Six days after the fact I'm getting around to posting a little more information about the '08 Julian Jam! The night was a success - nobody got stomped, nobody got pummeled, and everyone generally had a good time not to mention supporting an important cause. I highly recommend attending one of these jams…a little good music, some very good food, and who knows you might come home with a prize or two.
For our part we left our money and left the door prizes to other people. Oh well, we were there for the dancing anyway. And dance we did - the Stardusters provided the soundtrack for the evening. They're a good band if a bit disorganized and out of tune on occasion but they do manage to swing it and they actually even got in a rumba and a WC instead of the usual Lindy-Only fare you get at most Indy Stomp sponsored events. One note on the Stardusters, if you get a chance to catch the vocal styling of Janiece Jaffe don't pass it up - this woman definitely brings it. When she sings a torch song you practically smell the smoke. Somebody once said you can't sing the blues if you don't have the blues - she's definitely been done wrong by somebody!
As for the American Cabaret at the Athenaeum…I've danced in bigger phone booths. It's important to mention that this historic venue was originally intended to promote gymnastics to the German community here in Indy. The building is big and the Cabaret is located in what must have been one of the gymnasiums - high ceilings, open rafters, big windows and the lot. You might think that'd make for a great dancehall - I mean how many high school dances are held in gymnasiums, after all? Well the problem is when the Cabaret came in they broke the floor up into levels so that stage shows could be put on for an audience seated at tables. This left exactly no floor for dancing…in fact the Julian Jam folks brought in a temporary floor for the evening (nice and slick, hooray). Anyway, if you put more than four couples on the floor at a time you got a major traffic jam - it's a good thing not too many people dance at Julian Jam events.
Oh, we did get complimented on our swing by Ms. Jaffe. That feels good!
For our part we left our money and left the door prizes to other people. Oh well, we were there for the dancing anyway. And dance we did - the Stardusters provided the soundtrack for the evening. They're a good band if a bit disorganized and out of tune on occasion but they do manage to swing it and they actually even got in a rumba and a WC instead of the usual Lindy-Only fare you get at most Indy Stomp sponsored events. One note on the Stardusters, if you get a chance to catch the vocal styling of Janiece Jaffe don't pass it up - this woman definitely brings it. When she sings a torch song you practically smell the smoke. Somebody once said you can't sing the blues if you don't have the blues - she's definitely been done wrong by somebody!
As for the American Cabaret at the Athenaeum…I've danced in bigger phone booths. It's important to mention that this historic venue was originally intended to promote gymnastics to the German community here in Indy. The building is big and the Cabaret is located in what must have been one of the gymnasiums - high ceilings, open rafters, big windows and the lot. You might think that'd make for a great dancehall - I mean how many high school dances are held in gymnasiums, after all? Well the problem is when the Cabaret came in they broke the floor up into levels so that stage shows could be put on for an audience seated at tables. This left exactly no floor for dancing…in fact the Julian Jam folks brought in a temporary floor for the evening (nice and slick, hooray). Anyway, if you put more than four couples on the floor at a time you got a major traffic jam - it's a good thing not too many people dance at Julian Jam events.Oh, we did get complimented on our swing by Ms. Jaffe. That feels good!
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