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DJ Bio and photo below.
 
 (photo by
Jon Carlomagno, please
credit him when using this photo)
Go here for
Music blog
Set lists
CD recommendations
DJ tips
DJ Bio
Dan got hooked on dancing in 1998, and his repertoire
includes lindy, blues, and tango. He is widely known for being
simultaneously exuberant and analytical in both his dancing and DJing. His
music collection is built on jazz and blues songs firmly rooted in the
American idiom, with tunes that occasionally come from halfway across the
globe.
His passion for music of all sorts brings him to exchanges and workshops
throughout the southeast USA, and beyond. He's DJed for Lindy
Focus, BluesSHOUT, and Battle Of The Cities, and the Yehoodi Radio Show.
When he's not collecting music, cataloging music, dancing to music, or
thinking about music, he spends his time learning to play saxophone, and supposedly getting a Ph.D. in Physics.
DJ Vision
Music fascinates me - I come from a musical family, and almost everyone
plays, sings, or at least obsesses over music in some form. I like a bit
of everything from Classical Baroque to Classic Rock. The occasional Pop
song will catch my ear, but not often. World music can be challenging to
listen to, but exciting because it's different.
In the DJ booth, I'm going to concentrate on inspiring the dancers.
Most of the time that means playing solid, accessible, and very swinging tunes. Sometimes,
it also means challenging the dancers with a song that's outside what
they're used to. Striking the right balance is MY challenge; I'm willing
to take some risks and play something different, but I'll always bring it back
to the music we know and love. I try to stay rooted in the past, while
living in the present.
I generally go for breadth - if the weekend's had a lot of Big Band, I'm
going to play Groove. If there's a lot of Blues, I'm going to play Trad
Jazz. If things are pretty balanced overall (and I don't have any
guidelines from the organizers), I'll usually play a mix of Swing-Era (Count Basie, Duke
Ellington,
Benny Goodman), with decent doses of Groove (Oscar
Peterson, Lou Rawls, Jimmy Witherspoon), Trad jazz (Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet,
Kid Ory), and Soul/R&B (Aretha Franklin, Jackie Wilson, Van Morrison, Sam
Cooke). Add to that a smattering of Bebop (Dizzy,
Bird), Hard-Bop (Art Blakey, Horace Silver), and Cool (because, let's face it,
Miles is the shizzle), and the *occasional* novelty number (Hip-Hop, something in
3/4 time, etc.). Variety is the spice of life, no?
CD Recommendations (and tips
on DJing)
Erskine Hawkins - After Hours
Lionel Hampton - Hamp (Decca)
Louis Armstrong -
Count Basie -
Duke Ellington -
Jimmie Lunceford - Lunceford Special (Columbia)
Jimmie Lunceford - For Dancers Only (Decca)
Buddy Johnson -
Sidney Bechet -
Kid Ory -
Aretha Franklin - Jazz to Soul
Sam Cooke - Portrait Of Legend
Christabel & The Jons - Love & Circumstances
Ray Charles - Best Of The Atlantic Years (Rhino)
Nina Simone -
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