Interview: Kyle Smith, Master DJ

Most people you meet in this world start off as acquaintances, then become your friends if you wish to get to know each other better. When master DJ Kyle Smith meets you, however, he instantly becomes your brother, with all the jokes, s$%#&-talking, and confrontation that implies. Once you realize he means it all as a sign of respect and friendship, it’s actually quite endearing, and also means you’re allowed to give it back to him as much as he dishes it out (something you probably can’t do with many other friends of yours). Anyway, I asked my brother Kyle if he wouldn’t mind answering a few questions about something he does better than almost anyone in the world: DJ swing.

Joshua

A while back my friend Bob (aka DJ Thor, because he brings the thunder) and I were talking about the tune Joshua fit de Battle of Jericho. Pretty much everyone knows the version by Sidney Bechet--it's been overplayed for years and years. As I understand it, it's true pretty much all over the country, which is impressive as overplay often tends to be a scene-specific phenomenon. Like all perennial favorite tunes, it is overplayed for a reason--it's a really killer track. The tune itself is a bit part of it, I think. It's a great, moving spiritual, the lyrics and music in combination are quite dramatic, and it has an almost hypnotic rhythmic patter.

Song Progression: Why Don’t You Do Right

One of the things I like to do to pass the time is something I call “Song Progression”. What I do is find as many versions of one song that catches my eye and then play them in chronological order while looking up the history of each. Besides being entertaining, it is educational for myself as DJ to see which artists influenced others and possibly find new finds for my collection.

Music Madness 2011

Exclusive to The Experiment this year was the first ever Music Madness. A celebration and competition of high quality swing music (complete with Sponsors!). The setup is easy, 64 of the best songs to dance balboa were pitted head to head in a single elimination tournament, where one song took the home the Chick Webb Memorial Trophy.

How to Support Live Music

I asked Glenn Crytzer if I could re-post his awesome article on supporting live music because I too want you to support the artists that make this world wonderful.

EBC 2010 Competition Music

Another great year at EBC. Awesome competitions, great bands and always kick ass dancing. Following the great response to my ABW competition list, I am excited to post the complete competition list for EBC 2010. This time around, I decided to make it even easier for everyone to buy this great music by including Amazon links for every song (when available).  Enjoy the list!

BPM graphs

Someone asked about how I make the BPM sparklines and frequency distributions that I post with each of my sets, so I thought I'd explain. It isn't a very elegant method: I export each setlist from my media player, copy it into Excel, and use a spreadsheet that I have set up to generate Google Chart API code.

Swing, IN 2010

This past weekend Jenna and I were at Swing, IN in Indianapolis to teach and to play music and to dance and dance and dance and dance. Many of my favorite people were all in the same place at the same time, which was an all- too-rare treat for me. (Plus I get some them again next weekend!)

DJing for newer dancers

dogpossum, an Australian DJ, recently posted some interesting thoughts about how to DJ for newer dancers. I agree with nearly all of what she says. The only thing I might push back on is the tempo stuff--I'd say that the rule on tempo should always be to feel it out based on the crowd at the moment.

Fizz setlist 8-16-2010

Museum Acquires Storied Trove of Performances by Jazz Greats

For decades jazz cognoscenti have talked reverently of “the Savory Collection.” Recorded from radio broadcasts in the late 1930s by an audio engineer named William Savory, it was known to include extended live performances by some of the most honored names in jazz — but only a handful of people had ever heard even the smallest fraction of that music, adding to its mystique.

Album Review: Sam Cooke Live at The Harlem Square Club

I’ve been on a live soul music kick lately and I finally picked up “Sam Cooke Live at The Harlem Square Club” after I heard Peter Strom spin “Having a Party” from this it at ILHC last year.  I had such a great dance to that song that it’s part of my personal Lindy highlights from last year.