3/13/2024
Welcome to Swing and Strings Weekly # 18
Good morning everyone and thanks for tuning in to our newsletter. We've had an action packed week already in our community. Swing jams, square dances, bluegrass and old-time nights, free concerts down at Gallivan, The Millcreek Art Market, restaurant jazz, and with St. Paddy's day this weekend, it is an excellent week to catch some great live acoustic music. Thank you to all the audience members, dancers, musicians, and venues doing so much work to bring life, culture, and music to our state!
We'd like to share this new video of the Hot House West Swing Orchestra performing 'Maman m'a dit.' This arrangement and video was a Kickstarter reward for one of the patrons for our Patron Saint Django album. Le monde d'eva is a really special project dedicated to a woman named Anna.
"Born in Paris, to British parents, Anna is an artist, a songwriter, composer, singer and musician. At the age of 26, (Stroke) Anna lost the use of her right side (hemiplegia) and her speech (aphasia).The artist finds herself trapped by her body that can no longer write, play her guitar, or sing as before.
... leaving beautiful songs, and unpublished recordings ..."
They are on a mission to revive and share her music with the world by finding artists from around the world to reimagine her songs.
Enjoy our arrangement of Anna's song 'Maman m'a dit.'
May the stoke never die!
FEATURED EVENTS
We had another great turnout last Monday at Millcreek Common for our Parlor Swing jam! We're excited to be moving forward with this as a weekly jam session. Come play acoustic swing and in the future, look for this in the weekly events section of our newsletter. The night will kick off with a guided slow jam from 6-7. This is a beginner-friendly hour where we will break down the music and provide some tips and tricks on how to get better at the genre. Come ask questions, learn some tunes, and get to know the community!
A Swing Renaissance Series
March 28th
Hot House West(ern) Swing Night
Tickets are going fast! Be sure to get yours before they sell out.
Upcoming Community Events
Hayley Kirkland & Company B - Excellence in the Community
Gallivan Center - Free concert!
Wednesday, March 13th, 7:30 p.m.
The Mellons - Urban Lounge (21+)
Thursday, March 14th, 8:00 p.m.
Swingin' At The Hive - Dance Lesson & Social
Down Provo way!
Tuesday, March 19th, 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
A Swing Renaissance Series: Hot House West(ern) Swing Night
Thursday, March 28th, 5:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Salt City Stomp - A Lindy Hop Weekend Feat. The HHW Swing Orchestra
April 5th-7th - A full weekend of workshops and dances.
Come see HHW on 4/6!
Weekly Events
Parlor Swing Jam at Millcreek Common hosted by the Swing Collective
Monday, March 18th, 6-9 p.m. (on-going)
Millcreek Art Market - Millcreek Common
Thursdays (March 14th) 7- p.m. (on-going)
Bluegrass Night - Hosted by Trash Moon Collective - Gracie's (21+)
Tuesdays (March 19th) 7-10 p.m. (on-going) Band of Ferns!
Old-time Jam - Hosted by Trash Moon Collective - Woodbine Foodhall
Wednesdays (March 13th) 6-9 p.m. (on-going)
Rotating Jazz Trio - The Pearl on Main (21+)
Tuesdays (March 19th ) 7-10 p.m. (on-going)
Rotating Jazz Trio - Sawadee Thai
Friday & Saturday (March 15th & 16th) 6-9 p.m. (on-going)
Jazz Jam - Hopkins Brewery (21+)
Wednesdays (March 13th) 8 - 11 p.m. (on-going)
Our newsletters will go out every Monday as we begin to build a running list of jazz, swing and acoustic roots-related community events. If you would like to submit anything to this list, please message nathan@hothousewest.com by 5:00 p.m. the Wednesday prior. We will review it and add it to our events if it is a good fit. Thanks.
COMMUNITY NEWS
WEEKLY MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT
Jared Quilter
Jared is an essential part of our music community! Him and his wife Tiffany have long been staple members of the swing dance scene, bringing big smiles and great dance moves wherever there is a swingin' beat. Together they sponsor our rhythm guitar chair and are a critical part of making the Swing Renaissance series happen!
In addition to his dance moves, Jared explores his passion for the music through the guitar. It's often difficult to find a musician who enjoys the dance floor as much as the bandstand and vice versa. Jared exemplifies the truth that they are two sides of the same coin. We've enjoyed seeing him at our first two swing jams and look forward to a great year of music and dance!
Nerd Corner: On the importance of learning tunes
Swing Jam Survival Tactics!
Learning tunes is an essential part of learning to play swing! While chord progressions can feel daunting in the beginning, as you learn a lot of tunes you'll notice patterns that appear over and over again throughout the music. As we discussed during our workshop at Millcreek Common last Monday, by learning and understanding a few common progressions, you will start to simplify whole chord progressions considerably as you see the patterns appear in other songs.
We discussed the chord progression I7 - IV - II7 - V7 quite a bit as it can be found in a huge number of songs from the swing canon. It is very commonly a bridge progression (like the bridge to Honeysuckle Rose) but can be found in other forms as well.
One such form is found in 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love.' Its form is ABAC and each section sports commonly found progressions. In this case, the B section has what we'll call the Honeysuckle Bridge mentioned above.
This is our tune of the week!
Take a video of yourself playing it and tag us on Instagram.
We're going to start building a list of common tunes that we can all learn together as a community so that we have a common language to make music together. As you learn these, be sure to watch for the previously discussed progression! Listen to them here.
Listening Room: Music Appreciation for Non-Musicians
Folk instruments in pop music
With Eurovision right around the corner, this one goes out to all of our European friends! Marina Satti is a pop icon in Greece and is representing the country this year in the Eurovision song contest. There has been a trend in Greece over the last several years of using traditional acoustic instruments, songs, and melodies in modern contexts.
Whether or not it is your cup of tea, we love to see it here and that's why Marina Satti is our pick for Eurovision 2024!
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to create experiences of connectedness, learning, and joy through the language of acoustic music.
Our Vision
We envision Salt Lake City as a hub for world class acoustic music. We accomplish this by building a healthy community-oriented ecosystem that’s accessible for all.
Thank you for hanging out with Hot House West! We are an organization devoted to growing and supporting Utah’s swing and acoustic roots music community. We believe that acoustic music—from swing and jazz to bluegrass, old-time, country and western— brings people together and creates opportunities for connectedness, learning, and joy.
Our goal is to provide and promote weekly and monthly events, from dances, to jams, concerts, and workshops, that support and build our acoustic community. If you’ve ever wanted to dust off the ol’ guitar, meet new players, find a dance partner, or even just find more live acoustic music, follow us, spread the word, and join our Hot House West community! We hope to see you soon!
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