[Dixielandjazz] THE GIG

[Stephen Barbone]

The anticipation started about 2 weeks ago. The December gig for our
favorite University of Pennsylvania Fraternity was fast approaching and
we were looking forward to it. It would be our 3rd gig for them this
year. Four hours of Dance oriented Dixieland Jazz at the 23rd Street
Armory in Philadelphia.

The University is one of the finest in the United States, Ivy League and
all that. The students are all very bright and like typical college
kids, the love to party. This end of semester event is the crown jewel
in their social schedule. So, they dress up, some in formal wear, the
rest in coat & tie or party dresses. Everybody is looking good for this
special occasion.

Best of all, they make a special effort to book a band that they can
dance to, relate to, and that they feel comfortable with. Yeah, guess
who? For 3 years running now, The Barbone Street Jazz Band. Even though
we are their Grandfather's Jazz Band. (Their age range is 18 to 22 give
or take a year or two)

Yesterday (Saturday) I got a 10 AM call from Ron, the guy in charge of
this year's event. "Hi Mr. Barbone, Just want to make sure you and the
band are coming Sir", Ron said.  I replied "Of course, we love to play
for you."  "Well," he said, "I was a little nervous because of the snow.
We all love your jazz band and this will be our best attended event of
the year. Especially after we announced that Barbone Street was booked
again. We expect about 400 people."

We got to the armory at about 9 PM, parking inside among the HumVees and
Tanks. Then we discovered that the elevator was not working. It is a 4
flight walk-up to the room and that was daunting, given the drums,
electric piano, and my 250 watt portable? fender sound system, and our
ages. Never to fear though, a group of husky pledges had been assigned
to carry all of our gear up, which they did cheerfully and quickly.

After set-up, I plugged in a Kenny Davern CD prior to our band start at
10 PM, while waiting for the two CDs from the event organizers. They
were delivered shortly and to my surprise were "latin" jazz and salsa.
The newest dance craze in the Philadelphia area.

As we got ready to start, a young man in a tux came up, introduced
himself as Mike and said I am here solely for the band. Anything you
want, I will deliver it. Drinks, food, anything. "Anything?", we
laughed. What a nice touch.

The gig? It was phenomenal. There were at total of 440 young people.
paid attendance last night. They loved the band, and danced to the music
like nobody was watching. Very, very  sexy. I went out among the dancers
and draped mardi gras beads around the necks of the girls. (Some even
brought last year's beads with them) When asked why, what were they for,
I replied "They are because I love you." In return, I got hugged and
kissed by at least 30 pretty ladies. And when I automatically turned my
head for a cheek shot, at least half turned with me and planted it full
on the mouth. Wow! I still got it. Or did they have Grandfather
complexes. ;-)

They told us we were awesome. We played a couple of requests like.
"Here's a number one of the more romantic guys here asked us to play for
his date. "The Way You Look Tonight"  At least 50 young men claimed
credit with yells of that was me. We also did "St. Thomas" as a segue
number between the CD and the live music, to a great response. I sang "I
Want A Little Girl" to one of the best looking "little girls" I have
ever seen. Big hug and kiss from her. We played stuff like "That's A
Plenty" for some high energy dancers. etc., etc., etc.

The hired us again for next year's bash saying that it looked as if they
would have to move the venue because more folks now want to attend this
party which is becoming a minor legend at the University. The armory
will not hold any more than 450.

No, they are not jazz aficionados. They may never be, because there is
no easy access to jazz, like there was when we were kids. Heck, at their
age, we didn't know much about jazz either, unless we were musicians.
But we knew we liked it and we could hear Benny, or Artie, or Sidney, or
Wild Bill on the radio. All they know is hey, they've got THE JAZZ BAND
coming again. Great dancing, great fun, six neat, sexy old jazz men and
let's bring our friends the next time. To them, jazz equals Barbone
Street. To us, that ain't all bad. And they do come and hear us a some
of our club dates.

The may not clap after each solo (a habit some musos do not like as they
say it impedes the idea flow from end of one solo to the beginning of
the next), but they get up and cheer mightily at the end of a tune. And
they dance their butts off to everything we play which gives energy back
to the band.

Gig ended at 2:10 AM after we played a slow dance encore for them.
"Please sir, play one more slow tune so we can hold our dates and sway
to the music one more time." We played "I'm Confessin That I Love You."
Yeah, 10 minutes over but we didn't begrudge it. And then to our
surprise, we got $20 a man extra for the encore. On top of a gig fee
that well exceeded union scale.

The pledges respectfully waited till we packed up and then carried
everything back downstairs. What a high. The bass player on this gig,
Norm Elliott a sub, is 82 and he couldn't believe it. "Just like the old
days", he said adding, "Hey, let's stop at the Melrose diner on Passyunk
Avenue for breakfast on the way home". And we did, at 3:00 AM, just like
the old days. And after driving Norm home, I got home at 5:10 AM, just
like the old days. Best of all, the young crowd adulation for Barbone
Street is becoming routine. just like it was for other bands, in the old
days, on 52nd Street and in the Village.