Electroswing
Encyclopedia
Electro Swing is a musical genre fusing swing (original, or remixes of classics) with hip hop
and house
techniques.
Electro Swing is mainly popular in Europe, and electro swing artists incorporate influences such as Tango
and Django Reinhardt
's Gypsy Swing. Leading artists include Caravan Palace
and Parov Stelar
.
Swing House, a subgenre of Electro Swing was particularly popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Influences incorporated into it include Louis Jordan
and Louie Prima.
Both genres are connected with a revival of swing dances, such as the Lindy hop
.
is an early example which had some chart success. Various others like Doop
(1995), Jimmy Luxury
(who coined the term 'Swing Hop') with "Hi-Ball Swing"(1999), Jurassic 5
's "Swing Set" (2000), Gry
and F.M. Einheit's "Princess Crocodile" (2000), and the Mr. Scruff
's "Get A Move On" (2001) all built on this sound adding new variations. Many 'Lounge' and 'Nu-Jazz' tracks also borrowed Swing music elements, perhaps most notably from the artist St. Germain. In 2005 Parov Stelar
, who had been experimenting with a 'Nu-Jazz
' type sound released the first of a series of Electro Swing records on his own label Etage Noir label and began to cement a sound. This was developed and built on by artists like G-Swing, Waldeck
and Caravan Palace
.
Gradually a new genre began to form from the disparate pieces. A tipping point was reached as other artists, some new and some who were already involved with other styles like downtempo, lounge or house began to pick up on the sound and style. In 2009 the first compilation albums of the music began to appear 'defining' the genre. Most notably "Electro Swing" from Wagram in France and "White Mink : Black Cotton (Electro Swing versus Speakeasy Jazz)" from Freshly Squeezed Music
in England which was described by the dance music magazine Mixmag
as "Electro Swing's first landmark moment".
In late 2009 the first Electro Swing club was created in London by Chris Tofu (Continental Drifts) and Nick Hollywood (Freshly Squeezed Music
) to launch the "White Mink : Black Cotton" compilation. "Yes this really is a new genre and an exciting one at last" said London's Time Out (company) of the club.
This was followed by the launch of a "White Mink" club in Brighton which opened the Brighton Festival Fringe in April 2010. Both the Electro Swing club and White Mink went on to program stages at the Glastonbury Festival (Shangri-La and Dance Village Pussy Parlure), The Big Chill, Paradise Gardens, The Secret Garden Party, Bestival
's Club Dada and many more during 2010 showcasing artists like Caravan Palace, G-Swing, Dutty Moonshine, The Correspondents, and Movits!. The two clubs proved extremely influential launching a raft of similar club nights around the world.
In early 2010 'Electro Swing Club' (ESC) was formed by DJ and producer Max Pashm, along with Chris Tofu, DJ Typoboy and DJ Mirko. Over 17 clubs opened worldwide across the EU, USA and Canada, creating the largest and most definitive network of Electro Swing clubs on the planet. ESC Berlin is officially the highest attended ESC night with an average of over 1200 people per party, with all the other ESC clubs boasting full houses. Max Pashm broke new ground in November 2010 by becoming the first DJ to tour the international network of ESC clubs on 2 continents, paving the way for other DJ's and artists to follow . In 2011 ESC Toronto and Montreal opened to critical acclaim with ESC Hollywood hot on their heels.
In 2011 the "White Mink" club collaborated with "Electro Swing" club to present the World's first "Electro Swing Festival", an all-day event, over three floors on Easter Sunday at The Queen Of Hoxton in London. As well as electro swing, the event featured vintage swing, live music, DJs, swing dance classes, workshops and demonstrations.
in popular music, artists began experimenting with looping extracts of Swing music and Jazz
in their contemporary production.
Early swing house (as it relates to current house and club music) originated from Chicago with such artists as Greenskeepers, No Assembly Firm (Dan X and Justin Long), Mike Dixon, and Transluscent to name but a few. The French/Chicago based label G-Swing saw it's first release in 1992 and was completely devoted to the sound.
Swing House enjoyed the height of it's popularity from the mid to late 90's before it all but disappeared in the early 2000's. It enjoyed a big re-emergence in the mid 2000's when the sub-genre aligned itself with the up and coming nu skool "Jackin House" sound. Artists such as Junia Ovadose, Byron Foxx, High Maintenance, & Wattie Green among others had a big hand in re-establishing the sound which carries on today. Cabbie Hat Recordings is a current American based label enjoying success that's largely devoted to the swing/jazz style.
In 2010, Gramophonedzie
's swingy "Why Don't You"
on Guesthouse Music sampled Peggy Lee
's "Why Don't You Do Right" and became a world wide club smash hit. However, licensing issues ensued and eventually the track was pulled & re-released by Virgin Records
.
The British label and publisher Freshly Squeezed Music
, run by Nick Hollywood, released the hugely influential double album compilation series "White Mink : Black Cotton 'Electro Swing versus Speakeasy Jazz'" Vol. 1 (2009) and Vol. 2 (2010) each containing one side of modern 'electro' swing and the other of vintage swing from the 1920s and 1930s remastered from original 78rpm discs. They also release material from Jem Stone (AKA Soul Of Man and former head of Breakbeat label Finger Lickin' Records
), the Danish artist Swing Republic and The Correspondents
.
The French label and distributor Wagram Music
released the "Electro Swing" compilation series, Vol. 1 (2009) and Vol. 2 (2010), "Bart & Baker present... Swing Party" (2010) a double compilation mixing many new and old swing styles by two French DJs active in promoting the music in Paris, and "Swing Fever" (2010) a four CD set rounding up the material on their first two compilations and adding more music released in the interim.
The Munich label Jazz & Milk Recordings released "Jazz & Milk Breaks Vol. 1" (2006), Rube "Another Gone Record" (2007), and Jazz & Milk Breaks Vol. 3 (2009). Each release includes some songs in the electro swing style. "Jazzhole" by Free The Robots, "Big Band Jump Parts 3 & 4" by Rube and label head Dusty, and "Do What" by the Jivers are good examples of the labels electro swing stylings.
Austria's Dope Noir, owned and run by the composer Klaus Waldeck, released "Ballroom Stories" (2007) which presents a more down-tempo and less dance orientated version of the music and the compilation "Waldeck's Gramophone Vol. 1 Swing & Champagne" (2008) which showcases his influences across vintage and modern tracks.
On 2010 polish label Magnetic Records published compilation Big Bang Club with wide selection of electroswing and retrodance tracks. On the tracklists appears polish musicians like Matt Kowalsky and Ada Fijal, but also well known artists as: Parov Stelar, Waldeck, Caravan Palace, Gramophonedzie, Tape Five, Jazzbit, Louie Austen etc.
The French label BNO created a portfolio of tracks around the 'swing meets house' template. The album "Swing For Modern Clubbing" (2006) by G-Swing evolved from that portfolio matching the beats of Chicago house producer James Curd (whose Greenskeepers alias provide the 'G' in 'G-Swing') with vintage swing remixes of Nina Simone and Duke Ellington and so on. The album was released through Barclay
.
Other labels in the genre include G-Swing (who released several early singles and EPs) and in particular, Austria's "Etage Noir" who released Parov Stelar's albums and EPs from 2004 which slowly evolved from a Nu-Jazz style to become, with the "Charleston Butterfly" EP (2006), a genre-defining sound.
Since mid 2010 the smaller fragments of the scene have coalesced. There are now many smaller labels and independent producers putting out material (mostly digitally) many mixing swing with Drum and Bass
, Dubstep
and numerous other styles.. Bedroom Music has specialized in a Latino and Balkan influenced flavor, mostly notably with DJ/Producer Tavo, with his release "Hollywood (Black and Tan)" and his recognized compilation "That Swing Sound for Dummies" featured in iDJ Magazine.
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
and house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
techniques.
Electro Swing is mainly popular in Europe, and electro swing artists incorporate influences such as Tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
and Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
's Gypsy Swing. Leading artists include Caravan Palace
Caravan Palace
Caravan Palace is a French Electroswing band based in Paris. The current band line-up consists of Sonia Fernandez Velasco , Arnaud Vial , Hugues Payen , Camille Chapelière , Charles Delaporte and Antoine Toustou...
and Parov Stelar
Parov Stelar
Parov Stelar aka Marcus Füreder is a musician who lives and works in Linz, Austria. He performs with his Band - the Parov Stelar Band - and as a DJ worldwide...
.
Swing House, a subgenre of Electro Swing was particularly popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Influences incorporated into it include Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
and Louie Prima.
Both genres are connected with a revival of swing dances, such as the Lindy hop
Lindy Hop
The Lindy Hop is an American social dance, from the swing dance family. It evolved in Harlem, New York City in the 1920s and '30s and originally evolved with the jazz music of that time. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based...
.
Electro Swing
Most early Electro Swing tunes were one-offs and would not at the time have been described as such. Lucas With The Lid Off by LucasLucas
Lucas is the Latin form of the Greek name Loukas , and it's a common name in many modern languages.Lucas may refer to several things.-Real:*Lucas Barrios, Paraguayan footballer currently playing for Borussia Dortmund...
is an early example which had some chart success. Various others like Doop
Doop (band)
Doop was a dance music production act from the Netherlands formed by Ferry Ridderhof and Peter Garnefski, who would later record under the name Hocus Pocus.Doop were best known for their eponymous single, "Doop", which reached No. 1 in the UK...
(1995), Jimmy Luxury
Jimmy luxury
Jimmy Luxury, also known as Jimmy Luxury and the Tommy Rome Orchestra, is a two-man swing-hop group from Massachusetts in the United States....
(who coined the term 'Swing Hop') with "Hi-Ball Swing"(1999), Jurassic 5
Jurassic 5
Jurassic 5 was an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1993 from members of two previous groups, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee by rappers Charles Stewart , Dante Givens , Courtenay Henderson , Marc Stuart , and disc jockeys Mark Potsic and Lucas Macfadden...
's "Swing Set" (2000), Gry
Gry
The Gry Puzzle is a popular puzzle that asks for the third English word, other than "angry" and "hungry," that ends with the letters "-gry." Aside from words derived from "angry" and "hungry," there is no stand-alone word ending in "-gry" that is in current usage.This puzzle has no good answer, yet...
and F.M. Einheit's "Princess Crocodile" (2000), and the Mr. Scruff
Mr. Scruff
Mr. Scruff is the recording name of Andy Carthy , a British DJ and artist. He lives in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and studied fine art at the Psalter Lane campus of Sheffield Hallam University...
's "Get A Move On" (2001) all built on this sound adding new variations. Many 'Lounge' and 'Nu-Jazz' tracks also borrowed Swing music elements, perhaps most notably from the artist St. Germain. In 2005 Parov Stelar
Parov Stelar
Parov Stelar aka Marcus Füreder is a musician who lives and works in Linz, Austria. He performs with his Band - the Parov Stelar Band - and as a DJ worldwide...
, who had been experimenting with a 'Nu-Jazz
Nu jazz
Nu jazz is an umbrella term coined in the late 1990s to refer to music that blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, soul, electronic dance music, and free improvisation...
' type sound released the first of a series of Electro Swing records on his own label Etage Noir label and began to cement a sound. This was developed and built on by artists like G-Swing, Waldeck
Waldeck
-Places:* Waldeck Castle, a medieval fortress/castle in Germany* Waldeck, Hesse, a town in Hesse* Waldeck or Waldeck-Pyrmont, a principality in the German Empire and German Confederation, and a state in the Weimar Republic, named after the above castle and town* Waldeck, Bavaria, a village in the...
and Caravan Palace
Caravan Palace
Caravan Palace is a French Electroswing band based in Paris. The current band line-up consists of Sonia Fernandez Velasco , Arnaud Vial , Hugues Payen , Camille Chapelière , Charles Delaporte and Antoine Toustou...
.
Gradually a new genre began to form from the disparate pieces. A tipping point was reached as other artists, some new and some who were already involved with other styles like downtempo, lounge or house began to pick up on the sound and style. In 2009 the first compilation albums of the music began to appear 'defining' the genre. Most notably "Electro Swing" from Wagram in France and "White Mink : Black Cotton (Electro Swing versus Speakeasy Jazz)" from Freshly Squeezed Music
Freshly Squeezed Music
Freshly Squeezed Music is an independent record label and music publisher based in Brighton, England and founded in 2005....
in England which was described by the dance music magazine Mixmag
Mixmag
Mixmag is a British dance music and clubbing magazine. It styles itself as "the world's biggest selling dance music magazine", with an Audit Bureau of Circulations audited circulation of approximately 21,250...
as "Electro Swing's first landmark moment".
In late 2009 the first Electro Swing club was created in London by Chris Tofu (Continental Drifts) and Nick Hollywood (Freshly Squeezed Music
Freshly Squeezed Music
Freshly Squeezed Music is an independent record label and music publisher based in Brighton, England and founded in 2005....
) to launch the "White Mink : Black Cotton" compilation. "Yes this really is a new genre and an exciting one at last" said London's Time Out (company) of the club.
This was followed by the launch of a "White Mink" club in Brighton which opened the Brighton Festival Fringe in April 2010. Both the Electro Swing club and White Mink went on to program stages at the Glastonbury Festival (Shangri-La and Dance Village Pussy Parlure), The Big Chill, Paradise Gardens, The Secret Garden Party, Bestival
Bestival
Bestival is a four-day music festival held at the Robin Hill country park on the Isle of Wight, England. It has been held annually in late summer since 2004. The event is organized by DJ and record producer Rob da Bank and is an off-shoot of his Sunday Best record label and club nights. The initial...
's Club Dada and many more during 2010 showcasing artists like Caravan Palace, G-Swing, Dutty Moonshine, The Correspondents, and Movits!. The two clubs proved extremely influential launching a raft of similar club nights around the world.
In early 2010 'Electro Swing Club' (ESC) was formed by DJ and producer Max Pashm, along with Chris Tofu, DJ Typoboy and DJ Mirko. Over 17 clubs opened worldwide across the EU, USA and Canada, creating the largest and most definitive network of Electro Swing clubs on the planet. ESC Berlin is officially the highest attended ESC night with an average of over 1200 people per party, with all the other ESC clubs boasting full houses. Max Pashm broke new ground in November 2010 by becoming the first DJ to tour the international network of ESC clubs on 2 continents, paving the way for other DJ's and artists to follow . In 2011 ESC Toronto and Montreal opened to critical acclaim with ESC Hollywood hot on their heels.
In 2011 the "White Mink" club collaborated with "Electro Swing" club to present the World's first "Electro Swing Festival", an all-day event, over three floors on Easter Sunday at The Queen Of Hoxton in London. As well as electro swing, the event featured vintage swing, live music, DJs, swing dance classes, workshops and demonstrations.
Swing house
From the early eighties and nineties and the beginning of sampling (music)Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
in popular music, artists began experimenting with looping extracts of Swing music and Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
in their contemporary production.
Early swing house (as it relates to current house and club music) originated from Chicago with such artists as Greenskeepers, No Assembly Firm (Dan X and Justin Long), Mike Dixon, and Transluscent to name but a few. The French/Chicago based label G-Swing saw it's first release in 1992 and was completely devoted to the sound.
Swing House enjoyed the height of it's popularity from the mid to late 90's before it all but disappeared in the early 2000's. It enjoyed a big re-emergence in the mid 2000's when the sub-genre aligned itself with the up and coming nu skool "Jackin House" sound. Artists such as Junia Ovadose, Byron Foxx, High Maintenance, & Wattie Green among others had a big hand in re-establishing the sound which carries on today. Cabbie Hat Recordings is a current American based label enjoying success that's largely devoted to the swing/jazz style.
In 2010, Gramophonedzie
Gramophonedzie
Marko Milićević , most known as Gramophonedzie , is a Serbian DJ from Belgrade. He started his career in the year 2000 as participant at the Irish RedBull Music Academy. Milićević is known for producing the theme songs for Balkan versions of the TV show Big Brother...
's swingy "Why Don't You"
Why Don't You (song)
"Why Don't You" is a 2010 single from Serbian DJ Gramophonedzie. It was released on the 28 February 2010 as a download and on 1 March 2010 in CD format. It samples Peggy Lee's 1947 version of the 1936 song Why Don't You Do Right?.-Critical reception:...
on Guesthouse Music sampled Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
's "Why Don't You Do Right" and became a world wide club smash hit. However, licensing issues ensued and eventually the track was pulled & re-released by Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
.
Labels and compilations
The British label and publisher Freshly Squeezed Music
Freshly Squeezed Music
Freshly Squeezed Music is an independent record label and music publisher based in Brighton, England and founded in 2005....
, run by Nick Hollywood, released the hugely influential double album compilation series "White Mink : Black Cotton 'Electro Swing versus Speakeasy Jazz'" Vol. 1 (2009) and Vol. 2 (2010) each containing one side of modern 'electro' swing and the other of vintage swing from the 1920s and 1930s remastered from original 78rpm discs. They also release material from Jem Stone (AKA Soul Of Man and former head of Breakbeat label Finger Lickin' Records
Finger Lickin' Records
Finger Lickin' Records is an independent left field dance record label. Founded by Justin Rushmore and Jem Panufnik in 1998, Finger Lickin' is solely dedicated to dance music, mainly covering Breakbeat, electro and hip hop, elements of disco and funk can be found throughout these genres.- Artists...
), the Danish artist Swing Republic and The Correspondents
The Correspondents (band)
The Correspondents are a London-based swing/hip-hop duo made up of DJ 'Chucks' and MC and lead singer 'Mr Bruce'.They have played on stages at Glastonbury Festival, Secret Garden Party, Bestival, Kendal Calling, Shambhala UK, Lovebox Weekender, Camden Calling, Big Chill and Sunrise Celebration and...
.
The French label and distributor Wagram Music
Wagram Music
Wagram Music is a French independent record label located in Paris. It has a catalog in various music genres such as French Pop, Rock and Hard rock, Pop, World, electronic music, Reggae, Soul, Jazz or Electro-swing. Represented artists include Jessy Matador, Caravan Palace, Corneille, Mass...
released the "Electro Swing" compilation series, Vol. 1 (2009) and Vol. 2 (2010), "Bart & Baker present... Swing Party" (2010) a double compilation mixing many new and old swing styles by two French DJs active in promoting the music in Paris, and "Swing Fever" (2010) a four CD set rounding up the material on their first two compilations and adding more music released in the interim.
The Munich label Jazz & Milk Recordings released "Jazz & Milk Breaks Vol. 1" (2006), Rube "Another Gone Record" (2007), and Jazz & Milk Breaks Vol. 3 (2009). Each release includes some songs in the electro swing style. "Jazzhole" by Free The Robots, "Big Band Jump Parts 3 & 4" by Rube and label head Dusty, and "Do What" by the Jivers are good examples of the labels electro swing stylings.
Austria's Dope Noir, owned and run by the composer Klaus Waldeck, released "Ballroom Stories" (2007) which presents a more down-tempo and less dance orientated version of the music and the compilation "Waldeck's Gramophone Vol. 1 Swing & Champagne" (2008) which showcases his influences across vintage and modern tracks.
On 2010 polish label Magnetic Records published compilation Big Bang Club with wide selection of electroswing and retrodance tracks. On the tracklists appears polish musicians like Matt Kowalsky and Ada Fijal, but also well known artists as: Parov Stelar, Waldeck, Caravan Palace, Gramophonedzie, Tape Five, Jazzbit, Louie Austen etc.
The French label BNO created a portfolio of tracks around the 'swing meets house' template. The album "Swing For Modern Clubbing" (2006) by G-Swing evolved from that portfolio matching the beats of Chicago house producer James Curd (whose Greenskeepers alias provide the 'G' in 'G-Swing') with vintage swing remixes of Nina Simone and Duke Ellington and so on. The album was released through Barclay
Barclay Records
Barclay Records is a French record label founded in the mid-1950s by Eddie Barclay under the alias, Edouard Ruault. Eddie Barclay also founded the Riviera label in the early-1950s....
.
Other labels in the genre include G-Swing (who released several early singles and EPs) and in particular, Austria's "Etage Noir" who released Parov Stelar's albums and EPs from 2004 which slowly evolved from a Nu-Jazz style to become, with the "Charleston Butterfly" EP (2006), a genre-defining sound.
Since mid 2010 the smaller fragments of the scene have coalesced. There are now many smaller labels and independent producers putting out material (mostly digitally) many mixing swing with Drum and Bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
, Dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
and numerous other styles.. Bedroom Music has specialized in a Latino and Balkan influenced flavor, mostly notably with DJ/Producer Tavo, with his release "Hollywood (Black and Tan)" and his recognized compilation "That Swing Sound for Dummies" featured in iDJ Magazine.