Friday Night at The Blues and Smooth

Friday night will be Freestyle, with a fun competition to introduce to the world of Solo Blues. Two rooms of music, with DJs being chucked on the second room decks as they arrive. Your first chance to get into the groove of the weekend. Meet, and perhaps dance with, your Judges. And suss out your fellow competitors and maybe even find a last minute partner. If you can make it on the Friday I know it will give you a great start to the weekend and if it's your first time then you will hopefully see what a friendly vibe we aim to give the weekend.

Lisa, myself, and many of our amazing crew will be on hand to help you with any last minute enquiries and dance with you. Please don't be afraid to chat to us as it really is our aim to make this a great weekend for everybody. There will be dancers there from all over the UK and even one or two from farther afield. So please follow the ethos of 'Dance with everybody'.

Solo Blues Dancing

When we started this event we always said that we would do our best to introduce you to more of the Blues world and this time we have chosen 'Solo Blues Dancing'. Now in the blues world this is a very serious form of dance, but we know that many of you have never heard of it. Let alone seen it. So please don't be intimidated. It's about interpretation of the music and personal expression. Below are a couple of You tube video's to give you a flavour and hopefully encourage you to join in. It's fun and there are medals to be won. It will be up to you in the future if you want to see more of it and perhaps organise some workshops. And then maybe a competition category in the future.

This first Video is taken from the 2013 European Swing Dance Champs and as you can see is taken VERY seriously https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdm1b5jtT0k. It really shows how different people interperate the music being played.

This is a short instructional video presented by Rachel Cassandra. There are loads of instructional Solo Blues video's on You tube This is just a quick example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyF5laD8RDE

So my final message to you. Come along on Friday. Enjoy and prepare for the comps on Saturday and Sunday. Lisa, Myself and the rest of the crew look forward to seeing you.

The Blues and The Smooth. Music Music Music.

When Lisa and I decided to set up the UK Blues and Smooth Championships we knew that we would be walking into the continuous debate about the music to be played. What is Blues? What is Smooth? Is there a crossover? Now I am not going to go into in's and out's of the various arguments. I am just going to tell you, as the competition music DJ, what I consider to be the various styles and where you might find them in the actual competitions. This will hopefully help you in your decisions about what to enter and what to practise to. These are only examples and actually the range of music I could choose from is vast. Perhaps next time I will talk about the R&B I could use.

Blue, Blues Blues.

 

Let's start with the amazing Buster Benton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8ILvoVn-T0 

This is a piece of classic "Middle of the Road" Blues. In competition terms you could get this for newbies or more experienced dancers.

 

Now a track from Jimmy Dawkins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVaCXCpv_4w. Much slower and In need of more dancers interpretation. Your only going to get something like this if your in the Opens or maybe Down and dirty.

 

Another Blues Classic originally by Muddy Waters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaRbgUDpBdo Why would I put this in. Because of it's short. swinging and those wonderful breaks. Hit them and the Judges might just be impressed.

 

Smooth, Smooth, Smooth

 

Let the debate begin. What you dance to Smooth is up to you. But here are a couple of what I consider to be Smooth tunes. Your going to get something like this as part of the Valentines Trophy and for sure in the Juke Joint Trophy. "Cause we play it a lot at Juke Joint"

 

 Tower of power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVWxYSko5FU. Great tune AND it also has breaks. This is smooth. Yep. Reckon this would be a pretty good competition track. Downside, its 5.20 long and I would not dare to chop it. Against my principals. Anyway the coolest breaks are at the end.

 

Here is a heads up. Somebody will get a Curtis Stigers track. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT7DdqiMnkk This is a very Smooth piece of Jazz. It's so smooth if I tilted it a bit you would slide off. But will you get THIS Curtis Track!!!!

 

My last selection today is Blue Six. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByC96NIXNkA. Used to be a regular play at Juke Joint. It's starting to get near to the R&B vibe, But not quite.

 

Thanks for looking. If you are still thinking about booking then get shifting. Booking can be via the website at http://www.curlywurlyevents.com/blues-.php or you could contact Lisa direct on 07763 134026 if you want to talk to somebody.

 

The Facebook competition page can be found here https://www.facebook.com/events/1573372316239595/

 

 



 

The 2016 Competition Music

On the Three days of the Championships you will have some Amazing DJs looking after you. And they will play during the frequent freestyle and night sessions. But apart from one category (Swinging the Blues, which is Lisa's and Dave's baby) I will pick the Competition music. It's a task that I take very seriously and the process began not long after last years competitions. In the photograph you can see three vital USB sticks. Yes, difficult to believe, but I have a system!!!

 

As I listen to music and hear an old or new potential track it will get put onto the small green stick. This lives in my car and is listened to as I drive to and from gigs. It currently holds around 840 possible tunes. If I deem it as a real possible then it goes onto the middle purple stick and I go through that from time to time. Currently this holds around 60 tracks. The big Green stick is track's that will get played. Currently 5 tracks. But tracks do get deleted.



Chris Uren



 However, I am constantly hearing and reviewing new music, a track could make it on as late as the Friday Night; So a long way to go yet. And what makes a competition track. Well maybe I will try to explain that next time. How a track is good for one category and not another etc. Until then a link to my Spotify List to give you a flavour of what could be on the cards for you.

Just A Few Blues Tunes

Now if you are still sitting on the fence. Get off and book. It's going to be a great weekend. Book by going to the Website http://curlywurlyevents.com/blues-.php or you can contact myself or Lisa via our Facebook Pages
Lisa Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisa.c.graydon?fref=ts
Chris Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dj.chrisuren

And if your desperate to speak to a REAL human then Lisa on 07763 134026

 

It's Getting closer

Now it really is getting close. Lisa and her team of helpers are thinking about how to look after you during your visit. The Judges are discussing the rules and what will be expected from you (Smile, Smile, Smile AND Enjoy yourself) and I am working on the Medals and Trophies that you are taking back home with you. The last Round of the Valentines Trophy heats will take place at The Supper Dance on the 17th. Click on the link to get the facebook Details. https://www.facebook.com/events/201498030195720/.

And if your still not sure what to enter at the Champs you can get your pass and decide later. But get your place sorted as it's filling up.

It is going to be a fantastic weekend of Music, Dancing, Competition. But above all, an event of Fun and Laughter with a group of people who love Music and Dance. I look forward to seeing you all there.

We are all looking forward to seeing you in just 5 weeks time. I will post next about some of the categories and the music.

Lisa Graydon Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisa.c.graydon?fref=ts
Chris Uren Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dj.chrisuren
Event Facebook page for details https://www.facebook.com/events/1573372316239595/

2016 Here we go!!

2016 Champs coming very soon.

Here we are. Starting to post about the 2016 Blues and Smooth Champs. Entries are already coming in and preparations are well under way for another great weekend of music, competition and dancing. Over the next few weeks I will be giving more details of the weekend including the great line up of Judges and DJ's and giving you some hints and tips to get the best from the weekend.

Lisa, Myself and the rest of the team can't wait to welcome you to another great event

To get you started I am going to list what categories are on what day to help you plan your weekend.

Saturday 13th February

Lucky Dip
Fresh Fundamentals
Smooth Blues Fusion - Juke Joint Trophy
Young Fun and Feisty
In The Zone
Valentines Trophy

Sunday 14th February

Polished and Professional
Raw and Ready
Swingin' The Blues - The Curlywurly Trophy
Smooth Sassy Sophisticated
Jack and Jill

Check out the website for more Information or call. Details below

More Information www.curlywurlyevents.com
Facebook Event https://www.facebook.com/events/1573372316239595/

More info
Email info@curlywurlyevents.com
Tel Lisa on01484 317895 or 07763 134026

Your organisers are
 Lisa Graydon - Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisa.c.graydon?fref=ts
Chris Uren - Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dj.chrisuren

More coming soon.

Tunes

My first post written on a mobile phone so bear with me on the spelling.

Sitting in a hotel room in Luton and thinking about tunes that are suitable for the next Blues and Smooth Champs. The maim problem is there are just so many that I could play. But do they have the necessary stuff?. Are they too hard for the newer dancers? Are they toooo challenging for the top level?. Breaks or no breaks?  Well, my decisions to make and only the pressing of the play button on competitions day will give the answers.

Where are we

Thought I would update you on the progress for the Champs next year and a few bits about what Lisa and I are up too.

Lisa has just had a very successful weekend hosting Asif Malik for some workshops plus a trip down to the English Modern Jive Champs to do some judging. I know that she has already organised another visit for Asif. So keep an eye on her facebook pages. You can find her via this link. She also has a regular Monday night MJ class in Huddersfield and others in the pipeline. Plus her CurlyWurly events at the Dance Studio's continue. Again check with Lisa for details. There is a Curlywurly website at http://curlywurlyevents.com/

For me Juke Joint continues on the last Sunday of every month at the Engine Shed in Wetherby. The new timings of 6 till 10pm have not proved as successful as we had hoped, but we are continuing with them for now. We have one or two extra things in the pipeline to talk to you about soon including a WCS workshop and some special stuff as the 2016 Champs draw closer. There is also going to be a Juke Joint Blog coming soon as well. You can find more about Juke Joint via my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/dj.chrisuren or there is also a Juke Joint Group.

THE CHAMPS 2016

Progress is good and we have now confirmed our judges which will include 2 new members for next year.

We are honoured to introduce two HUGELY influential people within the modern and traditional Blues world. Many dancers accross the UK have been inspired by these two into taking their first steps into the world of blues dancing.

Welcome aboard Nigel Anderson and Nina Daines

N&N have performed extensively throughout Europe and have made numerous stage and screen appearances including the West End Shows "The Cotton Club” & “Journey through Jazz”, films such as “Swing” & “War Horse” and countless TV performances, the highlight of course being a Lindy Hop performance on “Blue Peter” (and before you ask ‘Yes’ Nina does still have her Blue Peter Badge).
Since retiring from competing in 2001, N&N have been principle judges at many of the major Blues, Jive & Swing events in the UK.s


More about the other Judges and our DJ line up next time.