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Anyone know of albums or groups that play swing dance jazz in a quartet or quintet setting? I'm not talking about Ellington or Goodman's small groups, but bands specifically for dancers.
My group has a handle on the lounge/dinner jazz thing and... it gets kind of boring playing music to be ignored. I'm looking for bouncy swing dance tunes in a small setting.
Basically more groups like the Ear-Regulars.
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07-11-2024 11:33 AM
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Not a quartet, but swinging hard in a small setting...
You know what'll really make that group of yours swing hard right?
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Look up Jonathan Stout and the Hot Club of Cowtown. There should be plenty more depending on the period of swing dance music you are interested in.
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Check the "Unlocked Recordings" collection in the Internet Archive. Lots of commercial dance records from the fifties and sixties. Expect to scroll through a lot of other stuff.
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Yeah, I'm going to start playing more rhythm guitar. I'm mostly looking for tunes, there's a swing dance night at a theater in Lockport. I want to try and get the group in there playing for dancers. But I want to show up with a dancers set, not force my repertoire on them.
Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Just wondering what the Autumn Leaves, Blue Bossa, All The Things You Are, ect. of Lindy Hopping is... and if they can be reproduced by a quartet.
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I think Webby would be the go to for that info, but I certainly think you could swing ATTYA hard enough to get people dancing. It's all in how the rhythm section plays. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
Ah, I think I got today's video topic
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... and expect to discover one or another jazz gem that is no longer available (which is why the IA is allowed to "unlock" those records and offer more than just 30 sec samples). Originally Posted by Bop Head
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I found a defunct Swing DJ forum and there was a thread on overplayed tunes and surprisingly the Jazz at the Lincoln Center version of C Jam Blues was the standard for swing dances. It's a little slower and they take a single chorus solo which keeps things moving. I'm going to try and copy that feel by trading choruses, 8s, 4s, and 2s then having the leads drop out for a bass or drum solo, then we play an embellished head to end the tune. Jumping up octaves and what not. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
I think Webby would be the go to for that info, but I certainly think you could swing ATTYA hard enough to get people dancing. It's all in how the rhythm section plays.
Ah, I think I got today's video topic
All the trading will hopefully replace the extra instruments in the JATLC orchestra.
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Molly Reeves always plays in smallish groups that really swing. New Orleansy stuff.
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I got this from CHATGPT. I can't say that I was aware that Take Five was a popular dance tune.
sure, here's a list of classic swing tunes that are popular for dancing and are often played by small jazz groups:
- In the Mood (Glenn Miller)
- Sing, Sing, Sing (Benny Goodman)
- Take the 'A' Train (Duke Ellington)
- Stompin' at the Savoy (Benny Goodman)
- It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (Duke Ellington)
- All of Me (Billie Holiday)
- Perdido (Duke Ellington)
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Duke Ellington)
- Jumpin' at the Woodside (Count Basie)
- I've Got Rhythm (George Gershwin)
- Cherokee (Charlie Parker)
- Night and Day (Cole Porter)
- Take Five (Dave Brubeck)
- Fly Me to the Moon (Frank Sinatra)
- Ain't Misbehavin' (Fats Waller)
- Sweet Georgia Brown (Ben Bernie)
- Caravan (Duke Ellington)
- One O'Clock Jump (Count Basie)
- Tuxedo Junction (Erskine Hawkins)
- Begin the Beguine (Artie Shaw)
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Sure, it’s a ffoxx trot. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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Cherokee was written by Ray Noble. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
Another desperate vote by myself for natural intelligence ...
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A lot of them weren't the composers, but, apparently, somebody that did a good version. Gershwin, for one, was both. Originally Posted by Bop Head
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Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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No Louis Jordan on that list??? Tsk tsk tsk...
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Trio
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Great picks with the New Orleans Jazz Vipers and The Hot Club of Cowtown. Very happy to see modern groups doing this.
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Whit Smith, though his approach is a little more "Western" is a total rhythm guitar guru, and has tons of free tips on his YouTube. Absolute GOLD. He's one of the best to ever do it. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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One of those "it depends" responses--
What kind of dancers? A swing-dance setting suggests mid/up-tempo tunes for 6- or 8-count lindy-style with a bit of slower fox-trot material, and maybe even some two-steppish honkytonk stuff.
Band composition? What melody/lead instrument? Got keys and/or drums? A singer? These elements might bias a set list in various ways.
Repertory: To me, "swing dance" says 1930-1950 standards, which means an enormous range of material, just about all of which is adaptable to quartet/quintet settings. The ChatGPT list is mostly reliable--though in my decades of observing dancers, I've never seen anybody navigating "Take Five," and "Caravan" is not one I'd expect to see populating the dance floor. For a string-led combo, there's all kinds of inspiration. A surprising portion of early Quintet of the Hot Club of France stuff, for example, was danceable material. Then there's one of my go-to records, Duke Robillard's "After Hours Swing Session," which includes this eminently slow-dancey version of a 1928 foxtrot:
Short answer: loot the repertories of the big bands and find tunes that fit the available resources.
(For more than 20 years I attended the Augusta Swing Week camp , which included a strong dance component and held nightly two-set dances played by staff pickup bands that ran to quintet/sextet size. It was a crucial part of my musical education.)
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I play in a band that is primarily aimed at swing dancers, and have heard quite a few other swing bands we've shared bills with. Typically we'll play as a 6-7 piece band, but we've done lots of gigs as a quartet. I think the dancers can go for any size combo as long as its committed to a strong fundamental quarter note feel. They'll accept a range of material as long as that swing feel is maintained. If you talk to dancers, they'll always tell you about going to dances where the band was playing too modern, or played Take Five (not a dance tune at all), or played too many latin tunes, or had too many solo choruses making the tunes too long to dance all the way through. Just gotta take the feel and repertoire the dancers want to hear seriously and they'll reward you with a lot of energy.
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To reinforce one of Tramline's comments: My mentors pointed out that however jazzy a dance band was feeling, dancers are not looking for lots of multi-chorus solos--about four minutes was the preferred length, for both physical-endurance and social reasons. But, yeah, the swing is the thing, and good dancing feeds back to the band.
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Dance gigs are my favourites, whether big band or small group. So much energy in the room! Originally Posted by RLetson
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So it’s a swing dance club that will come out. Originally Posted by RLetson
My core band is trumpet, guitar, bass and drums. I have contacts to add more guys, but usually don’t have the budget. I can sing and play.
I’ve been to the dance when a band came and forced their repertoire on the dancers and they made do. But, I want to do better than that.
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This... Originally Posted by RLetson
That stuff is called gipsy swing, so a priori the same portion of it is danceable as in west-coast swing or whatever you call the music lindy hoppers dance to. It's just not for the same kind of dancing... or not:[...] A surprising portion of early Quintet of the Hot Club of France stuff, for example, was danceable material.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...ZGawUXcVJQhOpb
(OK, they're a quintet...)
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