Vanilla 1.1.5a is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.
I had a discussion with a fellow dancer the other day. He was wondering why, with all the great recordings of all the great musicians available, do we choose to dance to live bands?
He does have a bit of a point. After all, what current swing bands can compare to Duke, or Ella, or Louie, or Django?
We complain when a dj doesn't play enough variety in his set. We complain when the music quality selected is sub-par. So why do we pay more money to dance to live bands, when they will give us less desirable music, lower quality than the greats, and less variety than any dj can offer?
So I open it to the interweb. I'd like to know what you kids think.
Please discuss.
There's the hope deep inside of me that dancers will really listen to the music when it's live, rather than just anticipate it due to a worn-out familiarity of all the same recordings; and that musicians will really notice and feel that dancers (some at least) are listening and dancing to the music. Imo, Jazz, be it music or dance, is an improvisational art.
This quote shows that it is happening these days:
MrMusicHall:Me: “Thank you so much for the music, and for the burnin’ solos. They were wonderful.”
Tenor guy: “Thank you. You know, this has been the most fun I have had playing for a long time. These people” as he pointed to the floor with a look of incredulity, “are listening. After playing for dancers who stumble around, it is so great to play for people who actually listen to the music.”
Me: “All these dancers have big ears, and they use ‘em.”
Tenor guy: He then pointed to the dancers on the floor, and, said to me, as if I couldn’t quite comprehend the enormity of it, “Look at them. They are all listening to the music.”
Most of the time, I would rather dance to a moderately sub-par live band, playing music I would normally only kind-of like, than dance to my best recorded music -- because it's alive and breathing. Certain bands play at a obscenely sub-par level, but I feel that the main reason it torques at my ears and heart is that they aren't really making music, just like some dancers are really dancing to the music. (All this being said at least to some degree as a purist, idealist and a wishful thinker.)
Btw, this approaching what I mean and feel when say music:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/music:an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
Some quotes thanks to Mike:
“Dancing is the union of the body with the rhythm and the sound of the music.”
-Al Minns
“Jazz musicians have dance in them, and jazz dancers have music in them, or jazz doesn’t happen.”
-Sidney Bechet
Various thoughts of mine echo what Grant has said about Player-Dancer interactions, and also include the fact that live music has a tendency to give off more energy than a lot of recorded music for the simple fact that there are actual people in the room producing the music, and the fact that really unless you have a prohibitively expensive sound setup, you just can't come close to the quality of the sound (physical sound, not music quality) of live music with a recorded disc and speakers.
yes, i agree with what has been said.
though I'm sure we've all experienced bands at swing events that make us want to sit down instead of dance. [Emoticon not found]
bad DJ or bad band? I'll pick the band any day!
Oh yes, I definitely can think of a band or two who have that effect on me, but all things considered, as long as the band is moderately good, it usually makes for a better night all around (once in a while anyways).
Because they won't play Jump Jive an.... oh wait...
i would much rather have a sub par dj than a sub par band. the problem is that most bands do not create music, they are recreating the music just like a recording, and they (the bands) don't usually have a great repertoire, and if there is one musician who is off than it ruins everything else (ie the band sat night). especially in utah it seems as though musicians don't really learn hopw to "play" music, only to "play back" the music. maybe outside of utah it is different.
As far as the sub par vs sub par goes, I'd rather have a dj.... however with any decent kind of band, I think the advantage goes to live music, unless the dj is truly stellar....
Yeah, if the DJ is really good it's hard to beat him/her.
unless you're barbara morrison.... [Emoticon not found]
Aw... shucks!! Thanks guys!!
Buzz, I think you posted in the wrong thread...
ROFL
[Emoticon not found]
I went to the provo first night thing this last saterday and there were two live bands. There first live band we were dancing to was fine but they really didnt do much as far as changing the tempo gos. we even asked for a really fast song to do a swing jam to and I think they may have got up to like 160. needless to say we still had fun but it was kind of a sad jam. [Emoticon not found]
The second band I saw really sounded great but if was much faster. I was only there for about three songs as I didnt even know they were playing tell the end of the night.
I was wishing for a dj for about half the night.
Unfortunately, Count Basie cannot up the energy of the music coming out of the speakers, but a band can when the dancers get going.
Even though the tempos were stinky with the first band, I was still having a blast (if everyone else couldn't tell by the funky grin on my face). The band was feeding off the crowd (the drummer for sure), and the crowd was really having a great time. Plus I was having fun with the uber slick floor.
The other band -- Enoch Train -- had energy and tempo variations out the wazoo! Great Balls of Fire was played at the typical tempo (medium) but felt sooo fast because of the energy. We had a swing/steal jam where I was the only lead. I was SO tired by the end -- talk about cotton mouth! And then Sweet Georgia Brown at the end was soo good, they switched to a funk arrangement in the middle which was crazy fun, and then ended with a progressive increase in tempo until it was too fast to dance to and we just cheered them on to the finish (unless I'm getting my songs mixed up).
hey. i know enoch train... they did a sweet cover of apricot tree.
Could they play a whole set of music appropriate for a swing dance. I'm betting they could. Based on the handful of songs I heard, I thought they were quite the musicians.
t_roach:Could they play a whole set of music appropriate for a swing dance. I'm betting they could. Based on the handful of songs I heard, I thought they were quite the musicians.
don't know. i've never had a chance to hear them live. they are fun though
never heard em... any clips on the net that I could sample?
1 to 20 of 20