but even cooler than that she's also the singer and co-creator of the Mint Julep Jazz Band AND runs the blog Lindy Shopper about vintage clothing for the Lindy Hop Scene!

I know, right.  How cool is that?

The Mint Julep Jazz Band played the 2nd night of EBC, and they were spectacular.  They're a new group based out of North Carolina and they're just starting to play shows out, but they already sound like a seasoned and professional dance band.  I told Laura that her voice and performance was great.  She has a tone and phrasing that sits "right in the pocket."  You can tell she's studied the original Jazz vocalists and manages to both pay homage to their styles while creating something completely her own.  I was very impressed.

They've also started a kick starter campaign to fund their first album recording!  I'm all for more and more great current musicians playing the types of Jazz music I enjoy dancing to, and I know that many of you are too.  So get in early and help fund their awesome music!

Another thing I know that many of you are into is vintage clothing, so be sure to check out her blog, Lindy Shopper.  Set a bookmark and visit it regularly.  There's a lot of great information and you can tell that vintage EVERYTHING is her passion.

Enjoy the links and let her know what you think of her blog and music.

Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators - Skinny Minne - A Review

There's a new jam I've been listening to with my ears, and my feet are getting jealous.

Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators released a live album just this last weekend and it hasn't left my playlist - now we just need to work some of these sweet tunes into the set list this Saturday at The Lindy Connection!

It's hard to decide which of the 17 tracks I'd like to dance to first.  The uptempo tunes like Bottoms Up, Grabtown Grapple, and Yacht Club Swing immediately grab my attention, but the more I listen to some of the slower jams the more I'm just not sure.

They've managed to capture a great mix of songs from their live performance at Midwest Lindy Fest.  There's a broad range of tempos, a mix of vocal and non-vocal numbers, and a wide pallet of instruments and tones.  There isn't a single dud on this album.

The song choices, the tempos, the rhythms, and especially the natural fluctuations throughout each song succeed in feeling just right to my dancer's ears.  After listening through the album a few times I begin to understand why they play so many national Lindy Hop events.  Glenn's band is first and foremost a dancer's band with a very high level of musicianship.  

By releasing a live recording they have managed to capture two very key things.  They've bottled the live energy of a band playing for a live dancing audience, but they've also managed something a little more subtle - this recording is not a perfect studio performance with auto-tuned horns, click-track drums, and a sterilized over-compressed sound stage - and I can't stress how wonderful that is.

This recording breathes, moves, feels authentic and alive - just like the old recordings we're so accustomed to listening to at every DJ'd dance.  This possibly minor detail makes a huge difference, and places them closer to the ranks of Sydney Bechet or Count Basie than any modern electro or neo-swing recording.  Of course, actually playing Jazz is probably the bigger and more noticeable component that sets them apart, but I digress.

All this is to say that they've put together a great recording that would fit perfectly into any Swing DJ's collection.  It hits all the key bullet points for a great new Swing Jazz album, contains a great mix of new and old tunes, and I know that I can't stop playing it in my car.  And my feet keep complaining.

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Check out song previews at bandcamp.com and let these awesome musicians know how much we appreciate their music by purchasing the album for only $12.

Also, send them a "like" on their facebook page and tell them Lindy Hop Weekly sent you!