The Blue Moon Ball – Part 2

On a personal level, I DJed the band breaks. I was happy – many folks came up to tell me they enjoyed the songs I played. This included several band members as well! It always gives me a high when musicians I admire so much tell me they enjoy the tunes I chose to play. The ‘set list’ is at the bottom of this post – since a whole bunch of folks asked.

While deliberating on which songs to play, I kept the following considerations in mind:

• The Boilermakers have a tendency to really keep the energy of the floor high and I wanted to make sure I did not let this energy flag during the band breaks.
• I knew there would be lots of people attending, so I knew I had to still mix it up, since different people like different types of music
• I was DJing the band breaks – so obviously, I did not want to play music from other contemporary bands.
• Moreover, I was DJing at a dance where the Boilermakers were playing. So, the challenge was: I had to play songs that kept a ‘similar’ vibe to that of the Boilermakers, but still make sure that the songs I played had a different enough sound from that of the band
• From past experience, I knew the members of the Boilermakers definitely pay attention to the other music being played. I knew, for instance, Paul Cosentino, the band leader loves listening to different clarinetists during the break. So I decided to play one of my favorite tunes from the one and only Jimmie Noone. I also know the band has origins in good old traditional jazz, so I tried to find some Nawlins stuff they’d like (and much to my gratification, they did!)
• Last but obviously not the least, in fact, the most important – I tried my very best to keep an eye on the floor and see what the dancers responding to, and how the songs I was playing affected them. This to me, of course, always has to take precedence over almost anything else

So keeping all that in mind, here are the songs I played:

1. Begin The Beguine (Porter), Woody Herman and orchestra
2. Cole Slaw, Jesse Stone & His Orchestra
3. It’s Tight Like That, Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra
4. Sad Sap Sucker, Fats Waller
5. Corrine Corrina, Red Nichols
6. The Mooche, Joe Salzano & The Blue Devils
7. New Orleans Bump (Monrovia), Jelly Roll Morton
8. Short Dressed Gal, Preservation Hall Jazz Band

I do regret – however, not being able to fit in a Django Reinhardt tune that night – I just could not find a spot for it. It was the great guitarist’s 100th anniversary and I wanted to play something as a tribute to the man who has inspired generations of jazz guitarists and nearly spawned a genre of his own! I did request the band to see if they could play something by Django, but I guess they could not, either. I was surprised that they left out their own version of Minor Swing, a Django classic.

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