New York DJ

When we meet to talk with clients about music for their event, often the first thing we notice is that they've already dejectedly decided the music they really like and want to hear won't be able to be played at their event.

It may be a designer in a fashion show thinking that the music she wants to use for her fashion line will be too ethereal a sound to keep the audience interested. Or a couple who loves moody acoustic indie pop but thinks it would be too much of a downer to play a little at their wedding Or an organizer of a corporate party who worries that the employees won’t dance because they tend to like raw Southern hip-hop and their bosses wouldn’t. Whatever the case, whatever the event, it seems this kind of unfortunate premature musical censorship is everywhere.

It often comes from a good place of common sense or consideration, like an organizer at a art opening knowing that prospective buyers might not want to hear his beloved deep cuts of ‘70s classic rock all night long. But some of our clients’ decisions that their favorite songs or genres won’t work comes not from a good place at all, but instead from having met with conventional, unimaginative DJs that tend to work for bigger, more cookie-cutter DJ companies. We’ve heard from these clients that some of these DJs have told them straight up that the only way to get a party movin’ is to play disco all night.

Whatever the reason for clients' doubts in the music they love, one of the first things we tell them – no matter what their event –  is to open up their mind, revisit their CD collection or iPod, and make their “dream list” of songs they want to hear, with no censoring allowed. Put anything in you would love to hear. Not only does it make the process of selecting music easier, but also more fun. It will get you excited about the possibilities of hearing this music, as opposed to nixing songs right away and feeling frustrated that the soundtrack to the event is already not what you would like.

Now, will all these "dream songs" end up making the cut when the event arrives? Sometimes many of them do, sometimes they don't. But what always happens is that when we see these “dream lists” and talk a bit with the client to see what music is most important to them, we can then use our experience in knowing what of these songs will work given the mood that is wanted at the event, as well as what kind of guests will be there, and what kind of structure the event will have. Then we can suggest which songs to keep, which to think about not using. For example, a pair of melancholy indie songs at the more sedate moments in a wedding can feel absolutely right and even moving. So can a set of obscure hardcore punk during the more boisterous moments of a corporate party. And even a little experimental progressive rock can enhance the feeling of an art opening, if played at the right time.

By far, many more of the songs you really want at your event then you ever think you can play are actually able to be fit in, but not only that, they can be made to add to the atmosphere of the event. But to do it, you have to begin by letting the DJ know what you really want to hear. And if that DJ looks at your list, smirks, and says something about how you can't have a party without having "the Y" on your list, well, you know the time has come to find a different DJ.

Often, we’ve seen that clients looking to hire a DJ for an event that includes some sort of dinner portion will be quick to insist on one thing: Though they don’t want music played at dinner that encourages people to dance, they definitely want songs that still feel vibrant, exciting and add something to the atmosphere of the meal.

This is one more of the fears people have regarding the mobile DJ. They fear that dinner music means the DJ will roll out way too much of what many think is some of the most boring or cheesy sentimental music around, like cool jazz saxophone instrumentals that make you feel like you’re on hold, or Mantovani-style orchestra music complete with sleepy walls of violins, or big romantic modern pop polished to a soulless sheen, as “best” done by singers like Celine Dion or Amy Grant. It’s a shame that generations of unadventurous mobile DJs across the country have made this cliché fear often a reality. While sometimes these DJs are simply playing to a crowd or dutifully doling out bad requests, often times these songs are unleashed on unfortunate ears simply because the DJ thinks the songs are actually good, or – because these tunes tend to be slo – the DJ thinks they’re only kinds of music appropriate for dinner.

The great thing about being a DJ in New York City is that most crowds we play for are either a bit familiar with many kinds of music from around the world, or they at least are often more open to hearing more kinds of music, as they’ve heard bits of other culture’s songs and musical styles before, either in their neighborhoods or when out in the city. Here and in the surrounding metropolitan area, it’s hard to be completely sheltered musically.

One of the best examples of a genre of dinner music that we love to spin – and we’ve found that crowd love to hear – is mid-century style jazz samba and bossa nova. As DJs in the heart of New York City, we know Latin music well and often are asked to play different types of it at events. Samba and bossa nova are some of the best genres of Latin music, or any kind of music, to break out at dinner. These two genres have a spare, mellow, tropical sound that often feature mid-tempo acoustic guitars, horns and saxophones, as well as gentle, romantic vocals. This gives many of its songs a dreamy, sultry quality – but yet they rarely veer into too much melodrama or raw sexiness to distract from an elegant dinner. The result is that when we play samba or bossa nova or its recent descendants in modern lounge music and Brazilian pop (which sometimes add subtle touches of electronics to the core mellow mood), we often see guests doin’ a little movin’ around in their chairs. For dinner, activity like this is quite lively – and a sure sign people are enjoying themselves and that the music is adding to their experience. 

The most popular bossa nova song to many ears is “The Girl From Ipanema,” famously performed by Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto and Astrud Gilberto in the mid-1960s. For those seeking something less familiar but with this same kind of sound and pretty melody, a great choice is an instrumental on one of Getz’s other collaborations from the ’60s, this time with legendary Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfa, called “Sambalero.” (Getz, Bonfa and vocalist Maria Toldeo are pictured above during a session for the album Jazz Samba Encore!, from which “Sambalero” is taken.) A short, dreamy track with a uplifting sax and guitar melody and a dash of ethereal vocals courtesy of Toledo, it mixes elegance and sultriness perfectly and never wears out its welcome.

An outstanding Brazilian tune that creates a similar mood to “Sambalero” but comes  from 2006 – almost a half-century later – is “Aquela” by Brazilian pop singer Marisa Monte (pictured). This tune, from her album Infinito Particular, is actually an example of Brazilian pop music, but its sound is heavily influenced by samba and bossa nova. “Aquela,” meaning “that one” in Portuguese, is another tight, dreamy tune that has a bit more of a romantic feel than “Sambalero,” and is also more cinematic and sweeping. But its wide, sentimental mood is not created by any sort of lush instrumentation or studio polish, but almost exclusively by the beautifully soaring vocals of Monte. “Aquela” is one of those rare songs whose spare but lovely melody will likely stay in your head the first time you hear it, and might even make you get up from your seat and go over to the DJ booth to ask who sings it.

Have a listen to both…

Luiz Bonfa – Sambalero

Marisa Monte – Aquela

With the holidays over and the two coldest months of the year ahead, now is the time when winter in New York City and much of the country quickly loses its romantic appeal and instead becomes, to be polite, a real drag. Sorry to remind you, but remember, the weather doesn’t really get consistently nice around here again until around the time we have to get our taxes in.

So, to “tropicalize” the atmosphere of events that you may have planned in the next two or three months of our annual struggle through blizzards, slush, and 37-degree rain, here’s two songs that are sunny, cozy, and fun. Both are Jamaican rhythm and blues tunes. If that genre sounds unfamiliar, don’t be surprised. It’s a rather small and obscure style, but fortunately some of its best songs recently have been made much more accessible for those of you who don’t have the time or interest to spend digging in record crates for hours a day by the release of the excellent compilation Trojan Jamaican R & B Box Set. Both songs here are available on the box set, as well as a few other less comprehensive compilations.

Jamaican R & B, born in the late ‘50s, is both like everything and nothing you’ve heard before. It combines shuffling jazz beats, the upbeat horns of what would soon become ska, festive Trinidadian-accented vocals of calypso, and a bit of the sultriness and gritty attitude of rhythm and blues and early rock ‘n’ roll. Most people are familiar with each of these styles, but put together in the right amounts, they create a sound that feels new and fresh and most of all, cozy and friendly.

Both these mid-tempo songs here have pleasantly catchy melodies that will get your snow-stained shoes tapping at any sort of event. “Continental Shuffle,” by Rico and the Matador All-Stars, a brief but swingin’ instrumental with masterfully mellow, pre-ska “skank” of a horn riff, immediately seems to brightens the mood of any room when we play it. The same reaction happens when we spin “Nobody Else,” by Owen Gray and the Jets. With its sturdy piano, its warm, fuzzy saxophones and its sweet calypso-inflected vocals, the song sounds like what Ray Charles might have recorded if he got his start in Kingston.

Have a listen to both; I think you’ll agree they’ll make things feel a little less “January-ish.”

Matador All-Stars – Continental Shuffle

Owen Gray & the Jets – Nobody Else

When the usual stable of Christmas pop songs are dusted off and hauled back out to the world around early November, many people complain they’re sick of hearing these same tunes over and over on the radio, in stores and at holiday parties. But when it comes to making a playlist for a Christmas party, most of us will simply throw on the radio stations that play this (at times) mind-numbing mix of Christmas classics, or we’ll make a mix CD that may include a few lesser-played or quirky Christmas songs but overall mostly contains the familiar takes of singers from Sinatra to Diana Krall on “Silver Bells,” “Let it Snow,” “Silent Night” and the like.

It’s understandable – at a Christmas party it’s hard to be a music snob. As a host, it makes sense to give your guests a fun atmosphere that’s accessible and upbeat, and, unless it’s an announced “theme” Christmas party involving a more offbeat selection of music, too much sad acoustic indie-pop or experimental noise-rock covers of Christmas songs might not add to the festiveness much, or could take away from it. And new Christmas songs, of whatever genre or style, rarely tend to be memorable, at least in a good way.

An exception to this rule that can add a little freshness to your Christmas party music playlist is the album Snow Angels by the alt-countryish band Over the Rhine. (We’re a big fan of theirs, go here for a post I did about a great song from an older album of theirs that can be used for a first dance at a wedding, or just in general as a nice addition to a wedding dinner music playlist.)

On Snow Angels, first released in late 2006, Over the Rhine has created a sturdy, cozy collection of jazzy, acoustic, and slightly bluesy pop songs about Christmas and/or winter that feel impressively like covers of classic Christmas songs but are all (save for a few actual covers) their own. There’s striking melodies of all moods in their original songs, from the melancholy remembrances of “Snow Angel” to the playful sweetness of “Snowed in With You” to the sultry slow-burn of “North Pole Man.” All these tunes, too, have lyrics that take a cue from American Songbook pop standards in that they’re sentimental without being treacly. Also, the production is clean but always kept simple and not too polished – much like vintage mid-century holiday classics – and the versatility of singer Karin Bergquist’s warm voice is able to convincingly sell the feel of the songs, whether they’re concerned with longing, promise, sexiness, playfulness, or anything else.

Of all these great songs, though, the standout is “(Darlin’) Christmas is Coming.” With its old radio-like echo of the word “darlin’” throughout, its gently bouncing verses rising into a sweetly soaring chorus, and its inclusion of charming lyrical detail like the ringing of Salvation Army bells, or beautiful images like snow “falling like forgiveness from the sky,” this is a tune that does a most difficult thing – it connects with the spirit of those long-ago Christmas classics but doesn’t sound at all derivative of them. I think Irving Berlin and Bing Crosby would be impressed.

Unfortunately, because there only seems to be room for superstar artists’ covers these days when it comes to new Christmas music being heard by the general public, this song will probably never reach a wide audience and become the classic it should be. So if you like it, help it out a little and let the world know about it.

Over the Rhine – (Darlin’) Christmas is Coming