[Dixielandjazz] THE GIG

[David Palmquist]

What a wonderful experience!  This is the way it should be.  Except the 
stairs...
David in Delta




At 19:10 08-12-02, Stephen Barbone wrote:
>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.
>
>
>
>
>
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