[Dixielandjazz] "All About Jazz"

[Stephen Barbone]

Hi Jerry:

Yes, found the "building a Library" section and it is woefully
deficient. Not exactly sure why it so limited. However, noted the Tips
for building a jazz library on the cheap, article had some good info
about visiting University and Library record collections etc. And also
noticed the catalogs for several jazz record labels are there to be perused.

I think the lack of overt OKOM information points out how this genre is
generally viewed in the USA. (As being insignificant) However there is a
wealth of Jazz information on this site, or available through it. I've
been surfing it for the last 2 hours and am not anywhere near seeing it
all. 

Did learn a lesson here too. I have never listed my gigs with the "All
about Jazz" site in the Philadelphia area. Consequently missing a great
opportunity for publicity. Did notice, however, a listing for my band
under the Dover Downs Wine and Jazz Festival (in Delaware) last October.
They must have entered it on their own.

Live and learn.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Jazzjerry@aol.com wrote:

> Hi Steve,
>
> The posters are great and would look really good on my office wall. Pity they
> are a little pricey ($25 seems a lot to me!) and importing from the States is
> not that practicable.
>
> The All About Jazz site is something else though. My jazz tastes are fairly
> wide but this is a joke surely. For anyone with jazz interests from Freddie
> Keppard to Freddie Hubbard and John Handy to John Handy this site is narrow
> indeed. I would think that the 'Building a jazz library' section would be a
> pretty good indication of the overall aims of the site and they surely cannot
> be serious in their suggestion. Eight artists are listed in that particular
> section and these included Tonny Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.
> Great performers indeed but hardly the greatest jazz singers. In the
> instrument section the saxophone does not even get a mention yet there are
> three bits devoted to vocalists. The style selection is even more bizarre
> with only  'Smooth', 'Post-Bop, 'Blues', 'Bossa Nova', Classic Be-bop',
> 'Classic Funk', Free Improv' and 'Funk Jazz' meriting a listing. The 'Drum &
> bass' instrument section does not mention and drummers or bass players at
> all. All very odd.
>
> Yes there are some interesting and useful things about the site but it's
> outlook seems about as narrow as those who believe that 'without a banjo it
> ain't jazz' or 'John Coltrane is the true originator of jazz as an art form'
> and I have heard both views expressed by otherwise sane people.
>
> Sites such as this are dangerous in that they set themselves as informative
> but fall down sadly on the scope of the contents.
>
> Just a veiwpoint.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jerry,
> Norwich,
> U.K.