Jassdancer - Blog by Peter Loggins

The swing dance historian and dance instructor Peter Loggins has just launched a new blog called The Jassdancer. Peter has a collected a lot of knowledge and information about swing dances and the swing era, so it will be very interesting to follow what he writes.

One of his first posts discusses the question: What is a jitterbug?

What do you think of The Jassdancer? Please comment.

Best jazz blog out there!

At this time of year many people think about the year that has gone by and the year that lie ahead, so do I.

This will be the third year of this blog, can you belive it? I just want to thank all the people who have supported me and who appreciate the work I'm doing.

In the December 2008 podcast of Hey Mr Jesse, one of hosts, Manu "Spuds" Smith, called my blog:

"Best jazz blog out there!"

Spuds, thank you very much!

I also made the list "Top Ten Jazz and Blues Music Blogs" made by http://www.bestshowticketslasvegas.com/. Thank you so much! Check out their list with other good jazz blogs.

So, what will 2009 bring? Well, I'll continue to mix old and new swinging stuff, both music and dance. I hope I'll be able to post 3 to 4 times a week. Please let me know if there is anything you'd like me to write more about.

Some recent events have made me think about how I should invest my time and energy and what I get back. I suspect there will be some changes made. This blog however gives me great joy and happiness and I hope you feel the joy as well.

What would you like me to write about? Please comment.

Pustoblogsky - James Pustejovsky

There aren't many blogs that focus on swinging jazz and djing, at least I haven't found many.

Therefore I was very happy to discover Pustoblogsky by James Pustejovsky that has the tagline:

"Music-geekery about jazz, swing, and deejaying tunes that your grandpa thought were hip"

Pustoblogsky has three basic types of posts.

First: dj set lists from when he djs. I like the fact that he sometimes comments about why he put on that particular song at that time and what he was trying to achive. Set lists are a great way to find artists that you never heard about before. I would post more set lists myself if I had a laptop to dj from (*hint hint*).

Secondly: Under the label One Track Mind you'll find detailed descriptions about a certain song and why he likes or dislikes it.

Third: Well, all the other stuff: rants, raves and musings.

Go ahead an check out Pustoblogsky, if you like my blog, you'll like his as well.

What do you think of Pustoblogsky? Are there any other blogs that you think I should check out? Please comment.

New swing dance blogs

Some new swing dance blogs has appeared on my radar screen. I've found some exellent stuff there so check out the blogs and send them a comment with encouragement. Every blogger need that.

• Jazz Dance Etc/ jojo jackson
• WestieHoppold
• Gina’s Jazz Dance Blog

What do you think of these swing dance blogs? Tell me.

Newbie night at Cats Corner

On Tuesday there were a "Newbie night" at Cats Corner, lots and lots of people from Swingkatten's beginner courses showed up and we broke the attendance record this season. Yey!

I dj'ed the first part of the evening and played mostly classic swing songs with hifi sound quality, according to my experience that is very good for attracting unexperienced dancers to floor.

Speaking of sound quality, do you know where the worst sound quality in the room is located? You may have guessed it, it's in the dj booth. Since the dj booth is elevated in the corner behind the speakers, all the dj can hear is what the sound sounds like after it has been reflected between several walls, you can't hear much of the melody but much more of the bass pumping. The dj has some indication of the volume, but if you find the volume is to low or to high, come up and tell us and we'll fix it.

I found a new dance blog called Dance Primer by Amberlynn Lane which has great advise for all you newbies out there on How To be THAT Guy that everyone wants to dance with.

Where you at Cats Corner last Tuesday? What did you think of it? Tell me.

Alain's dance blog about lindy hop and jazz music

I just found out about Alain Wong's dance blog about lindy hop and jazz music that he recently started. Alain Wong is a dance teacher at Cat’s Corner in Montreal and also a swing dj.

He covers the same topics as I do: swing music and swing dance, but maybe with a little more focus on dance than I have.

Well, it's a very good start so far and I'm adding his blog in my RSS-reader.

Check out his blog.

Is there any other blogs out there that you think I should know about? Tell me.

Swing DJ Dogpossum

Dogpossum is a swing dj in Australia who sometimes writes about the djing experience and posts set lists. I haven't read everything Dogpossum has written because the posts are longer than mine (which means there are a lot to read and discover).

Are there any other swing djs that are blogging? Tell me.