[Dixielandjazz] Swing Dances - Song Length - Tempo

[Stephen G Barbone]

I think we should not generalize about song length and tempo when  
playing for swing dances. We have run across many different  
ramifications. For example:

1) Tune Length. Some events ask us to play tunes between 3 and 4  
minutes long. Because a) kids learning to dance do so to records and  
they are 3 minutes long and b) Since it is polite to dance with anyone  
who asks, sometimes they will get a dud for a  partner and want to  
change off ASAP.

2) Tempo. Learner dancers want tunes at fairly moderate tempo, say  
between 110 and 160 beats per minute. More experienced dancers may  
well prefer faster tempo. And the really excellent dancers will do a  
Balboa or Charleston at 280 bpm, loving to strut their stuff.

So what to do? Mix it up. I always tell the kids about the dances at  
the Savoy where the bands played much longer than 3 minutes and that  
my band will vary between 5 and 8 minutes etc. Unless we get that  
specific request to keep the length down. It helps, of course, when I  
tell them that I played at The Savoy in the early 1950s before it was  
torn down.

When we are among friendly swing dancers who follow us, we challenge  
them to a high speed That's A Plenty for about 8 minutes and  
afterwards hug the sweaty girls.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband