Hall Lindymobile News and Views #5

[Allen Hall]

News and Views from the Hall Lindymobile

‘04/’05 installment #5



Dancin’ in Indy



October 26. We were joined by Dayton LH buds, Gus and Jessica, and drove 200 miles RT to dance to the Mid-Coast Swing Orchestra at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis. The band is an unconventional “little big band”, an eleventet of three reeds (alto, tenor, bari.), two trumpets, two trombones and a standard 4 piece rhythm section, plus the leader/trumpeter Mark Buselli. Their book is primarily composed of charts from the Basie, Ellington and Lunceford bands of the ‘30s and ‘40s, and the band is loaded with good musicians/soloists, but they lack the rhythmic oomph that Lindy Hoppers enjoy, and often need. Having said that, in the grand array of live music available for Lindy Hopping, the MCSO is far superior to a pointy stick in the eye. The floor is approx. 25 by 25. It is unfloating hardwood parquet, and the surface is surprisingly danceable as it is covered with tables of diners on all but the 2nd, 4th and 5th Tuesday dance nights each month. The Jazz Kitchen has nice ambiance, and, I’m told, serves good food. Seven other good LHers showed up; some from IU at Bloomington IN, the rest from Indianapolis. Jazz Kitchen, at 54th and College Ave. in Indianapolis. Music from 7:30 to 11:30, $7 cover, most parking is on-street and tight.

FFI on Indianapolis LH, try www.naptownstomp.com



Lindy Halloween in Costume Drag



October 30. We went to a Saturday night Halloween costume dance at a Senior Citizen Center in Dayton. Rudy and I went as Lindy muchachoes, she in a moustache, huge sombrero and serape, and I did too. Ever try to lead a follower in an underarm turn when she is wearing a hat with a brim 3.5 feet in diameter? Big tile floor, nice surface, good variety of DJed music with sane tempos, turnout of 52 dancers with a mix of experiences, and only 2 bucks—whatadeal, and fun.



In Cincy with the Boppers



November 2. We danced at the weekly Cincinnati Bop Club (CBC) dance at Jim and Jacks in Cincinnati. It was a decent turnout of about 60 mostly older dancers who showed up on a rainy election night—they usually average 100. The generous floating dance floor is about 800 sq. ft., but, unfortunately, it is plastic, and until the dance wax in the corners was distributed over the whole floor, the surface was bad tight. The DJed music provided by CBC Prez, Paul Hennessey, is the most historically faithful of any we have heard at any Bop dance, and we much prefer original Rhythm and Blues over the “new” music which has crept into both Bop and Carolina Shag dances. And, Paul mixes in some more sprightly tempos in with the usual slower music which averages about 125 bpm. Jim and Jack’s, 3456 River Road in Cincinnati, every Tues, DJed music at 8:30, easy parking, liquor served, $? as we were comped in because we were former CBC members, circa 1993 to 1998.



A Short Course on Bop



No one knows why the dance is called Bop, but they think of themselves as Jitterbuggers, a term which used to be more inclusive than it is today, and so, while Lindy Hoppers and Boppers may not be full brothers, they are certainly swing dance cousins. It is difficult to define Bop, but it is a primarily a 6 count, circling swing dance usually done to music between 115 and 144 bpm, and done by people who are oh say over 50, and who are adept at leading and following. There is no common basic step (that I can determine), and no fixed canon of commonly used steps, but rather, Bop employs a bewildering array of steps and styles, plus anything else you think can get away with. Most of the dancers learned Bop as teenagers by social imitation, and so, they have had ample time to develop their individual styles and signature moves which they use extant to this day. And so, going to a National Bop Convention is a primer in the unique ways swing dance can be done.

Bop is biggest largely unknown dance in the swing world. Bop is big in the southeast United States. Bop and Carolina Shag occupy overlapping geographies, and co-exist comfortably as separate dance communities. There are two national Bop associations, the NBA and the ABA, the latter is the larger and has about 12 member clubs. Bop clubs holds many regional dance conventions, and the ABA holds two national conventions each year, and both national conventions draw upwards of a thousand dancers, and they often they are sold out several months before the dance. Bop is a social dance; I have never seen nor heard of a competition at a Bop dance.

Rudy and I attended four national Bop conventions; the ones held in Cincinnati and called “Move across the River”. They are typically held on the 2nd weekend of November. At one time, when Rudy and I were still attending them, it was a 5 day event with a live mystery band on Thursday night, and, overall, 56 hours of open DJed dance with 1,200 dancers, free lessons in Carolina Shag, Bop and St. Louis Imperial Swing, a 4,040 sq. ft. GOOD wood floor, free chow and booze in hospitality rooms, free limo service to and from the airport, all of this for $25. Can you dig it?



November 4. We caught the Dayton Jazz Orchestra’s 1st Saturday gig at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Dayton—no dance floor, Boo Hoo! but we knew that going in. The DJO (seventeen chairs plus vocalist) is now under the artistic direction of lead trumpeter, Scott Belck, who leads the band from the front, and plays blistering solos in the altissimo register. Scott is a charismatic guy who cracks jokes to keep the band loose, asks more of them than they think they have to offer, and often lavishly praises an acknowledges individual band members. In short, he is a band leader who is a LEADER, and, as a result, the old staid, pretty-good gray DJO, now has new energy and color. They now play challenging charts; they now have some dynamic pop; the horn sections swing; they are attracting some of the best musicians in the area, and while the drummer may not be the Gibraltar of “time” he has not a scintilla of shy in his whole body. Hell, let the bass be the metronome, I wanna hear the engine (drummer) rev. Last night, they ran down a brand new chart cold. They even had a few near-miss train-wrecks, but who cares? Scott has them grinning, taking chances on solo, and feeling the glory in jazz when they collectively kick a big dent in the ass of a tough chart.

I confess, jazz winds the mainspring of my need to dance, and so, Damn! that…was…a FUN night.



Live vs. Studio Recordings



Characteristically, Lindy Hoppers buy a lot of recorded music. If I had to guess, of all genera of swing dancers, I think Lindy Hoppers and Carolina Shaggers spend more money as a function of their disposable income than does any other genera of swing dancers. I wonder if people make any distinction between music recorded live and music recorded in a studio. There was a time when it didn’t matter to me, but no more, as my ears have improved.

Music recorded in a studio usually has good to perfect sound balance, is recorded in a place with live acoustics, and, is most often, free of musical mistakes. Music recorded live often has an imperfect balance of frequencies (bad placement of microphones or balance), is sometimes recorded in a room with flat or dead acoustics, and the music can contain “clams” and other musical imperfections.

However, I much prefer music recorded live. Live recordings often have a quality of vivacious immediacy born of “one-take-only” and having a band goosed by the knowledge they have an audience in front of them who have paid to be entertained. Studio recordings dates either, continue to do re-takes to fix musical mistakes, and this repetition can rob the music of the luster of freshness, or to avoid the expense and time of multiple takes, studios use multi-track technology with overdubbing by musicians or singers, so if there is a flub, the whole band need not run down the number all over again, and the soloists and singers can just put on their headphones and record another take on another track while listening to the previously recorded accompanying music. But, jazz is both a form of music, and the result of an immediate reciprocal conversation between musicians and singers, and if you keep them from conversing in real time, the music can become mechanical and lifeless. To be sure, there are times when the rhythm section and lead voice(s) are not talking, but when they are, sometime the result can be pure musical magic.

As well, in a studio recording you will seldom hear a band member or the audience verbalize their approval, and it is these moments which activate musicians to add energy and immediacy to their performance. I know from personal experience that a LIVE live audience can lift mightily a musical performance—jazz musicians need to KNOW or BELIEVE that the people out there care enough to be IN the music.

It is this need which makes jazz musicians usually love Lindy Hoppers, for how can you Lindy Hop and not be somehow IN the music. As well, there can be a live lifting reciprocal transfer of energy between Lindy Hoppers and jazz musicians. This live lifting energy swap which was lost during the Bebop era of the ‘40s and for almost 50 years thereafter is slowly coming back with the increasing popularity of swing music in all of its protean forms, and the increasing popularity of Lindy Hop dance.

I am happy, neigh, make that “overjoyed”, that Lindy Hoppers seek out live music, and dance to more live music than do dancers in any other form of swing dance. Hey, I’m no expert, but I have been around the eclectic swing dance block a few times.

Mea culpa, I strayed rather afield from my editorial intent, but, as you know, Crazy Al has a propensity for that….and he probably will do it again.



Dixie Anyone?



Lindy hoppers are missing a great opportunity if they refuse, for any reason, to dance to Dixieland music. The usual objection is because Dixieland is somehow considered non-traditional. Get over it. Dixieland is happy music, and the bands that play it are almost always animated and energetic. Rudy and I seldom miss a chance to dance to a Dixieland band, and further, many Dixieland bands have a mixed book with a nice compliment of jazz combo swing tunes. Is that traditional enough for you? Well, probably not for some who think that only Big Band music is fit to be Lindyed to Almost all Traditional Jazz Fests*, have generous sized dance floors in most rooms, and while the older Dixie fans seldom do Lindy Hop, the DO dance, and it tickles them when Lindy Hoppers show up, probably because it reminds them of their youth, or perhaps their parents’ youth.

Lemmie tell you an apocryphal story about capturing Lindy lightening in a bottle. Three years ago the Phoenix Lindy Exchange was held in connection with the Phoenix Trad. Jazz Fest, and one night there, the LHers and the Dixieland band, The Titan Hot Seven locked horns in a can-you-top-this jam to a tempo-incendiary tune, and when it was over, the LHers exploded with screaming and applause the likes of which I have never heard at a dance….E V E R. It was instantaneous combustion, and a high-light moment in my dance life. But, don’t believe me, ask Marcelo, or Nick Williams; they were there, and, trust me, they WILL remember it. Incidentally, the Phoenix Lindy Exchange and Phoenix Trad. Jazz Fest are, once again, joined at the hip, this year and next.

Trombonist and leader of the trad. jazz, Alamo City Band, Chuck Reiley, expressed it well, “I like to play chords and stay close to melodies. We play danceable music, because traditional jazz was music to dance to. Let’s face it; if you don’t like this music, you don’t like home cooking.”



* There are about 50 Trad. Jazz Fests in the U.S. every year, and 16, or so, of them are held on the west coast. These fests range from 2 day weekend deals with about 5 bands performing, to the monster fest in Sacramento every April which features well over 100 bands and lasts a week. As well, since the Trad. Jazz Fests are now feeling the inevitable demographic pinch in their patron base, they are booking music attractive to younger patrons and Lindy Hoppers, try big bands with set aside evening hours for dances, try jump bands, try hot blues bands, try bands whose primary bag is playing the Basie little big band book. Interested? Get a copy of “Mississippi Rag” or “American Rag”, or check out their websites—I’m sure they have them.



Are the Best Jazz Musicians Dead?



There is a tendency to believe the best jazz musicians are now dead, but it ain’t necessarily so. I am reasonably sure that the greatest swing tenor saxophonist who ever lived is now alive and near the top of his game. He doesn’t have the quite the musical memory nor singing lyrical beauty and incredible technique of Stan Getz, nor the endless ability to improvise of Lester Young, nor the robust manly tones of Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, nor the exactitude of “time” and sweetness of tone of Zoot Sims, nor the refreshing ideas of Al Cohn, nor the boisterous capability to get a crowd to it’s feet of Illinois Jacquet and Flip Phillips, nor the achingly plaintive way with a ballad of Gene Ammons, nor the gutsy ability to wail on a blues of Stanley Turrentine, but, he is still, in my humble opinion, the best swing tenor ever.

Although he doesn’t read music, he has an unfailing, almost legendary, harmonic ear—almost never a wrong note and almost always a note which is so “right”. He has complete command of the entire musical range of the tenor, and he uses it all, unlike some tenorists who chose a mouthpiece to give them facility in two registers but not three. He has an uncanny sense of “time”, with almost never, a note in the wrong place, for the wrong duration or with the wrong emphasis. He is a throwback to the swing era, and his improvisational phrases sing, with no trace of the jagged angular phrasing of the post-Bop era. His improvisational phrases always seem to be utterly proper, even inevitable; he has been known to improve a tune’s established melody by fixing a composer’s less than perfect note. He has an enormous bag o’ licks so listening to him is never boring. He stays close to the melody and is never unmusical during improvisation—he needs no major growling, honking, squealing or over-blowing to generate excitement, and so, he seldom uses those unmusical devices. He swings either hard or softly, but incessantly. .He is probably not the fastest fingerer or articulator on tenor ever, but he is quick-silver fast. However, he doesn’t play fast just to display virtuosity. His tone is big, but he has a masterful use of mouth effects to change the timbre to fit the melody and mood, and he can be gorgeous in the middle register. He has gargantuan chops, but he always seems to be holding something in reserve, as every great artist must. He is modest and respectful; I have never seen him show-up a fellow musician, but he will respond with verve when digging into a two tenor blowing number. He plays the cleanest sub-toning that I have ever heard, and, as a result, he is a sound-man’s worst nightmare. He has become a gifted balladeer, challenging the best ever at the art, and, with only the possible exception of Houston Person, he is the finest and most sensitive obligatoist behind a vocalist that I have ever heard. He has a big, well-modulated, sensual vibrato. He crafts a solo with uncommon artful judgment, building and releasing tension throughout. At this point, it is probably no great surprise that I am a big fan, and have purchased almost all of his recordings. I often listen to him at home and in the car, and yet, sometimes I discover a stunning musical idea or figure that I have not detected before. If swing is the sound of surprise, he is constantly surprising.

His name is Scott Hamilton (not the ice skater), and for over 20 years, he has been the major cash cow for Concord Music, recording over 30 title CD/Cassettes for them, and playing on countless recordings as sideman. His presence as sideman appreciably boosts a recording’s sales. He is, and has been for many years the most sought after swing tenor at Jazz events. He is 50 year of age, and still blowing live and recorded world-class jazz. He is tough to catch live, as he spends a lot of time in England, where, sadly, the Brits have a finer appreciation of our jazz artists than we do. Be honest, how many of you have ever heard of him? Few, I would predict, but if you ever get a chance to see him play, I suggest you treat yourself to what I think is the best ever.



Lindy in the Vines



We have danced is some unusual venues, but never in a winery. Last night we danced at the Chateau Pomije, west of Cincinnati and just across the Indiana State line. It is in the boonies for sure, but it’s an impressive fieldstone building on a hill by a lake enclosed by fields of grapevines. Half the building is an up-scale restaurant, and the rest is a great-room used for wedding receptions, and, for the last two months as a venue for a Friday night swing dance. The room is completely carpeted so Erick Fudge, who runs the dance, had to install a floor. It took him 3 full days and some side help to put down 1340 sq ft of floor over the rug. So the floor is floating (cushioned). It is an artificial wood laminate on top of composite boards; the surface is delightful and I’m told wears like cast iron with no maintenance necessary. Incidentally the floor material cost him $2,700, but he got a break on price. About 20 dancers showed up, and while most were beginners, a few were experienced, including Terry and Kandy, the co-majors domo of the Cincy Lindy scene. The DJed music was eclectic; pop, swing, blues, disco, and some nifty original R&B tunes I haven’t heard for years. Every Friday, 24043 Jacobs R d., Guilford IN, music 9-12, easy parking, I’m guessing all ages welcome.



Allen Hall

November 5, 2004 In Dayton Ohio, but it’s getting’ cold, and so, we are getting’ ready to head back south.