A monthly podcast with Sarah Spoon sitting down with music nerds from the lindy hop and blues dance communities. Focusing mainly on DJs and musicians (but with the odd teacher too), the idea is that guests are stuck on a desert island with a tiny mp3 player that holds 10 songs. We get to hopefully discover some sweet new tunes, but also get to know these fine folks a little bit better.
Jon Tigert is our guest this month! He is a DJ, musician, emcee and international Lindy Hop instructor based in Baltimore, USA. The bandleader and drummer for the Corner Pocket Jazz Band, Jon very nearly spent his life in musical theatre and not the swing dancing community. If you'd like to find him online to nerd out about music, his handle across the platforms is @jontigert. If you'd like to enjoy our carefully arranged Instagram feed, you can follow us @desertislandjams If you'd like to...
20 Jan 2021
Desert Island Jams #8 - Grey Armstrong
Grey Armstrong, author of ObsidianTea.com and Blues instructor and DJ joins me for this episode. Some other key facts about Grey include that he was born in Ohio, has synesthesia, loves foxes (the country ones, not the urban ones), and loves his cat T'challa Panther Lily even more. Oh, and he has blue hair. Support Obsidian Tea on Patreon here You can listen along to the Spotify playlist here Support the show
20 Dec 2020
Desert Island Jams #7 - Jonathan Stout
It's only Jonathan Blimmin' Stout as my guest this month! (Not his real middle name) A Lindy Hopper since 1996, he grew up in the Southern California swing revival, learning from original-era Lindy and Balboa dancers. He started playing swing music in 1999, and in 2002 started a band with Hilary Alexander, the Campus Five, with the sole and express purpose of playing dance music for Lindy Hop and Balboa dancers. He's released 4 albums that are now pretty much standard issue for...
20 Nov 2020
Desert Island Jams #6 - Nicole Zuckerman
My guest this episode is Nicole Zuckerman, a DJ, dancer and software developer living in NYC. Nicole's first love was tap but lindy stole their heart in 2005. They have DJed at ILHC, Lindy Focus, Herrang and more. They have taught at LindyFest, Sweet Swingouts and more. They have competed and won lindy hop, balboa and solo jazz competitions across the US. Nicoles loves social dancing and acting like a goof, sharing the feelings that music gives them. As well as music and dance, they are de...
20 Oct 2020
Desert Island Jams #5 - Albert Alva
This month's guest is Albert Alva, a musician from Los Angeles, California. He's been a musician since he was a teenager, and has been a music educator for over 15 years. He's a multi-instrumentalist, a songwriter, a lyricist, and he has also been known to sing! Albert is best known in the partner dance community for his performances with swing jazz bands for Lindy Hop dancers. His “sideman” saxophone performances can be heard on the recordings of Jonathan Stout and his Campus Fi...
20 Sept 2020
Desert Island Jams #4 - Remis Rančys
Remis Rančys of The Schwings Band is my guest this episode! Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, Remis is a musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and he likes taking pictures and is a nature lover and traveler. You can find accompanying playlists links for this episode on Spotify and YouTube. The Schwings band recently released a new album, recorded in the studio Remis was in when we spoke for DIJ. You can find the music of The Schwings Band on Bandcamp, on Spotify, and on Itunes. Y...
20 Aug 2020
Desert Island Jams #3 - Laura Windley
My guest this month is huggable, loveable Laura Windley, and you can find Laura's music playlists here on YouTube and here on Spotify. (FYI Those affections are real but it also refers to a song we discuss in the episode, before you wonder why she gets special treatment) She's a family law attorney by day and musician/dancer/DJ by night. She has her own band, the Mint Julep Jazz Band, but she also travels and sings with hot jazz and swing bands from all over the US. She writes a ...
20 Jul 2020
Desert Island Jams #2 - LaTasha Barnes
Accompanying playlists: click HERE for Spotify and click HERE for YouTube. Click HERE for the transcript of the podcast. Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/desertislandjams) LaTasha “Tasha” Barnes is an internationally acclaimed and awarded dancer, educator, coach and ambassador of culture from Richmond, VA - based in New York. I know the remit of the show is to meet mostly musicians and DJs- but Tasha is so engaging to talk with about music, that it was an obvious ask for me. She t...
4 Jun 2020
Desert Island Jams #1 - Ryan Swift
Accompanying playlists: click HERE for Spotify and click HERE for YouTube. Click HERE for the transcript of the podcast. Ryan has been swing dancing since 1998 and started DJing for dancers shortly thereafter. For the last 10+ years he has been the co-organizer, music coordinator and house DJ for Frim Fram Jam, the longest-running weekly swing dance in NYC. He has had the privilege of DJing for numerous Lindy Hop exchanges, dance camps, weekend workshops, and competitions, includi...
4 Jun 2020
Desert Island Jams #0 - Trailer
Join your host Sarah Spoon as they explain a little more about the podcast, what prompted the creation of it- and most importantly, the name of the first guest for the next episode. Produced by Sarah Spoon Graphics by Sara Azmy Music by Jonathan Stout Support the show
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