Josh Collazo on swing drumming

This is Volume 8, issue 37 of the Josh Collazo Fan Club Newsletter and Stalker Almanac.

While at Lindy Focus, I had the opportunity to do a video interview with Josh Callazo, the universally-admired drummer of Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five. It was shot on a dinky camera, part of which was during the sound check as that was the only time the interview could be done. (I also accidentally cut off a drum flourish Josh gave for the ending, dammit.) However, Jonathan and Josh have shown a lot of interest in us doing a longer, more professional version (with good microphones) at some point. Until then, enjoy.

Venn Diagram #3: “Leader’s Clothing”

For Hal

[This article would not have been possible without the help of many people, especially Hilary Alexander, Marge Takier, Peter Loggins, and Nick Williams.]

Harold “Hal” Chavoor Takier, unarguably one of the greatest original jitterbugs, passed away at his home in California on January 9, 2012, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 94 years old.

Hal was one of the greatest. Many people will say this over the next few months, and they are not just saying that because he recently died. Hal really was one of the greatest jitterbugs of all time. In fact, as far as influence in modern swing dancing, he was perhaps right behind Frankie Manning and Dean Collins (as far as leaders go). And Hal Takier was the only leader to be powerfully influential in both the Lindy Hop and Bal-Swing scene.

Hal was one of only four or five people who made up a very distinct group of original jitterbugs. They were in the movies, so we could see them dance when they were young; they were well-respected and loved by their peers, so we know that their fellow dancers thought they had “it,” the traits that make a great swing dancer; and they stuck around long enough to dance in their old age and talk to the dancers of the new generation and pass on their wisdom. Hal’s death to us isn’t just the passing of an icon, but also to many the passing of a friend and a mentor.

Hal was born at 1:15 a.m. on February 13th, 1917 in Fresno, California.

On Judging, Part 3: Swing Judging Philosophy 101

[So far in this series, we've discussed the Basic Competition Blueprint, as well as some of the tricks for watching a competition. Now we'll start getting into the deeper questions involved with judging. Also, please note, Part 2 of this series has been extensively updated since its first publication.]

Judging an improvised partnership swing dance is not a clear-cut black-and-white task. First off, there are two complex factors a judge is being asked to consider: expression and execution. Then there is the question of what it means to dance the specific dance form itself. If you’re judging a Lindy Hop competition, what MAKES it Lindy Hop, verses something else?

As we will explore in the next few sections of this essay, there are different judging philosophies out there, and the most important thing judges can do is find out what their philosophy is, and why they believe that is the way to do it. (For instance, if you judge half a contest under one philosophy, and then change your philosophy for the second half of a contest, then your results won’t be consistent, nor will they have a foundation to stand on.)

But first, let’s discuss what most judges see as an irrefutable rule, and I offer it here, dramatically, because it is a very important (and difficult) one to keep.

Venn Diagram #2: “Neo-Swing”

NOTE: (added 2:30 a.m. 1/2/12) I promise this is not just a cheap shot. Recently I did a video-interview with Josh Callazo, the incredible drummer of the Jonathan Stout Orchestra. The clip, which I will put up in a few days, coincidentally helps explain part of the joke above and how it’s actually something that I think is very important about swing. But more on that soon.

Also, I should probably clarify that I do not put modern jazz bands (Jonathan Stout, Boilermakers, Glenn Crytzer, etc.) in the category of “Neo-Swing.”

NOTE: (added 1:07 p.m. 1/27/12)

NOTE: Recently I published an interview with swing drummer Josh Callazo. This interview with Josh proved a great opportunity to explain the Venn Diagram joke and how it’s actually something that is interesting and important about swing (to me, at least).

When I think of “Neo-swing” bands, I immediately think of the names Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, and Atomic Fireballs. Many of these were once-rock and ska bands who apparently learned everything they wanted to know about swing rhythm from the drum roll in “Sing, sing, sing.” (Note the common trend: start off with “sing, sing, sing”-like roll, then go into rock drumming when the song kicks-in. Repeat.) But these bands never mastered (or perhaps attempted to) the true swung rhythm, and I think watching Josh’s interview is a great quick way to start to understand the difference.

Even the “Neo-swing” music that was very well-written—most of which, in my opinion, was produced by artists like Indigo Swing— never had anything close to the kind of rhythm you would get from Gene Krupa, Chick Webb, or the Basie rhythm section, and other masters of swing rhythm. So, though there was some good pop music in Neo-swing, it was still “bad” swing because it rarely ever swung.

Probably the biggest exception to this, in my opinion, are the Squirrel Nut Zippers. The vaguely “old timey” group plays with many different rhythms, some of which swing really nicely. However, what is ironic is that their most poplar and danced-to song in the Neo-swing era was “Hell,” a Latin-inspired rhythm. Also, Neo-Swing purists might debate whether SNZ was actually a Neo-swing band, or more just a novelty jazz band who happened to hit at the same time as the Neo-swing acts.

Now, there are other factors as well that help even good neo-swing bands fall into a “bad” category, like one-dimensional orchestration, uninspired musicianship, or all those cliches of two-tones, zoot suits, and martinis. (Very few neo-swing songs ever got around to actually saying much. Lester Young said more in a phrase with a saxophone than the Neo-swing bands said all together with instruments and the English language combined.) Basically, if you’re going to label it swing in a genre that includes Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, and Chick Webb, it’s going to have to live up to a lot to be considered good.

By the way, I’ve seen Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin Daddies, Brian Setzer and Squirrel Nut Zippers in concert. SNZ were exceptional, I seem to recall.

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