The Insights from The Battle of the Bands at ABW 14 – with Playlists

The Battle of the Bands has become a popular event on Sunday evenings at All Balboa Weekend in Cleveland, OH.

Three DJs choose an artist and each of them play an one-hour set with the music just from that artist. The audience then decides who is the winner.

Of course, there is a competition going on between the DJs and everyone wants to win.

But that's just one side of the story. More important is to entertain the dancers and to introduce them to new and unexpected songs.

For the third year in a row, Kyle Smith, Laura Windley and I had been battling over each other. In the following, you get all the insights including the played songs.

Battle Schedule: Sunday, June 15, 2014

10:00pm Harry James (Christian Bossert)
11:00pm Duke Ellington (Laura Windley)
12:00am Glenn Miller (Kyle Smith)

Harry James

Christian about his Battle Set

The last two years (2012 and 2013), I had Artie Shaw and I won both battles.

This made me think about Artie's music and I realized that he represents just the perfect music for Balboa dancers. Meanwhile I'm convinced that no other artist could win against Artie Shaw.

For this year's battle I wanted to challenge myself and chose Harry James. I already had a few tracks from him in my library and I really loved them. Therefore I was confident enough that he would be a good fit for the battle without even having enough music for an one-hour set at the time.

I knew it would be difficult to win with Harry James, because there are far less popular songs by him compared to Duke Ellington or Glenn Miller. Additionally, there are those Boogie Woogie songs, that are very interesting to have in a set, but I'm sure they also polarize – like it or not.

For the battle I had prepared a playlist of songs with a total play time of one hour 45 minutes. I was sure about the last song that I wanted to play, the rest of the set was created on-the-go.

Do you know that feeling of being in the zone? I totally was in my zone during my set and I loved the great energy in the room. I'm pretty sure that the dancers got to dance to some Harry James tracks they've never heard before!

Played Songs in Alphabetical Order

1. Back Beat Boogie – 194 bpm
2. The Beaumont Ride – 190 bpm
3. Boo-Woo – 212 bpm
4. Comes Love – 195 bpm
5. Cross Country Jump – 233 bpm
6. Fannie-May – 172 bpm
7. Flash – 185 bpm
8. James Session – 223 bpm
9. Jesse – 222 bpm
10. Jump Sauce – 186 bpm
11. King Porter Stomp – 190 bpm
12. King Porter Stomp (April 1946 Spotlight Bands Broadcasts) – 206 bpm
13. Little White Lies – 168 bpm
14. Moten Swing – 178 bpm
15. Sharp As A Tack – 179 bpm
16. Swanee River – 233 bpm
17. Texas Chatter – 180 bpm
18. Two O'Clock Jump – 186 bpm
19. Vol Vistu Gaily Star – 194 bpm
20. Woo-Woo – 196 bpm

Duke Ellington

Laura about her Battle Set

I really enjoy the battle format because it allows you to dig into a single artist's catalog and really focus on what songs are important to that artist (in the Bal community, on the pop charts back then, what may be known outside the dance community now), what songs are appropriate for the event, and finding a few more hidden gems.

I found that most of the new material was over 200 bpm because a lot of things below that tempo range have been fleshed out for years by Lindy Hop DJs, which reinforces my desire to be a Balboa DJ and dancer and be able to dance to as much great music at any tempo as possible.

I also look forward to hearing the other DJs sets, to see what they have discovered on this musical journey, recognize songs I may not have associated with a particular artist, find new versions and arrangements, and more new gems!

I knew Glenn Miller would be solid and I was excited to hear more from Harry James. I was hopeful that the Duke Ellington set wouldn't be too esoteric (i.e. weird) and that people would see how hard Duke can swing, both in his own way and in that way we hear big bands play that really makes our dancing soar.

Played Songs in Alphabetical Order

1. Battle of Swing – 225 bpm
2. Blue Lou – 189 bpm
3. Dinah's in a Jam – 230 bpm
4. Doin' the Voom Voom – 195 bpm
5. Empty Ballroom Blues – 193 bpm
6. Hip Chic – 193 bpm
7. It Don't Mean a Thing – 205 bpm
8. Jazz a la Carte – 194 bpm
9. Jump for Joy – 189 bpm
10. Little Posey – 204 bpm
11. Main Stem – 208 bpm
12. Old King Dooji – 209 bpm
13. Rexatious – 187 bpm
14. Rockin' in Rhythm – 216 bpm
15. Rumpus in Richmond – 177 bpm
16. Stompy Jones – 246 bpm
17. Swingtime in Honolulu – 186 bpm
18. Take the A Train – 166 bpm
19. The Gal From Joe's – 167 bpm
20. The Jeep is Jumpin' – 214 bpm
21. Tootin' Through the Roof – 233 bpm

Glenn Miller

Kyle about his Battle Set

I love band battles.

We have been doing them for several years every sunday at ABW and it is always a highlight to the weekend; not just for the DJs but the dancers alike.

I had Glenn Miller this year and was super excited to showcase his music. Glenn Miller gets a bad rap. Sure, he has plenty of super cheesy, boring, slogging music; but there is another side of Glenn that is just hard swinging, exciting and a ton of energy.

I was excited to see that Christian decided to take on Harry James, and boy was I impressed. SO much Harry that I hadn't heard before, that was a treat.

I was equally stoked when Laura wanted to showcase Duke Ellington. He isn't a “go to guy” for me in the balboa community, so when Laura brought her set…yowza!.

I thought that it was genuinely a three way tie this year, with all the DJs doing an amazing job showcasing the awesomeness of each band. I can't wait for next year. Word on the street: Hamp might decide to show up!

Played Songs in Alphabetical Order

1. Are You Jumping Jack – 194 bpm
2. Back To Back – 197 bpm
3. Community Swing – 189 bpm
4. Down For The Count – 229 bpm
5. Down South Camp Meeting – 213 bpm
6. Flying Home – 167 bpm
7. Here We Go Again – 181 bpm
8. In The Mood – 197 bpm
9. It Must Be Jelly – 190 bpm
10. I Want To Be Happy – 244 bpm
11. King Porter Stomp – 244 bpm
12. Lady Be Good – 170 bpm
13. Moonlight Serenade – 77 bpm
14. One O'Clock Jump – 181 bpm
15. Slip Horn Jive – 263 bpm
16. Stealin' Apples – 220 bpm
17. St Louis Blues – 195 bpm
18. Sun Valley Jump – 183 bpm
19. Well All Right – 166 bpm
20. Yes, My Darling Daughter – 215 bpm

Result:

Glenn Miller won over Duke Ellington and Harry James.

Any thoughts about the battle? Let us know in the comment section below!