A friend of mine was complaining about a roommate who was causing strife in his house. She was never happy with how dirty it was and was always demanding that it be cleaner, more organized. I’d been to this friend’s house and knew the disheveled state in which he lived. He was comfortable that way, […]

My fella and I promised to each other that we would both keep living in Chicago as long as we escaped for part of the winter. Living here 9 months out of the year is pretty darned alright. Summers included. Personally, after living for 19 years (ok- take away the time I spent at Boarding […]

I’ve heard mixed opinions on whether or not it’s legit for a Blues or Swing DJ to play remixes that have a trip-hop or electronica back-drop. The fundamental rhythm is different despite the nod to tradition.
The continuous flow and instrumentation of an electronic song creates a thicker audio atmosphere, contrasting with the old blues recordings […]

Well, if you can’t brag on your own blog that you and your co-DJ at your own darn venue won the Blues DJ contest, where the heck else can you?
This week-end, Sara and Tom (Chicago blues dancers) brought Don West and Tina Davis in from Texas to come show us how it’s done. They taught […]

There are mixed opinions on dance competitions. Some say that dancing shouldn’t be about competing… that you should do it for the love of dance. I agree with this entirely. Others feel that the judging is purely subjective, and often based on personal relationships and bias. “Judges just vote for their friends.” “It’s a popularity […]

Back in June I rode the bus up to Minneapolis for a regional swing exchange. During the week-end, they had two dance contests, one for Swing and one for Blues. A live band was playing during the evening of the Blues contest and all night up until the contest, they played fast uptempo swingin’ music. […]