The Swing Book (15 page)

The jitterbug originated in the late 1930s or early 1940s as a simplified variant of the Lindy Hop, danced primarily by whites trying to emulate the black dancers from the Savoy Ballroom. As the music of the era became faster, the triple step of the Lindy was abbreviated to a single step, and the more complex eight-count steps were eliminated. The jitterbug is essentially the same as East Coast swing, although some would argue that the latter can be done with a triple-step rhythm and also incorporates eight-count turns. Both are basically easier versions of the Lindy Hop, without all the fancy improvisations or air steps.

A European swing variant, modern jive focuses on six-count steps and can be danced to contemporary music and faster tempos. Jive follows the same counts as East Coast swing but has more of a hopping movement to it, with the hop executed in anticipation of the first beat. Jive is not as leadable as a social dance, because there is a lot of movement in the shoulders and because there is a set syllabus of steps, which does not allow for improvisation. Although popular in many European clubs, jive is primarily a competitive swing dance.

Boogie-woogie grew up in America and Europe in the 1950s as rock ’n’ roll replaced swing and big band on the radio and in dance clubs. Similar to jive, boogie-woogie is a swing variant that incorporates a lot of hopping movements as well as kicks forward, almost like chorus-line kicks. A similar variant is rock ’n’ roll, which is a much more acrobatic dance that incorporates many jumps and lifts. It is really intended for competitions and not for the social dance floor, notes Nathalie Gomes, winner of the French championship in acrobatic rock ’n’ roll in 1987.

There are several different kinds of shag, but perhaps the two most popular are Carolina shag and Saint Louis shag. Both are linear, slotted dances that feature lots of fancy footwork and mirror patterns. The shag is danced almost exclusively in the closed position, with the couples leaning in on one another, and there is almost no vertical movement from the waist up. Carolina shag is a smoother dance style traditionally done to slow and medium-tempo music from the 1950s and 1960s. The man is often the center of attention and executes most of the spins and other flourishes. Saint Louis shag is danced to very fast music, 165 beats per minute and up, and more closely resembles the Charleston than the Lindy, with patterns of kicks and jumps.

The Balboa is an eight-count dance done in a tightly closed position. Similar to the shag and descended from the Charleston, the Balboa incorporates very rapid footwork and hardly any movement at all above the waist. “It would look like you are ice-skating across the floor but your feet would be a blur,” says Sylvia Sykes, who has helped bring the Balboa back to today’s ballrooms. Because the dance does not travel much, the Balboa allows people to dress up and still dance to very fast music, she notes.

Because the Lindy is a social dance, nothing is more important than good etiquette. Keep in mind that the dance floor is not your personal stage. Everyone shares the same space and everyone wants to have a good time. These tips will help make it happen.

1. If you would like to dance with someone, simply ask the person. There’s no need to use lines more complicated than “May I have this dance with you?” In fact, it’s a relief to finally be able to go out and ask someone to dance and not have it be a signal that you want to pick the person up. “I asked a guy to dance and the best I ever heard was, ‘I can’t. I’m here with my girlfriend. Look,’ I said, ‘I don’t want to marry you. I just want to dance with you. This is not for eternity,’” says dancer and vintage dealer Darrow Cannizzaro.

2. If someone asks you to dance, never say no and then take the next dance with someone else. “That’s absolutely unacceptable,” says Teddy Kern. However, it is OK to say no to a dance if you want to take a break. You may be tired, your feet may hurt, you may want to get another drink. “You might say, ‘Please find me later,’ ‘Come back and ask me again,’ or ‘Please give me a rain check,’” adds Kern. “The important thing is to be gracious so the person doesn’t feel that you are rejecting them.” Also, try to be welcoming to newcomers. They may not be as advanced as you are, but they won’t progress unless veteran dancers give them a chance. As one etiquette writer states: “Today’s beginners will be the good dancers of tomorrow.”

3. Be aware of space. If it’s crowded, be courteous. Make adjustments by keeping your steps smaller and your kicks low. “This can be a very big dance but it also can be a very small dance if you know how to control it,” says Elena Iannucci.

4. If you do collide with someone anyway, or get your foot stepped on, don’t assign blame. “You don’t always know who is the victim and who the aggressor. You never know. You could have gotten in their way and even if you got stepped on, it may be your own fault,” says Paul Overton. “If everybody apologizes, everybody goes home happy.”

5. Don’t bring drinks or cigarettes on the dance floor. You may even want to think twice about wearing a hat to hop. “A pet peeve of mine is guys who go out on the dance floor wearing a hat and it falls off and they are there grabbing for it,” says Leann Wright of San Francisco’s Guys and Dolls vintage store.

6. If your partner bungles a step, let it go. There’s no place for lectures in the middle of a song. In fact, it’s not appropriate to give another person pointers during a social dance, unless the person asks for help. Conversely, if you suddenly sprout two left feet, don’t sweat it, and don’t feel you need to apologize profusely. Just get back in the swing.

7. At the end of a dance, always say thank you. Also, “a guy should always walk the woman back to where he asked her to dance. Don’t leave her in the middle of the dance floor,” says Overton.

8. Support the bands and the clubs. Take the time to applaud the musicians and singers. And if you don’t drink, buy water or at least a soda at the bar. Don’t bring your own water bottles to a nightclub.

9. Don’t wander across the dance floor looking for someone. You become a hazard.

10. The most important etiquette advice: smile. Always be friendly, gracious, and polite to everyone.

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan exchange a knowing look in the Studio.
(A
RCHIVE
P
HOTOS
/M
ETRONOME
)

CHAPTER 4

The Legends of Swing

H
ere they are: the kings and queens of the original swing era. In the short biographies that follow, you’ll meet the best bandleaders,
the most virtuoso sidemen, the loudest jump blues shouters, and the sweetest singers. You’ll find out what each musician’s
classic songs are. There’s a bit of trivia included too, such as how Billie Holiday got her nickname Lady Day and which swing
musician claims to have invented the electric guitar.

Plus, the main entries feature a recommendation of the greatest CDs to purchase for an introduction. Given the thousands of
CDs on the market, from original albums and reissues to compilations and imports, starting a swing music collection can be
a daunting challenge. Louis Armstrong, for example, recorded at least fifty different versions of the song “Basin Street Blues,”
while more than two hundred albums featuring Duke Ellington are available. Sometimes two almost identical CDs will feature
the same songs by an artist, but only one will include the best performances of those numbers. These CD picks will, I hope,
help you avoid getting stuck with a so-so purchase, although for many performers they only hint at the sheer volume of amazing
music out there.

So think of this as just the beginning of a lifelong journey of musical discovery. But be careful: Once you start buying albums
by Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, Jimmie Lunceford, and Ella Fitzgerald, just to name a few, you won’t be able to stop. These
performers will enrich you, inspire you, and thrill you—and most important, make you want to get up and move. (Readers looking
for more in-depth CD guides would do well to check out
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz;
the excellent guides to swing, jazz, and lounge from the editors of
MusicHound; The Penguin Guide to Jazz on Compact Disc;
or
The Rolling Stone Blues and Jazz Album Guide.
)

The man who made Kansas City one of the great capitals of jazz was actually raised on the East Coast. Born in the town of
Red Bank, New Jersey, in 1904, Basie moved to New York in the 1920s, where Fats Waller taught him to play the organ. By the
age of twenty-three, he was touring the country as part of a vaudeville show. But when the company got stranded in Kansas
City, Basie stayed there. The city’s nightlife, flourishing under the corrupt Pendergast political machine, and its Southwest
blues music permanently changed him. “I hadn’t ever played the blues,” wrote Basie in his autobiography,
Good Morning Blues.
In Kansas City, Basie first joined the Blue Devils band, then the influential Bennie Moten Orchestra, which in 1932 recorded
“Moten Swing,” one of the most ahead-of-its-time early swing numbers. When Moten died in 1935, Basie took most of the band’s
best members and put his own orchestra together. Before long, word traveled to New York about the hot new sound of the Basie
outfit.

What made this band distinct? Basie’s piano playing was remarkably spare and lean, a challenge to the more elaborate styles
of Harlem. Fronted by singers Jimmy Rushing and Helen Humes, the band completely embraced the blues. Its tremendous sidemen
all became legends: tenor sax players Lester Young and Herschel Evans; trumpeters Oran “Hot Lips” Page, Harry “Sweets” Edison,
and Buck Clayton; drummer Jo Jones; and the famous bassist Walter Page. But it was Page — and his four-to-the-bar bass playing—who
was the force behind the band’s unparalleled rhythm section, heavy on the backbeat and driving forward with unstoppable momentum.
“Basie’s rhythm section was nothing less than a Cadillac with the force of a Mack truck,” said trombonist Dicky Wells. While
Basie’s pared-down, propulsive songs pointed the way toward the next wave in music, jump blues, he was forced to disband his
orchestra in 1950 as the big band era came to a close. During the fifties, however, Basie bounced back, putting together a
new band and creating music that ranks among his best on such albums as
April in Paris, Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings,
and
Sinatra-Basie.
While he died in 1984, the memory of this charismatic entertainer—known in later years for his signature captain’s hat—is
as bright as ever.