Matching the Music - Dax and Sarah

Looks like I've been on a little Dax and Sarah kick lately.  I just discovered this recent post of a social demo they did at GLHC.

First thing, the song, "Lindy Hopper's Delight" is just great.  This is one of those tunes that comes on and makes my feet want to move.

Second thing, I really enjoy social demos from the pros.  They give a sense of what's possible in a social dance where the lead/follow dynamic becomes the primary focus.  Yes, the pros have so much more practice, larger vocabularies, and are much more familiar with the music, but they give us something to aim towards.

Notice how they change in and out of different types of steps?  They throw in some Charleston, some break away Jazz movement, some large sweeping lines, and some close and tight movement.  They dance with how the music speaks to them.  They creatively play with instrumentation in the song. 

You can also tell that there is a conversation happening in their dancing.  He offers up a movement, she accepts and offers something back.  At one point when they break apart she isn't ready to come back in yet, and he catches this and continues with a new movement while separated and then waits to reconnect a few phrases later.

Personally, I've been striving to expand my dancing to match more closely whatever I hear in the music.  I find that my preferred mode tends to be faster and larger, but that isn't always a fit, so over the last few months I've been working more on smaller, tighter, slower, more nuanced and more efficient movement.

What do you think is your preferred dance mode?  Where do you need to find balance in your dancing?

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!

Swing Music for Dancers - Turntable

Based on a suggestion from Don Kruse* via Les J Wardell* I've stumbled into a magical new land called Turntable where DJ's and DJ wannabes (like me) can take turns spinning their tunes into the vast unknown called the interwebs.

What's especially interesting to me, and the topic of this blog, is a room called Swing Music for Dancers.  I've spent a bit of time already sharing some of my tunes, seeing what others think, and discovering some great stuff to add to my collection.

The site isn't just for DJ's, though.  Anyone can enter a room to just listen to the tunes and vote on whether a specific song is "lame" or "awesome", which updates the meter and can add points to the current DJ or, if the meter drops too much, cancel the current song and pass the baton to the next DJ.   

By and large (what a funny expression), the general consensus in the room is for music that's good for dancing.  I've been privy to conversations with experienced DJ's and newer users discussing why or why not certain songs are up or down-voted.  The drop of the ax is not contingent on the quality or popularity of a song, but on if people find it to be dance-able.  

Does the song move you?  Does it swing?  Does the rhythm get into your soul and make you want to move your feet?  Does the song feel like Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa?

Give it a try or just open the page, join the audience, and let it play in the background at work.  I've found it to be a great place to discover new (to me) songs and have informed conversations with other lovers of Swing Music for Dancers.

*Thanks!

Recommended Music - Cross Patch by Fats Waller

Following on the heels of my last post featuring Skye and Frida dancing to All That Meat and No Potatoes by Fats Waller I've decided to begin adding song recommendations to the blog.


So let's start with Mr Waller.  


I won't go into much detail as I'll leave that up to Wikipedia's article, but it's worth pointing out that he had the "honor" of being kidnapped by Al Capone to perform for him personally.


I know, crazy.


Oh, and he was one of the best Jazz pianists of his time and an extremely prolific songwriter.


So here's another one of his many great songs that I find to be particularly suited to Lindy Hop - especially when practicing the movements from the Skye and Frida post.

The title of the song is Cross Patch and you can purchase it here or on Amazon.com.


He has many other songs that are also good and range the full gamut of tempos.  Do a little bit of digging around and you'll find all sorts of great stuff.


Enjoy.

Skye & Frida - Simple Patterns

Of course I couldn't go more than a few weeks before posting something with Skye and Frida.

Here's a demonstration dance - this time from an event in 2008.

Look past the low quality shaky-cam, the muffled All That Meat and No Potatoes by Fats Waller, and the odd mix of on-lookers and you'll find what I love the most about this:  The simplicity of movement.  The patterns are nothing complex; there's just a solid pulse and movement that naturally flows.

Skye leads so effortlessly from his core, Frida follows so effortlessly from hers.  They dance in the rhythm of the music, not on-top-of the rhythm.  They are both so solidly connected and so loose at the same time (and in just the right places) creating an effect that the tempo is slower than it actually is.  No really, get out of your seat and just step through a swingout with the song playing.  It's pretty quick, isn't it?  They make it appear slower and more relaxed than it actually is, and this is proof of their efficiency of movement.

I'd love to see more of these kinds of movements and patterns used in our scene. Watch the clip a few (hundred) times before you head out to your next dance and soak up the spirit and feeling of this until it just flows out of you.

I'm a firm believer that we tend to dance like what we see.  If you spend most of your time watching everyone else in the scene, you'll probably move like everyone else.  Spend more time studying and watching the type of dancing you're aspiring toward and you'll start to feel and move differently than everyone else.

On a side note I'd also like to hear more pulsing upper mid-tempo jazz in our scene as well.

Do you have any favorite songs that are similar in rhythm and mood to this one?  I'm always interested in recommendations to add to my collection.