[Dixielandjazz] Playing too long

[Charlie Hooks]

on 10/5/02 11:08 PM, JimDBB@aol.com at JimDBB@aol.com wrote:

> 
> A very good point.  But there is another good point to consider...money. In my
> own case, I hung on a bit longer than I should have but I really needed the
> money.  I still do and if I could stumble to the gig, blast a few notes and
> get paid, I probably would.


    What Jim Beebe won't tell you for himself, I will. The final week of his
long long gig at the Braxton was just as entertaining as the first week had
been, and the reason for that is nailed down in Gunther's post: Beebe is a
highly skilled entertainer as well as a great player, and the band was doing
its job because Beebe knows how to run a band.  Does he ever!

    And while he was surely unhappy with the effort it was taking to play
what had for so long been effortless, it still sounded as good as ever to
the crowd; the choruses were a little shorter, and he had to grab a breath
out of a tank--but then, I was grabbing a drink out of a jug, so it didn't
look all that different to me!  Far from being at the Fontana stage, Jim was
in total control, and anyone who didn't know him well wouldn't have known he
was sick.  Like other marines who have goone on fighting when they shouldn't
have been able to, Beebe went right on playing past when most guys would
have quit.  I, for one, give him lots of credit!

Charlie