[Dixielandjazz] keys

[James Kashishian]

Most bands in Germany play everything in Bb!  Booooorrring!  
We had a sop sax who insisted on playing everything in it's original
key!  Boooorring!
Why shouldn't one try different keys, different chords?  

Improvisation is the key word.  Same goes with tempos.  If you always
play Indiana fast, try a light swing sometime, or change the key.
Suddenly, the band comes alive again!

If you're soloing on a tune, and the original key takes you into a nasty
register for your instrument or voice (too low, or too high), then a key
change is in order.

If you do 3 tunes in a row in F, the band is going to get bored.  Dunno
if the audiences really will hear the sameness, but they will notice
something is wrong by all the yawns in the band.  So, it's not a sin to
switch.  Or, select an order of tunes that aren't all in the same key.

Jim