I've been watching this great 10 part Jazz documentary by Ken Burns. In the 1930's there were two major clubs in New York -- The Cotton Club and The Savoy Ballroom.
The Cotton Club was a lot like the Studio 54 of the day. It was the place "to see and be seen", but the Savoy was, I believe, much more like Twilo. You see, The Savoy was the only place in the city where white and black dancers could both go, and dance all night to the "swingingest" music on the planet at the time. You can see the from expressions on peoples faces that they knew they were experiencing something special.
So what does this have to do with djing? At the Savoy, they were so committed to giving the dancers a peak experience that they never wanted the music to stop. They had two bands, one would open and the other would close. When they were ready to switch, the second band would get up and start playing the same song as the first band. Then they would 'cross-fade' from one band to the other and the night would go on! How cool is that? They were beatmatching live bands for the benefit of the dancers!
This may be the earliest occurrence of 'mixing' for a live audience.
Oct-13-2006 05:27
kadomony
FRENCH EXPRESS
Registered: Jul 2004
Location: Philly
Re: The 1930's Origin of the DJ's Art.
quote:
Originally posted by JamesAndrew
I've been watching this great 10 part Jazz documentary by Ken Burns. In the 1930's there were two major clubs in New York -- The Cotton Club and The Savoy Ballroom.
The Cotton Club was a lot like the Studio 54 of the day. It was the place "to see and be seen", but the Savoy was, I believe, much more like Twilo. You see, The Savoy was the only place in the city where white and black dancers could both go, and dance all night to the "swingingest" music on the planet at the time. You can see the from expressions on peoples faces that they knew they were experiencing something special.
So what does this have to do with djing? At the Savoy, they were so committed to giving the dancers a peak experience that they never wanted the music to stop. They had two bands, one would open and the other would close. When they were ready to switch, the second band would get up and start playing the same song as the first band. Then they would 'cross-fade' from one band to the other and the night would go on! How cool is that? They were beatmatching live bands for the benefit of the dancers!
This may be the earliest occurrence of 'mixing' for a live audience.
Registered: Mar 2006
Location: Crooklyn, nYc "Tribal" Projects
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They got K in Kansas son. ... Its called the KKK. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA
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Oct-13-2006 06:19
DJslantzz
Number Cruncher
Registered: Jul 2003
Location: New York
Very cool stuff indeed...if you're interested in this kind of stuff I recommend reading the book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life by Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton...talks about alot of the early forms of DJing which began in 1906!
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Oct-13-2006 12:38
Frequency Mike
Core Events NYC
Registered: Jan 2006
Location:
quote:
Originally posted by DJslantzz
Very cool stuff indeed...if you're interested in this kind of stuff I recommend reading the book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life by Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton...talks about alot of the early forms of DJing which began in 1906!
ive been kinda interested in finaly reading this... what section of a book store would that be in?
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Oct-13-2006 13:52
DanAX
Trance Gazer
Registered: Feb 2004
Location: crusin...
quote:
Originally posted by DJslantzz
Very cool stuff indeed...if you're interested in this kind of stuff I recommend reading the book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life by Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton...talks about alot of the early forms of DJing which began in 1906!
Yeah, it's a nice book. I've been reading it over and over, that's probably the only book that I actually finished it without skipping pages....
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Oct-13-2006 14:03
DangerGirl
tranceaddict
Registered: Aug 2006
Location: New York, NY
That Jazz video series is super cool. I would highly recommend it.
I will definitely check out the book as well! I've heard that it's a good read.
Oct-13-2006 14:24
LuNaSeA
presque rien
Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
quote:
Originally posted by Frequency Mike
ive been kinda interested in finaly reading this... what section of a book store would that be in?
music theory
i would personally order it off amazon.. much cheaper!
word.. any serious dj should read it. it tells you about the DJ in general whether its turntablists, edm, disco, reggae etc. highly recommended.
btw, jay, bring back my book. its been long enuff foo..
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Oct-13-2006 15:43
danlaxx1
Fire it up!!!
Registered: Aug 2006
Location: Astoria, New York
I've probably read that book 10 times since I got it a few years ago. I really can't get enough of it. Very well researched and organized. I need to get the new updated one!
-Dan
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Oct-13-2006 15:58
dj cj
tranceaddict
Registered: Aug 2006
Location: NYC, NY
Cool James. Thats the earliest dj'ing I've ever heard of
The sign says 'dancing to night til 4am'. You know they danced longer some nights.. lol. Swing dancing is sweet.. like a bouncy wiggle.
I'd like to check out that book too.. a lot of positive reviews from y'all !
... Its called the KKK. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA 
Thats the earliest dj'ing I've ever heard of 
