Music
A vital part of MLX is the music. MLX7 brings you some of Australia's top class swinging jazz musicians and bands. We're flying in one of the best jazz and blues vocalists, Carol Ralph. And we're working closely with all these exciting musicians to tailor the music for the best dancing experience we can bring you.
The most excellent DJs will not only fill your dancing trough to overflowing with lindy goodness but provide a range music from speed-freaking at Gangbusters to the rare and unusual (raw and unnatural?) B-Sides to sweet bluesy goodness at the Sugar Bowl.
Bands
The JW Swing Orchestra
Just when we thought the JW Swing Orchestra couldn’t get any better they add more of the best swingin’ tunes to their repertoire. They'll be be playing lindy hoppers' favourites rarely heard live today such as Jeep Jockey Jump, The Fox, Why Don’t You Do Right and more. We just had to ask them back to kick off the weekend in grand style.
The 19 piece JW Swing Orchestra has been in existence since 1974 under the leadership of clarinetist John Wanner. This is one of Melbourne's swingingest big bands and their sound is firmly rooted in the big bands of the 30s and 40s.
JW has played many Lindy Hop events including the World Hellzapoppin' Competition in 2004, the Melbourne Lindy Exchange in 2006, 2005, 2002 and 2001, Melbourne Swing Aid Tsunami fundraiser in 2005, multiple Easter Hops, the 2001 Swing Patrol Christmas Ball and the Big Swing II. And, on top of all that, they also play for the wider community each year in the Summer Music Series in parks. Many dancers have been discovering them at their regular gigs at the Austrian Club in Melbourne, one of the best social nights of the year (outside MLX of course ;) ). This band loves playing to the dancers and gets the energy level pumpin’, and is a fond favourite of many Melbourne dancers.
Website:
http://scad.com.au/jwswing
Listen:
to the JW Swing Orchestra here.
The JW Swing Orchestra plays from 8:30 (Doors open at 8:15) at the Friday night Baby Got Back-to-back Swing at Forever Dance (432 Church St Richmond). Tickets are $20 or free with an MLX7 pass.
Carol Ralph with Bob Sedergreen and Friends
Carol Ralph, one of Australia’s most dynamic and charismatic jazz vocalists, swings! Although the Blues is her great forte, Carol doesn’t restrict herself to this style. She’s an innovative singer and possesses the essential ingredient in all good jazz: ‘the sound of surprise’. Her love of life, people and singing adds to her great stage presence. She has performed throughout the world at jazz festivals and has toured extensively with the The Spirit of New Orleans Jazz Band in the UK, Switzerland, Japan and New Zealand and of course appears regularly at jazz festivals in Australia.
Bob Sedergreen infuses the music with authority of style, creative expression and wit - to hear him is always exciting and satisfying. Bob has been associated with some of the most recognised talents internationally, including Jimmy Witherspoon, Nat Adderley and Dizzy Gillespie and the Australian artists John Sangster, Don Burrows, Brian Brown and Judy Jacques.
Bob's musical abilities find him leading and working with a plethora of diverse ensembles and groups. From the traditional to the most contemporary, He has recorded over twenty albums, three CDs and three cassettes. Bob has toured extensively both here and overseas including Montreal, Malaysia and Europe. He has been involved in the introduction of new talent.
In 1990 Bob won the Inaugural Jazz Award for Australia's Best Keyboardist.
Listen:
to Carol here.
The Carol Ralph with Bob Sedergreen and friends play from 8:30pm at the Saturday night A Touch of Class @ Ormond Hall. Tickets are $25 or free with an MLX7 pass.
Michael McQuaid's Red Hot Rhythmakers
This young and vibrant band blew the dancers’ socks off at the last MLX. For the first time in MLX history, dancers stopped to face the musicians and stamp their feet in awe of this band’s amazing playing. The Red Hot Rhythmakers couldn’t get over the vibe in the room and the energy of the dancers.
Formed in January 2004, this hottest of hot jazz bands is led by multi-instrumentalist Michael McQuaid and features a combination of musicians already highly regarded in the jazz world as well as some exciting newcomers. They take some of the best sounds of the 20’s and 30’s and add a dash of the best Australian jazz. What makes this band so crisp and exciting is that they are one of the few regularly rehearsing big bands in Australia and they continually expand their repertoire. And this year they're tailoring a set that will fit dancers perfectly.
Adding to their track record of lindy hop gigs, the Red Hot Rhythmakers challenged the Cotton Club at Swing Patrol’s “Melbourne Swing Festival 2006 Battle of the Bands”. They regularly play in jazz festivals both locally and interstate and have started a new regular gig at Manchester Lane on Monday nights. They launched their debut CD Rhythm Of The Day on 20 January 2006.
Website:
www.redhotrythmmakers.com
Listen:
to the Rhythmakers here.
Michael McQuaid’s Red Hot Rhythmakers play from 7:00pm at the Sunday night The Ass Shaker dance at the Forever Dance Ballroom (432 Church St, Richmond). Tickets are $15 or free with an MLX7 pass.
Julie O'Hara and Her Blues Band
Julie O'Hara began singing with bands in Melbourne, Australia in the late 80's.A town known for its eclectic musical drive, it was a great place to be inspired by fantastic musicians and songwriters. Always something on, every night of the week.
Julie performs regularly around Melbourne and in 2006 toured to Denmark to perform with her rifftet at jazz and music festivals. Julie has also spent time living and performing in Thailand, Germany and Hong Kong with bands and also as a solo piano player/singer.
She performed with George Washingmachine as part of MLX6 and their impromtu blues set was a such a success that the team just had to have her back to swing the blues for MLX7 - The Kick Ass Exchange.
Website:
http://www.julieohara.com/
Listen:
to Julie here.
Julie O'Hara and Her Blues Band play from 10:00pm at the Sunday night Suger Bowl dance at the Forever Dance Ballroom (432 Church St, Richmond). Tickets are $10 or free with an MLX7 pass.
Swing It!!
Swing It!! began in 2000 as a studio group experimenting with new rhythm & blues sounds coming out of America at the time. It was thought that some new swing numbers from the recent swing revival could be added to the list of songs. It soon became the focus of the group, then named The Blues Project.
With the direction now very much into Neo-Swing it was thought that the group should leave the studio and perform this exciting music to the masses. The name change to Swing It!! (two exclamation marks to make it sound more exciting) came after the first live gig - four months after they formed.
A mix of neo-swing songs, some jump blues songs from the forties and a few tributes to the big swing bands, Swing It!! don't let up with the pace and energy during their stage performances. “..they’ll have you swingin’ from the rafters….”
Website:
www.swingitgeelong.com
Swing It!! play from 11:45am at the Sunday Day Event Burro's Breakout at the Queen Victoria Markets. Cnr Victoria and Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne. This is a free MLX7 event.
DJs
Sarah Farrelly
(Melbourne)
Sarah Farrelly is one of Melbourne’s favourite dancers and DJs. Doing her bit to get women known for more than their swivels, she’s been a regular behind the desk at local events such as CBD, Funpit & other Swing Patrol events for a few years. More notably, Sarah was one of two finalists in the Lismore Dance Camp’s Battle of the DJs. Add to this her International DJ experience at Camp Jitterbug (Seattle USA) and Carla Heiney’s Swing Central (San Francisco, USA) and you can bet your bottom dollar that swingin’ along to Sarah’s tunes is something that you don’t want to miss.
She likes to play a real mix when she DJs and is conscious of playing tracks that are going to get every dancer up on the floor and staying there! Her favourite artists to spin are Lucky Millinder, Chick Webb, Jimmie Lunceford, Kid Ory, Sidney Bechet, Jimmy Witherspoon and Count Basie, and loves to combine these with some great vocalists such as Ella, Carmen McRae, Barbara Morrison and Diane Shuur.
She’s a little bit crazy, is Sarah – so at times she’ll push the tempos up! What’s more, you can probably catch her dancing along with y’all from behind the DJ booth!
Andy 'Big Fodies' Fodor
(Melbourne)
Andy Fodor (a.k.a. DJ Fodies) was born in that snow covered country called Canada. Andy learned to dance in Victoria (Canada) in 2000 and took up some part-time DJ work in 2002. Since then he's spun tunes in Vancouver (Canada), Calgary (Canada), Seattle (USA), Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Geelong and of course, Melbourne. His style is influenced by blues, groove, jazz, big band, and anything else that swings since the 1920s.
Trevor Hutchison
(Perth)
'Spinning' regularly for the Perth scene and around Australia for several years, Trevor's main aim is to keep the floor active and the dancers revelling. This usually involves centering his sets around vintage grooves, and he has a particular passion for songs featuring black guys yelling about food. In 2006, Trevor DJed four successful nights at the Herräng Dance Camp in Sweden. Trevor was also recently featured as a guest DJ on Yehoodi Radio.
Trevor's DJing highlights include:
- Herräng Dance Camp, Sweden
- Yehoodi Radio Guest DJ August 2007
- Hullabaloo 2005 - 2007
- Melbourne Lindy Exchange 2006
- The Famous Spiegeltent, Melbourne
- Melbourne Swing Festival 2006 - 2007
- Canberräng 2007
- Perth International Arts Festival
Vas Pelecanos
(Perth)
DJing for dancers since late 2001, Vas’s musical tastes come from a study of jazz forms that started when he first picked up the drum and xylophone sticks at age 12. Since dancing reignited that passion in 2000 Vas now shares his love of rhythm through dancing, playing and “playing” swing music; placing emphasis on a variety of different feels and encouraging a sense of playfulness and free musical movement.
Vas’s DJing experience includes:
Perth Swing Dance Society Launch 2002
Peter and Vida Dance Evening 2002
Melbourne Lindy Exchange 2003
Tuesday Night Swing Night @ the Pagoda, Feb – June 2004
Hullabaloo 2004 (also DJ coordinator)
PSDS DJ Battle 2004 (coordinator with the PSDS)
Melbourne Lindy Exchange 2004 (one of 3 Judges for international DJ battle)
Swing Junction Frankie Manning Visit 2005
Hullabaloo 2005 (also DJ co coordinator)
MLX 5 the Shoestring Exchange 2005
Hullabaloo 2006,
MLX6: A Fatto Lotta Good 2006
Hullabaloo 2007
…and various local dance events for the PSDS
Meaghan “Megsy” Sims
(Melbourne)
Meaghan has been DJing around the Melbourne scene for about 2 years. With a keenness for the “pop” swing of the 1940’s as a child, (remember your parents “Hooked on Swing” records?), she did a swing class 3 years ago and found a whole wider world of swing, blues, soul and jazz. Encouraged by some key Melbourne DJ’s, it was only a matter of time before Megsy was taking on the decks, (or the Lap Top), and has never looked back.
She enjoys playing for the crowd, getting everyone on the dance floor and taking them on a journey from Benny to Basie and back again. What floats her musical boat is Count Basie, Lou Rawls, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Oscar Peterson and songs with a touch of humour. Anything left of centre you can swing dance too gets a look in aswell, encouraging people to further explore their dancing. Very much enjoying the use of the music to add to her own dancing, Meaghan will often play slow and frequently accented tracks, but then break into some high energy, fast paced tunes. You will often see her having a boogie from behind the decks, especially if the crowd is running hot! Sassy and wacky, a set with Megsy as the DJ will have something for everyone.
Russell Turner
(Canberra)
Russell has been DJing for the last four and half years in the Canberra scene. What started as a necessity has developed into a love arising out of his interest in music of all types. Since then he has DJed on a regular basis at Jumptown events and coordinated the DJing at several Canberrang exchanges.
He has DJed at various national events including MLX, SLX, Hullabaloo and Lismore Dance Camp. One highlight was taking out the Iron DJ title at the 2005 MLX. He also recently turned international and DJed at the Sea, Sun and Swing Dance Camp in the south of France and at the London Lindy Exchange. Another highlight was being featured as a Guest DJ on the Yehoodi Radio Show.
His goal as a swing DJ is to see people up on the dance floor cutting loose. It is also to challenge dancers of all levels and musically take them out of their comfort zone. To this end he believes in variety and DJs across the spectrum from old skool to new skool, from old-time to current, from groove to hot jazz. Another passion is Australian jazz where he seeks to find the best that Australia has to offer.
Anthony "Chocko" Wheaton
(Melbourne)
Now a grumpy old man of the swing scene, DJ 'Chocko' originally began spinning tracks as an excuse to stand around and drink. That was some six years and countless beers ago. In that time he’s been a regular DJ across all of Melbourne’s social dancing venues while also building up extensive experience at both interstate and international events.
Set in his ways and too old to change, Anthony’s taste for music extends from the early Charleston era, through the big band bash of the 30's and 40's into select items of later years. Favourite artists include Chick Webb, Ernestine Anderson, Sidney Bechet, Jimmy Witherspoon and Eddie Condon, As a lover of Charleston and fast dancing, he’s not opposed to throwing the occasional speedy track into his sets. Similarly, he has a great range of cruisy, bluesy numbers to cover off the slower tempo's. Put simply, there's always something for everyone when Anthony is on the decks.
Mark Bretherton
(Brisvegas)
The period between 3am and 4am is known in some circles as Dead Man's Hour. During this fateful 60 minutes, more patients die, more people commit suicide, and more dancers change their shoes and call it a night than at any other time on the clock. Yet at all-night events, the best dancing starts here. Brisbane DJ Mark Bretherton will be all over Dead Man's Hour at MLX7. He will be applying the defibrillators to the floor about every 3 minutes to keep a lively buzz going all the way through to sunrise. Let's face it, if the heartbeat stops, he will be the dead man.
Though Mark specialises in bluesy late night grooves, his tastes come from a broad selection, with strong representation from 30s and 40s big bands, smaller combos and the old kind of R&B - you know, the type where you can spot both the rhythm and the blues. Like any DJ, Mark likes it when everyone is jumping out of their seats, and he will be keeping a keen eye on the floor and responding to the crowd with some crackling sets of music. He has been DJing for five years, and he ain't about to
stop any time soon.
Bex
(Canberra)
Bex started DJ-ing in Hobart in 2001 with some fellow dancers, Scottie and Duncan. The trio started SAS - Sunday Afternoon Swing - which is still a regular Tasswing event. The trio even had their very own swing radio show called Well Swung (the boys named the show :-)) on Edge Radio . They were on the airways for a couple of years before going their separate ways.
Bex has since moved to the bush capital where she DJ's regularly in her local Canberra scene and also has a spot on community radio station Art Sound FM that she shares with the other swing Bec. Their show Down in the Basement plays a variety of music from lounge, jazz, swing, blues to soul and more. Rebecca has also DJ'd at Church City Blues for the past to years and is looking forward to doing a blues set till sunrise at MLX.