Sometimes you don’t want “the usual wedding music” at your wedding. Sometimes you want something a little more cerebral or classy or listen-able than the broad-appeal pap, er, pop, that so often gets played. I’m not going to kid you, what usually gets played is what generally works because, with a relatively small group (with quite diverse ages), most everyone knows those pop songs, and people are far more likely to dance to songs they know. But, if getting your guests dancing is not a priority, or they’re unlikely to dance irrespective of what gets played, or if you just really can’t stand the thought of the dance-floor being indistinguishable from the cheese-board the answer may very well be one word…

Jazz.

Jazz, as with any music, means different things to different people. This is more so in the case of ‘jazz’ because, more than any other umbrella-term, it encompasses so much. Jazz has been around, as a popular music form, longer than just about any other, from its beginnings in the late 19th/early 20th centuries as rag-time (generally considered a precursor to and significant influence on jazz) and Dixieland/New Orleans Jazz through its dominance of popular music in the ‘20s, ‘30s, ‘40s and early ‘50s (mostly as Swing), to modern styles such as Acid Jazz and Nu-Jazz, not to mention the contemporary performers in the Big Band and Crooner styles like Michael Bublé.

From the Gershwins’ output in the ‘30s and ‘40s and Cole Porter’s in the ‘40s and ‘50s along with many other composers from this period we get what are called ‘Standards’ or ‘The Great American Songbook’ (as typified by Rod Stewart’s series of that name). From a jazz point of view they are called simply ‘Standards’ as they were predominantly written in the prevalent jazz style of the time and are frequently re-performed by jazz musicians (and are thus often synonymous with most people’s understanding of jazz). That said, these were the pop songs of the time, hence they are often also called ‘Pop Standards’ despite being in a jazz style. Many of these songs have been re-performed time and again and most have the level of familiarity, in one version or another, that wedding DJs look for in a song – though certainly more so with older guests.

Once Rock ‘n’ Roll and to a lesser extent Soul took over dominance as the pop music of the time Jazz became less pop and more experimental and it is this period, and the styles that developed over this time that often give jazz the negative self-involved/‘chin-stroking’ connotation that flies in the face of the sophisticated-but-fun image enjoyed by the Rat-Pack and similar.

Artists and labels known for their more experimental jazz such as Miles Davis & John Coltrane, Blue Note and, to an extent, Verve Records, have released instrumental music that whilst once considered self-involved, as explained above, is now quite ‘pop’, especially as sections from some pieces have been popularised through sampling. For example Us3 became hugely popular with their track ‘Cantaloop’ (based on a sample of ‘Cantaloupe Island’ from the Blue Note label).

In the ‘60s, and often overlooked by those who focus on this more negative image, Latin Jazz emerged. Afro-Cuban and Brazilian Jazz gave rise to Rumba/Salsa and Bossa Nova/Samba, respectively, and are popular dance forms to this day, along with the quickstep and foxtrot that are readily danced to many of the jazz standards of the previous era. Since the 60s, really, but noticeably since the 70s jazz has fused with, or been influenced by, everything from rock (Jazz Fusion) to funk (Jazz Funk/Acid Jazz) to Hip-Hop/Rap (Acid Jazz/Jazz Rap), modern dance (Acid Jazz/Nu-Jazz) and even Drum ‘n’ Bass, and all this whilst other artists were writing and performing new music in styles similar to that of the jazz standards of the ‘40s and ‘50s, sometimes with reference to later styles (particularly R’n’B and Soul), giving rise to their own sub-genres: Cool Jazz and Smooth Jazz.

Why the history lesson? I have trawled through thousands of tracks to come up with a short-list of music (OK, it’s not THAT short) appropriate for both background music and more danceable music, all of which fulfils most if not all of the following requirements:

Familiar:
Songs in their best-known and original form, e.g. Sinatra ‘New York, New York’, Dean Martin ‘Volare (Nel Blu di Pinto de Blu)’.
A well-known version as performed by a well-known artist, e.g. Robbie Williams ‘Somethin’ Stupid’, Alison Moyet ‘That Ole Devil Called Love’
A relatively obscure version of a well-known song by a well-known artist: Natalie Cole ‘What a Diff’rence a Day Makes’, Kelly Rowland (Destiny’s Child) ‘I’m Beginning to See the Light’.

Lively:
At a wedding it’s pretty much certain that there will be love songs, and rightly so, but they don’t all have to be slow.
Many songs in swing and crooner styles are up-tempo but with relatively quiet bass and drums making them lively but not overpowering as background music. When I do play any instrumental jazz it is with a mind to the liveliness of the music and the catchiness of the tune so that it will still have some appeal to those who are maybe not familiar with the music.

Relevant:
Lyrically I have selected songs that are either specifically about love, romance, etc., or that are light and whimsical and unlikely to cause offence to anyone in a wedding scenario.

Positive:
Jazz, as a whole, and in the case of crooner and swing in particular, tends not to contemplate darker lyrical content, but in those instances where the lyrics aren’t appropriate, for example the massively influential ‘Strange Fruit’ (about lynching in the Southern States), as performed by Billie Holiday (and later Nina Simone), these songs are kept aside from play during weddings.

My aim is also to have a play list that will go some way to satisfying any jazz aficionados amongst your guests whilst not alienating those who may not be so familiar with the music. Unless otherwise specified I tend to stick with the traditional swing and crooner styles however, I can include music from the more modern jazz styles such as acid-jazz and nu-jazz, if required, and can, from here include music from other specialist areas that I cover such as chill-out, deep house or trip-hop/breakbeat. I can also switch to the straight-ahead pop, rock and dance music one might normally associate with a wedding and that I play when not hired for my specialities.

Got Jazz?
My abilities allow you the flexibility of having a Jazz DJ who knows and understands the various jazz idioms and can play within or across these (and with reference to your specific requests, like a normal wedding DJ with normal wedding music) but who can also, as needed (and as may be driven by how your guests are responding), include a greater variety of jazz-related styles or leave jazz behind and jump into pop, be it modern or retro. For more information please Contact Me.

For a full list of DJ Alan Duval's packages please click here or go to my Booking Form.