SwingOrama

[Meeshi]

NEW NIGHT: Every Wednesday night!



NEW TIME: 7-11:30p. Doors open at 7p. Firehouse Swing School from 7-8p. DJed dancing from 8-11:30p. FREE Intro-to-Swing Lesson for the total beginner with paid admission from 8-8:45p.

NEW LOCATION: The Beautiful San Diego Woman's Club
2557 3rd Ave, San Diego, CA 92103 (corner of 3rd & Maple)



FIREHOUSE SWING SCHOOL FROM 7-8P:
Next month's featured classes: Wed. Nov. 11, 18, 25
7-8p: Lindy 1, 8-count Basics (with Meeshi and Emily)
7-8p: Lindy 2, Smooth Style Variations (with Dan and Elise)

8-count Basics: 8-count rhythm, Half-Swingout, Full Swingout, Swingout with Inside Turn, Swingout with Outside Turn, Lindy Circle, Side Charleston, Skip Up, Tuck Turn to Open. Pre-requisites: NONE

Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsS5zQXlpcs

Smooth Style Variations: Swingout, Quick Stop, Switches, Sugar Push, Side Pass, Rhythm Circle, Smooth Styling Techniques. Pre-requisites: Mastery of the Lindy 1 Basics.

Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWQvZ0bbl4c

FIREHOUSE SWING DANCE FROM 8-11:30P:
Wed. 11/4 -- The World-Famous Carl Sonny Leyland Trio
Wed. 11/11 — Meeshi's *OCEAN'S ELEVEN* Swingin' Bday Bash
Wed. 11/18 — Featured DJ Joel Plys
Wed. 11/25 — Featured DJ Meeshi Anjali

Dance Only: $8/adults, $5/students
Class Prices for Adults: $35/3-wks or $15/single class
Class Prices for Students: $25/3-wks or $10/single class

BRAND NEW TO SWING DANCE? No worries, we offer a FREE Introductory Swing Lesson for the complete beginner at 8:15p every week. The intro lesson is FREE with paid admission to our Firehouse Swing Dance.

ALL AGES ARE WELCOME!

Contact Meeshi Anjali at 858-395-6060 or info@firehouseswing.com with any questions.

Click HERE to join our Firehouse Facebook group!

http://www.firehouseswing.com
http://www.swinginsandiego.com

[Meeshi]

Welcome to the new Firehouse thread. Please post any comments, questions, or suggestions about the Firehouse here, as I am the moderator and will be checking this thread frequently.

Hope to see you swingin',

Meeshi

*****

Yes, it’s time once again for some more LIVE MUSIC at the Firehouse with the hot swingin’ sounds of local swing favorites, The Golden Hill Ramblers. This band rocked F2 last year and is back to swing it hard this Thurs. Jul. 14th, old-school Western-style. But don’t just take my word for it. Check out the rave review from local swing music critic, Doug LeClair of AnySwingGoes.com:

"The San Diego-based Golden Hill Ramblers opened the show at the Casbah on April 24 with an excellent hour set. The band which has been around for a little over a year and features two ex-members from the defunct Smith's Ranch Boys blends a unique western swing sound that combines elements of Django Reinhardt with intense fingerpicking and slide steel guitar. The four-piece group's dedicated to authenticity to the music and the period are apparent in their musicality and detail. The band features Johnny Maccree on vocals and guitar, Adrian Demain on guitar, David Burzansky on steel guitar and Jim Austin on bass. The Golden Hill Ramblers are one of only a few working western swing bands based in San Diego and are going to be a band to watch in the future."

See you tonight!

[ye_dancer]

This post is just to reinforce the fact that THIS is the official Firehouse thread. We need to bring it up to about 600 posts like the old Firehouse thread. 3 down, 597 to go.

[ye_dancer]

Let me just say that last night with Golden Hill Ramblers was awesome!

[reya98]

I agree! The only thing I would change about last night would be to have a bigger dance floor. Firehouse was packed!

It was great to see some out of town faces, too. Steve from DC area was in town as were a couple of people who were in from L.A. for the Comic Con. I wish I was going to be in town for LBTB for another chance to dance with them.

[Salboa]

Hot hot night! Lot of sweaty people.

Thanks Mel for the dances! You make every lead look good.

-note-to-self ask Mel for more dances

We have a geek goddess. How bout Mel the dance goddess?

[shepkatt]

Firehouse was fun last night.. I had a great time.. Thanks for all the great dances, leads!

[Salboa]

Ok I didn't forget you Shempkatt.

How bout the Claw Goddess?

I think I did more claw gang signs than dance last night.

[shepkatt]

Hey Sal - I agree.. lots of clawing going around.. I clued bad kitty in so now she might be flashing 'the sign'.

Jeremy - thanks for the dance right before you left last night.

[Meeshi]

Hey Firehouse Supporters -- I enjoyed Jeremy's 3-part "History of Jazz" series so much that I want to try to do my own 3-part "History of Jump Blues" series featuring artists that you may not have heard of, but were quite influential in the music scene during the late 40's and early 50's. This week, I would like to feature two of my favorite artists of the post-WWII Jump Boogie era, drummer Roy Milton and boogie woogie pianist Camille Howard. They actually worked a lot together, performing and recording many top ten R&B hits on Specialty Records with Roy Milton's popular combo, the Solid Senders.

Here's what VH1.com had to say:

As in-the-pocket drummer of his own jump blues combo, the Solid Senders, Roy Milton was in a perfect position to drive his outfit just as hard or soft as he so desired. With his stellar sense of swing, Milton did just that; his steady backbeat on his 1946 single for Art Rupe's fledgling Juke Box imprint, "R.M. Blues," helped steer it to the uppermost reaches of the R&B charts (his assured vocal didn't hurt either). Rupe knew a good thing when he saw it, recording Milton early and often through 1953. He was rewarded with 19 Top Ten R&B hits by the Solid Senders, including "Milton's Boogie," "True Blues," "Hop, Skip and Jump," "Information Blues," "Oh Babe" (a torrid cover of Louis Prima's jivey jump), and "Best Wishes." Milton's resident boogie piano specialist, Camille Howard, also sang on several Milton platters, including the 1947 hit "Thrill Me," concurrently building a solo career on Specialty.

Don't worry, I'll only be playing a 45 min. musical tribute, and if dancers aren't diggin' it, I'll make the set even shorter. Come hear the juicy roots of rock'n'roll this Thursday at the Firehouse!

[Meeshi]

Hey, all I have to say is, if you like the Carl Sonny Leyland Trio, you're gonna love some of the music I'm gonna play tonight. That Camille Howard is one helluva boogie woogie piano player. And she's also got some singin' chops.

After listening to swing music and its offshoots for over 8 years, it's so rewarding to unshell musical pearls from the vast ocean of recorded jazz/swing music.

See you tonight!

[Meeshi]

Well, I'm not sure what you guys thought of my tribute to Roy Milton and Camille Howard. I haven't DJed for awhile, and it was extremely challenging to attempt to offer a diversity musical textures when you only have one band's limited recordings from 1947-1953 to choose from. As dancers, we are so fortunate that we usually get to dance to music from dozens of bands spanning dozens of musical genres and over 70 years of recorded music at any given DJed swing night.

Anyway, I think the best thing I got out of the experience was that in preparing for the evening I really got to learn a lot about Roy Milton's life, his musical influences, his struggles, and how he helped shape the West Coast R&B/Jump Boogie scene and early Rock'n'Roll. Doing my homework this past week has really deepened my appreciation of the efforts and achievements of such hard-working, under-valued musicians.

[teacheramy]

I LOVED your music, Meeshi! It was awesome. Dancing to your set was so fun! I went home and raved, and Matt might even come next week! (Don't anyone die of shock!)

I had a blast dancing to the three speeds of boogie woogie. (How long has it been since the Marcus and Barble boogie woogie workshop? It was at VASA Hall, so it's been a few years!)

Thank you, too, for the birthday dance. That was a lot of fun.

[ye_dancer]

Sounds like it was a good night, I wish I could have been there.

[Roheven]

teacheramy,

I like your avatar. Good Eats is one of my favorite shows.

[shepkatt]

Firehouse rocked last night.. It was hot hot hot - in more ways then just one! Good music and good dancing.. Everyone bring more fans, though! LOL

[Salboa]

It was sooo hot your claw even got stuck.

[shepkatt]

Stuck? My claw just couldn't get a grip.. Between my sweaty claw and your sweaty arm it was no-go on the claw dance! :-)

[bad kitty]

Meeshi, your research benefited all of us! Thanks for going to the effort to bring us something fresh. The boogie woogie challenge was a blast, also!

[Halloween Queen]

I had so much fun at the Firehouse last night!!! The boogie woogie challenge was exceptionally fun - woo hoo - was that fast!

Thank you for the birthday dance - I loved it