[Dixielandjazz] Playing too long

[Patrick Cooke]

Charlie wrote....
      >>>PS. Netta and I played a 4 hour gig this afternoon with Dave Baney
on guitar. No bass.  Just guitar and flute and clarinet.  Believe that?
Talk
about treble...!  <<<

  A couple of weeks ago, only 3 of our regular 7 pieces showed up for weekly
practice.  Trumpet, Drums, and me on bass.  No banjo, No piano, no clarinet,
and no trombone.
    I said "Let's play! Just give me a good drummer, and we have a rhythm
section.
     We had a ball!  We played tunes we hadn't done before (Yes, we did
Shadow Of Your Smile). Up things and slow things, and stuff in between.  I
can't tell you how much I enjoyed playing with just the drummer in the
rhythm section.  I really hate playing without a good drummer.
 Don't be afraid to book a 3 piece gig!  Or even two pieces....Remember Big
Noise From Winnetka?
     Pat Cooke

---- Original Message -----
From: "Charlie Hooks" <charliehooks@earthlink.net>
To: "DJML Dixieland Jazz" <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2002 9:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Playing too long


> on 10/6/02 12:23 PM, Pepett@aol.com at Pepett@aol.com wrote:
>
> > When an old Boxer is introduced he does not go "a few rounds"
> > When an old Football star is introduced he does not" give an example of
broken
> > field running"--Why is it different for revered musicians?, WHY MUST
they
> > attempt to do what they can no longer do??
>
>
>     I really like these analogies, not to speak of liking and respecting
> Perry himself, and I would agree with mere introductions, except that:
>
>     1. While music making is certainly physical and deteriorates with age,
> it doesn't compare physically with boxing or football.  Thus, while there
> are no seventy year old boxers or running backs, there are plenty of
70-plus
> musicians who play their asses off!  And some ninety-plus ones that you
name
> (also Artur Rubinstein, if I may sneak in a long hair).  I'll never forget
> the night when Al Clink, the guy who played the classic tenor breaks on
the
> original "In The Mood" came up on the stand beside me at Razzles (Chicago
> Loop) and I realized that I was not only playing beside a legend, but that
> the "old" sunnovabitch was playing better now than he was back in the 30s!
> I couldn't damn believe it, but he was.  He had, as we say, "matured."
>
>     Point is, you just never know 'em till you hear 'em.
>
>     2. Music making has no opponents (as do boxing and footballing).  It
has
> competitors, but not opponents who are trying to keep you from playing.
It
> has instead, supporters--the other musicians--who are normally rooting for
> you and trying to help all they can.  So survival is more likely.
>
>     3. The older musicians themselves may not be ready to pull the plug.
> Most musical headliners have done nothing else but play music all their
> lives and to stop is to announce, "I'm a dead man walkin'."  Interior
> resources are not universal, so what's next for these guys?
>
>     I come down on both sides of this issue.  I'm more or less retired,
and
> will become more and not less retired: upper dentures and osteoarthritis
in
> the fingers (twisting them off the keys) makes me struggle to play what
was
> formerly so simple.  Many people come up to me and say how womderful I
> sound.  But fewer of these people are musicians.  I know what that means.
>
>     Fortunately, I got recorded when I could still play, and my interior
> resources are of the best, so I'm happy and should be.  Others are not so
> fortunate.  They need the money (I, thank God and my wife, don't) or they
> need the interaction, the adulation, the whatever-it-is we get from
playing
> all this once-regarded, now overlooked OKOM.
>
>     I believe that OKOM will continue (beause it has been recorded)
whether
> we play or not: someone else will, from recordings.  Not well,
necessarily.
> But it will continue.  Another million years--hey, I'm not so sure; but,
> another hundred?  You got my vote!
>
> overserved on a Sunday night,
> Charlie
>
>     PS. Netta and I played a 4 hour gig this afternoon with Dave Baney on
> guitar. No bass.  Just guitar and flute and clarinet.  Believe that?  Talk
> about treble...!  For our church.  Netta and I donated.  Baney got paid
for
> the two of us.  Worth it.  But we needed a bass.  Nevertheless, a
sensation!
>
>     Baney deserves much credit: he's undergoing clinical depression, super
> severe and medication not working.  But Dave played his ass, as always.
He
> doesn't know any other way to play.  He's from the Great Boehne Bunch, a
> musical family who spell their name all kinds of ways--like John Bany
> (without the "e").  But they all play their ass off, every one!
>
>     But I feel so old!  Guy came up, complementary, asked, "How far back
do
> you go?"   We said, back into the late nineteenth century.  He said, can
you
> play "The Shadow of Your Smile"?   Ummm.  Well, yeah, we could do that,
that
> far back, back into the what...?
>
>     I think that this same scene must have played out over the centuries,
> young folks thinking themselves hip and requesting songs the old guys
> weren't expected to know, old guys thinking, "Oh shit, not another request
> for THAT crap!"  It's fascinating, and I enjoy it all, no end!
>
>     Actually, "Shadow of Your Smile" is a pretty good tune.  We were
> thankful.
>
>     Thanks for reading along on a Sunday night: you guys are probably the
> only people on earth who have the slightest idea what I'm talking about.
>
> love you every one...
> Charlie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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