[Dixielandjazz] Ernie Carson

[Bill Gunter]

Hello listmates,

Gary Wallbridge implores us . . .

>    Please don't come down so hard on poor Ernie. For those of you who have 
>spent an extended amount of time in the U.S. Military, you are aware that 
>it is normal for peers to needle each other constantly. What Ernie has said 
>is mild compared to what is to be expected. Professionals, whatever the 
>profession may be, try to urge their compatriots to greater heights by 
>whatever means. Maybe it is the American way  of doing thing. I really 
>don't know but I do have and have had quite a few Canuck "Canadian " 
>friends who play the same charade. It takes a sense of humor. Warped maybe 
>but still all in fun.

Sorry, Gary, I understand the sentiment but Ernie was not engaged in any 
practical joke nor was he behaving out of any "warped" sense of humor.

Ernie is beset with demons and deals with tnem via excesses of various 
substances one should ingest in moderation in some cases and not at all in 
others.

Ernie does consider himself a "Professional" and he believes very strongly 
in this perception. There are only a few on the DJML Ernie can relate to . . 
. perhaps none. If you are in a band which plays festivals and jazz clubs 
and an occasional casual gig and your day job is something else (teacher, 
sheet metal worker, banker, whatever) you are NOT a professional. You are 
the hated enemy who is undermining the efforts of the "true professionals" 
and you will NEVER gain anything in the way of courtesy or acceptance from 
him.

The only people who can command any sort of respect from Ernie are those who 
play music professionally . . . people who record and earn their bread 
through the medium of jazz. I'm talking about such names as Bob Wilbur, 
Allan Vaché, Kenny Davern, and others whose names you would easily 
recognize. The rest of us are slime, unfit to call ourselves musicians and 
unworthy of playing jazz in a public forum which should be left to the 
professionals such as himself. Ernie considers us interlopers and thieves, 
taking gigs from the rightful musicians. In short - HE HATES US!

And when Ernie gets stoned he respects nobody.

There may be a jazz forum someplace which Ernie could join and be and 
positive subscriber but the DJML ain't it!

Ernie is very talented, though there are those (not me) who even dispute 
this. But I know of a number of festival directors who will NEVER ask Ernie 
to perform under any circumstances. Those that do ask Ernie to perform don't 
invite him back the following year (or any year for that matter).

It's a pathetic case and although I wish him the best, he always seems to 
defeat himself as a dependable artist.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill "Jazzboard" Gunter
jazzboard@hotmail.com

ps. A professional would NEVER book a gig and then not show up and then 
accept gig pay later for being in the neighborhood.

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