[Dixielandjazz] Billy Maxted, Live or Memorex?

[Stephen Barbone]

Dan Spink asked about Billy Maxted groups. (polite snip)

<Why did their recordings sound so flat, when they sounded so incredible
in person? Any explanations? I'm totally mystified.>

Dan & Listmates:

I really don't know as I do not have any Maxted records any more. But
here's a guess, if indeed they do sound flat, by comparison. IMO
recordings in a studio almost never capture the full intensity of a
band's capability. I think there is a tendency among the musos to play a
little more conservatively than they do in live performance. They do not
want to make a mistake, or hit a clam so they play with less fire and
imagination. They stick to what they have played before

At live performances, there seems to me, to be a lot more energy. From
the audience to the band and then in turn from the band back to the
audience. Each feeds upon the other. So the musos extend their daring,
try for "new" improvisations, and in the heat of the moment, play their
tails off. Yes, they will clam, or make mistakes, but to me, that is of
little consequence in the overall scheme of performance.
Even in my own band, I love to hear Glenn Dodson (trombone who was one
of the 4 best classical trombonists in the world 20 years ago as
Principal Trombone for the Philadelphia Symphony some 28 years) reach
for a note or idea that he doesn't quite make. It proves to me that he
is giving it all he's got and that is exciting., as is his overall jazz
playing.

Just an opinion, but for me, performing live, or recording live
performances is where jazz music really is. I can only imagine what it
must have been like to hear King Oliver or Louis Armstrong in the 1920s
live. As good as the records are, and as grateful as I am to hear them,
I believe that in live performance, they must have been even better.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone