1-24-09

Drop Dead Blues

-Help Me - Sonny boy Williamson
-Damn Right I've Got the Blues - Buddy Guy
-Tell Me More and More and Then Some - Nina Simone
-Got My Mojo Workin' - Asylum Street Spankers
-Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
-Black and Tan Fantasy - Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra
-Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans - Lavay Smith
-Sugarman - Kid Johnny Lang & the Big Bang
-The Blues Keep Falling - Jimmy Cotton Blues Band
-Heartstrings - Anthony David
-Every Planet We Reach Is Dead - Gorillaz
-Teardrop - Massive Attack

1-17-09

Drop Dead Blues - Lesson

These are the songs Alex and I used to teach our musicality lesson. For the main part, we'd pick three versions of the same song.
Note: Integrating so much music into the lesson made it a lot easier to DJ the dance. I feel like people had instant song recognition, and since we went over quite a broad range of styles, most dancers were comfortable with a broader variety than usual. They even managed to dance to Robert Johnson (which is usually hard to connect with for beginners). Yay!

Blues Fundamentals
-Damn Right I've Got the Blues - Buddy Guy

Musicality
St James Infirmary
-Louis Armstrong
-Bobby "Blue" Bland
-Lou Rawls
I Put A Spell On You
-Nina Simone
-Tab Benoit
-Kim Nalley
I Believe I'll Dust My Broom
-Robert Johnson
-Taj Mahal
-Pyeng Threadgill

Contrast
-Joe Lee's Rock - Boy Blue, Willie Jones, Joe Lee
-Find My Baby - Moby

Connecting with Your Partner
-Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman
-Stranded In Your Love - Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings


Dance Set

-I Just Wanna Make Love to You - Muddy Waters
-Sugarman - Kid Johnny Lang & the Big Bang
-I Put a Spell On You - Tab Benoit
-Oreo Cookie Blues - Lonnie Mack
-Come on in my Kitchen - Chris Thomas King
-In the Mississippi River - Mavis Staples
-Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
-Black Velvet - Alannah Myles
-Find My Baby - Moby
-Idlewild Blues - Outkast
-Down Home Blues - Etta James
-Dangerous Mood - Keb Mo
-Stranded in Your Love - Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
-Tell Me More And More And Then Some - Nina Simone
-Black Night - John Lee Hooker
-Come Rain or Come Shine - BB King & Eric Clapton
-Dissolved Girl - Massive Attack

Homecoming Blues (01-07-09)

First time DJing now that I'm back ... it was just for a small house party. I don't think I'll start DJing at Drop Dead Blues for another week - I want to get a feel for the crowd first, since apparently it's changed quite a lot since I left. Here are the two sets I DJed at Mark's:

Set 1:
-I Just Want to Make Love to You - Muddy Waters
-Dangerous Mood - Keb' Mo'
-Burning Fire - Otis Spann's South Side Band
-Do I Move You? - Nina Simone
-Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman
-Down in the Swamp - Tab Benoit
-Every Planet We Reach is Dead - Gorrilaz
-Idlewild Blues - Outkast
-Le Ballet - Celine Dion
-Blues for Angel - Soul Miner's Daughter
-Wade in the Water - Blind Boys of Alabama
-Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down - Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur
-Come Rain Or Come Shine - BB King & Eric Clapton
-Down Home Blues - Etta James
-Sinner's Prayer - Eric Clapton

Set 2:
-Little Wing - Stevie Ray Vaughan
-Mo' Better Blues - Branford Marsalis
-Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
-Got My Mojo Workin' - Asylum Street Spankers
-Come Home Blues - Jennifer Nettles Band
-In the Mississippi River - Mavis Staples
-Oreo Cookie Blues - Lonnie Mack
-Spoonful - Cream
-Sugarman - Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang
-I Got the Blues - Otis Rush
-Black Velvet - Alannah Myles
-Find My Baby - Moby
-Heartstrings - Anthony David
-Sentimientos - Andres Linetzky
-Black and Tan Fantasy - Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra

Gotta love the blues ...

I've been to see a few blues bands in Rome, and they are amazing. Who would've thought Italy had such great blues musicians? There's a harmonica player here who used to tour with the son of Muddy Waters. Needless to say, he's amazing.

Here is the playlist I put together for my first lesson (which wasn't really an official lesson)

-The Thrill is Gone - BB King
-Red House - Jimi Hendrix
-Frisco Blues - John Lee Hooker
-Spoonful - Cream
-Six O'Clock Blues - Eric Bibb
-Down in the Swamp - Tab Benoit
-Dangerous Mood - Keb Mo
-Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman
-Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down - Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur
-Got My Mojo Workin' - Asylum Street Spankers
-Blues for Angel - Soul Miner's Daughter
-Down Home Blues - Etta James
-Black Night - John Lee Hooker
-In the Mississippi River - Mavis Staples

PS - As we were waiting for the blues band to play at Ombre Rosse, Jeff noticed the music playing over the sound system, and asked what it was. I had never heard it before, but my gut instinct was ... sounds like Mavis Staples. So he asks the bartender, and what do you know, I was right. I guess the hours on end of listening to blues have done something after all. :-)

Blues in Rome

Taught my first mini-class last night. There were only four of us, but it was a lot of fun. They were all lindy dancers, so the concepts came easily enough, and they seemed to really take to it. We're very excited about where to take this.
Valentina helped me as my follow - she's really fun to lead. Her and her dance partner are going to start teaching a lindy class, which I will try to attend.

Plans while in Europe

-Help expand the lindy scene in Rome ... maybe teach a workshop or a couple of classes ... get some organizing experience under my belt
-Start a blues scene (or maybe rather an enthusiasm for blues ... the scene will follow) in Rome. I have a base of interested dancers.
- Go dance in Barcelona
- Got to the London Balboa Festival.

Yay dance!

BluesShout?

I was down in SLO practicing solo blues with Mary, and we made some tentative plans. We both really want to go to BluesShout in Chicago (sometime in March I think), but that's one expensive trip - flights plus event plus food for a weekend etc. But we'll figure it out. And Mary and I pretty much want to do everything, so ... I know I'm competing again, in as many events as I can find partners for, and hopefully Mary and I are doing a routine.

First step ... find a song. I think we want something a little more vintage.

I'm excited ...