On any given night in Chicago, couples are dancing exuberantly to swing music in ballrooms, nightclubs, auditoriums, park district fieldhouses and you-name-it.
From cutting-edge venues such as HotHouse to upscale boites such as Green Dolphin Street to venerable dance halls such as the Glendora and Willowbrook Ballrooms, swing has attracted a young new audience to a hot, century-old rhythm.
But as the 20th Century morphs into the 21st, the already well-documented swing phenomenon has begun to transform itself. The music, until now provided mostly by deejays spinning oldies or retro bands recycling hits and attitudes of the past, is reaching for a new level of sophistication. In other words, some of the best jazz bands in the business have been Lindy Hopping onto the swing bandwagon.
Nowhere has this been more apparent than at the Black Orchid, a plush supper club that opened last August in Piper’s Alley, at 230 W. North Ave. Though the room originally was conceived as a showcase for big-name entertainers, it has begun to find its identity–and its audience–as a meeting place for couples who want to dance through the night.
By more than doubling the size of the dance floor and putting the house band stage center, Black Orchid owner Marc Curtis may have found the formula for keeping his club alive and swinging. Moreover, by hiring the exceptional saxophonist-bandleader Doug Lawrence to create a state-of-the-art swing machine, Curtis has given Chicagoans something this city has not enjoyed for decades: a supremely elegant dance club with a brilliant house band.
“The one thing we kept hearing from customers is that they wanted to dance,” says Curtis, who responded quickly by opening up the dance space and making the Doug Lawrence Orchestra the primary attraction (with headliners occasionally joining the band).
The results have been heartening for anyone who values swing music performed not as kitsch or musical fad but as the high art it is. By featuring in his band such superior lead players as trumpeter-arranger Bobby Ojeda and saxophonist Chris Lega–as well as a dream rhythm section including pianist John Campbell, drummer George Fludas and bassist John Whitfield–Lawrence can play music of ample complexity and elan.
“Sure, we play at the concert level, but getting audiences to dance is the most important thing for us,” says Lawrence, whose ensemble sounds unlike any other big band in the city. With its transparent textures and subtleties of orchestration, Lawrence’s ensemble draws inspiration from the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones band of earlier vintage, though Lawrence’s arrangements sound as fresh as tomorrow’s headlines.
“My feeling is that if the people aren’t dancing, they’re not having a good time,” adds Lawrence. “I remember when I first came up in the Benny Goodman band, and how much musicians like [trumpeter] Buck Clayton loved to play for dancers. It just gives you an extra kick, because you know the crowd is having a good time.
“If they’re dancing, we know we’re swinging. And it gets the creative juices going. Lester Young [the legendary tenor saxophonist] used to say that his favorite thing of all was to play for dancers, and you can hear it in his solos.”
On a recent Saturday night, as the Doug Lawrence Orchestra unspooled one glorious swing number after another, the sizable crowd never really left the dance floor. The drinks and desserts at the tiny cafe tables stood untouched, while the dancers swayed to intricately written, handsomely played arrangements of music by Benny Carter, Artie Shaw and other swing giants.
But Chicago is not the only major jazz hub where swing dance is being accompanied by top-flight instrumental virtuosity. The Manhattan-based Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, possibly the best big band in the country today, recently launched a “For Dancers Only” tour that will bring it to ballrooms coast to coast. Although jazz audiences have been accustomed to hearing Wynton Marsalis’ hard-swinging organization in posh concert halls such as Symphony Center in Chicago and Alice Tully Hall in New York, this time Marsalis and friends are playing considerably more accessible venues. In Chicago, they’ll serve as house band for a dance session in the Grand Ballroom of Navy Pier on Friday (dancing is optional).
“We’re doing the dance tour because we want to realize all aspects of jazz music, and a lot of great music was made for dancing,” says Marsalis, the leading figure in jazz for nearly two decades but–for the purposes of this tour–simply the front man for a dance band.
“Now, we haven’t played a lot of dances, so I don’t really know exactly what’s going to happen,” adds Marsalis. “I’m going to have to adapt as we go along, learn about finding the right tempos and picking the right tunes. But, basically, we hope to swing hard enough for the people to want to come out and move.”
Furthermore, the audience will be dancing to jazz masterpieces that listeners typically encounter in the concert hall or in buttoned-down jazz clubs. The very opportunity to dance to first-rate, live performances of jazz classics could change listeners’ understanding of this repertoire. In effect, audiences attending the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra concerts nationwide will get back in touch with scores that writers such as Ellington, Count Basie and others originally conceived as dance music.
In addition, the LCJO will unveil new dance scores written for the tour by trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, reedist Ted Nash and other band members. In this way, Marsalis and the orchestra hope to establish a repertory of new swing pieces that build upon the traditions of the masterworks.
The mystery, however, is why the world of jazz lost sight of the importance of dancing in the first place. If Americans were eager to dance to big-band music in the ’20s through the ’50s, why did the tradition wane?
“A lot of it happened when the big bands faded out,” says Lawrence. “The bebop bands [of the ’40s and thereafter] were not as concerned with dancing–the beat wasn’t as well suited for dance. And when the smaller rock ‘n’ roll groups started coming along, dance changed.
“That’s not to take anything away from rock ‘n’ roll dance, where you’re basically doing your own thing. But it’s just not as sophisticated as two people dancing as one.”
Or, as Marsalis puts it, “What I’m banking on is people turning out who want an adult experience that’s not crass, because you can get well-dressed for a swing dance, you can be elegant, you can see your date looking great.
“The music won’t be so loud that you can’t hear, and I think we’re in need for that kind of good, adult entertainment. We once had a high romantic concept in our country that was represented in these dances, and that’s something we shouldn’t let go of.”
Now that bands as accomplished as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Doug Lawrence Orchestra and David Berger’s Sultans of Swing are taking up the cause, swing dancing finally may be outgrowing the somewhat campy efforts of the recent years.
Perhaps the time has come for listeners to hear the real thing, in its most artistically ambitious forms.
“The guys in this band may be some of the most accomplished concert musicians in the country,” says Lawrence, “but there’s nothing they love more than to see everyone dancing. You can see it in their faces when they stand up to take a solo and watch everyone moving to their music.
“It’s the ultimate compliment.”
WHERE TO STEP OUT
Following are a few venues for swing dancing with top-notch live music. Dancers also can check out the “Chicago Swing Scene” on the Internet at www.stormloader.com/chicagoswing.
The Black Orchid, in Piper’s Alley, 230 W. North Ave.; 312-944-2200. The Doug Lawrence Orchestra plays Fridays and Saturdays.
Green Dolphin Street, 2200 N. Ashland Ave.; 773-395-0066. The Bill Porter Real Swing Orchestra plays at 9 p.m. Wednesdays.
Navy Pier Grand Ballroom, 600 E. Grand. Ave.; 800-595-7437 or 312-559-1212. Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra play a “For Dancers Only” tour at 8 p.m. Friday.
