:: Music Guide ::

Basic 16

Here are my 'basic' 16 recommendations; what I would suggest for someone starting to DJ that wants to appeal to a large variety of dancers and does not want to be too abstract.

COMPILATIONS (representing 1 CD each of Big Band Swing, Neo-Swing, Slow Smooth Swing, Jump Blues):
1. "Really Swinging". That's the best compilation for "authentic" lindy music. Hard to find, but you can usually get it here.
2. "Got Swing". Ain't bad either; it's all retro-swingish and more boppy. Don't get the CD by the same name that the Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra made!
3. "Smoothies Vols 1-4" are all really good for slow/foxtrot-like swing. All tempos are like 104-120BPM. I use these in class a lot, but they are all hard to find.
4. "Jumpin' Jive" from Hippo Records (#40158) is good for medium tempo jump blues. I think there is more than 1 volume now.

Individual Artists (all of these are great if you like medium-tempo music; 130-180BPM):

SMOOTHER SWING FOR THE MODERN SAVOY DANCERS:
5. Post 1940s Count Basie: "Breakfast Dance and Barbecue", "Basie's golden 58", "Atomic Basie", "Basie & Friends", "En Europe avec radio 1", "Live at the Sands with Frank Sinatra" or "April in Paris" for starters.
6. "Swingin' Live" by George Gee is a favorite! Call 1-718-779-7865 to order. His other CDs are good too, but this is my favorite. Say 'hi' to him for me!
7. "Maxine Sullivan Sings: 1955-6" on “Fresh Sound” records (#fsr-cd178) will be hard to find; it's an import and may be out of print, but totally worth it if you can find it.
8. "On the Sunny Side of the Street" Ella Fitzgerold & Count Basie (Verve 3821 576-2). An all-time favorite!
9.
10. "The Best of the Nat King Cole Trio" on Capital records (# 7243 8 33571 2 3) is great.

SWINGING BLUES:
11. "Compact Jazz Joe Williams and Count Basie" on Verve (#835 329-2) is great; Swingin' blues w/ great vocals
12. "The Legendary Lou Rawls" Fun, old-style bluesy R&B. Some classic 'Modern Savoy' stuff here.
13. "The Spoon Concerts" on the Fantasy label: FCD-24701-2, by Jimmy Witherspoon, but AKA "Rockin' with Spoon" on the Charley label (#CD BM 25). There is a 3rd version of this CD too. The concerts are from the Newport Jazz Festival in 1959. I love this CD!

JUMPIER STUFF FOR THE NEO-SWINGERS:
14. "Are you Hep to the Jive" Cab Calloway on Columbia/Legacy (#CK57645) -The best Calloway collection; tons of tunes; mostly swingin' jump blues -and funny.
15. "Louis Prima" another from the Capital collectors series (# CDP 7 940722)
16. "The Men from Uncle" by Ray Gelato (#DSCD 001) try www.raygelato.com for ordering. I've heard that all of his CDs are good, but this is my favorite. It's modern and a little fast, but good anyway.

As for classic/vintage swing, the best thing to do is go for big band compilations. The artists to look for are Count Basie (early stuff on the Decca label), Jimmy Lunceford, Chick Webb, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw. Duke Ellington is also great, but as America's greatest composer, his catalog of music is huge. Duke is singularly jazz's greatest composer, but Duke was a jazz man, not a swing guy. He has tons of great swing music, but even more that doesn't swing at all.