[Dixielandjazz] Band etiquette during solos

[James Kashishian]

Well, here's a lesson I learned while still in High School.  My mother
came to see my band at a concert we held at city hall in St. Petersburg,
Florida.  I moved to Florida for my last year of High School, and having
been exposed to Dixieland in Huntington Beach, Calif, with the South
Frisco Jazz Band, formed a band at the school which I called The
Dixieland Yankees, although I was the only Yankee in the band!!

 My mother told me later she enjoyed the concert, but that I should
stand to one side & pay attention to the one playing a solo, not discuss
the next tune (or whatever) with another band member.  That would have
been about 1958, and that constructive comment has stayed with me for
all these years. =20

Besides, there is nothing more fun than to pick up on the last few bars
of the guy's solo before yours, and come in playing on the same riff, or
just to join in backing someone's solo 'cause he has suddenly played a
few bars of a great riff that the rest of the band can pick up on.  If
you're not listening to the solo, you won't catch these rare moments.
It's what jazz  is all about...participation, joining
together...............

p.s.  I still have the program from that concert.  The trumpeter later
became a funeral director & married the pianist (a girl!).  We were put
in contact recently (thru the internet) by the clarinetist, who
confessed to me that it was I who put him on the path to being a
professional musician, as I showed him how to overcome his shyness.  I
was really pleased to hear such a confesi=F3n.  It's amazing how our own
lives touch others in ways we can never imagine.

Jim