Taking on the Wandering and Pondering DJ Challenge

A few weeks ago on Feburary 25th 2014,  Jerry Almonte from Wondering and Pondering issued the following challenge,

I have a challenge to all DJs. Lindy Focus inspired me to hunt down music by all the great musicians that played at that event. This got me thinking that I can do a whole night of DJed music using bands that play for dancers today. I’ve done it a couple of times now, to a really positive response. People get really excited when they hear a good song by a band, and you tell them that they can hear that music live at a dance or event sometime in the near future. This is my challenge to DJs far and wide: Do a whole set or even a whole night of music just by musicians making a living playing jazz music today. Ellington and Basie are great, but they don’t have to make rent at the end of the month. The key our exciting dance scene is the interaction between dancers and musicians. Show a little love. And if you don’t have the music to pull something like that off, then use this as an opportunity to go find some. Hey Mister Jesse(the longest running and probably only swing dance music podcast out there) has a lot of great recommendations as well as sites like Swing DJ Resources. I’m also going to be posting some of my own in the near future. Swing Music! Let’s do this!

After reading this challenge and realizing that I had an upcoming DJ set in Boston at Monday Night Practice I decided to give it a shot. I interpreted Mr. Almonte’s rules as the following:

Rules:

1. All songs played must be by bands who have musicians making a living today.
2. I have to last the entire set at Monday Night Practice (about 2 hours)
3. Music has to be good a.k.a no playing novelty tunes just to play something that is modern.

I made a facebook event for the night and advertised that this special theme was occurring. I’m happy to say that I passed the challenge and in addition we had a much larger turnout than usual that night. I have posted my set list below but I encourage if you are a DJ looking to mix things up to give it a shot. The challenge served the Boston community well!

Set List for March 17th, 2014 at Monday Night Practice in Boston, MA:

1. Indigo Swing – Ruby Mae
2. Hippocampus Jass Gang – Your Smile’s A Moonbeam On My Heart
3. Blackstick – Si Tu Vois Ma Mére
4. Caroline Fourmy – All of Me
5. Joe Smith and the Spicy Pickles – A Smooth One
6. Glenn Crytzer and His Syncopators – Mr. Rhythm
7. Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys – Take a Number from One to Ten
8. Hippocampus Jass Gang – The Mooche
9. Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders – King David (live)
10. Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators – Fortunate Love
11. Smoking Time Jazz Club – Percolatin Blues
12. Smoking Time Jazz Club – Sugar
13. George Gee And His Make Believe Orchestra – Stompin’ At The Savoy
14. Gordon Webster – Sweet Potato Fries
15. Hot Sugar Band – Jericho
16. Norbert Susemihl, Erika Lewis, Shaye Cohn, Jason Marsalis, Kerry Lewis, Gregory Agid – Love Me Or Leave Me
17. The Hot Club of Cowtown – Rosetta
18. Jonathan Dole Quintet – The Fed Hop
19. Blackstick – Blackstick
20. Mora’s Modern Rhythmists – Smoke Rings
21. Cassidy and the Orleans Kids – Shake That Thing
22. Boilermaker Jazz Band – When Your Lover Has Gone
23. The Solomon Douglas Swingtet  – Bizet Has His Day
24. Gordon Webster – Sweet Sue
25. Mora’s Modern Rhythmists – Four or Five Times
26. Jonathan Stout and His Campus – Swingin’ On Nothin’
27. Boilermaker Jazz Band – Someone’s Rockin’ My Dreamboat
28. Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders – Dickie’s Dream
29. Rachael Price and The Tennessee Terraplanes – Just A Little Bit South of North Carolina