[Dixielandjazz] Future of Dixieland - Redux

[john petters]

Lewis said
>I was disappointed to find only three clubs on
Bourbon Street with Dixieland Music, and two of them were on certain nights
only!
The bands for the most part, no longer carry the traditional 7 piece setup,
>and nobody seems to care...except us of course
What is the traditional line-up? The ODJB was a 5 piece, no bass no banjo.
Both Clarence Williams and Louis Armstrong had quintets without bass and
drums. Sam Morgan's band as well as Celestin's had  - dare I mention it -
saxophones. The NO Wanderers had no drums or bass but a 4 piece front line.
It seems that the 'traditional' 7 piece line-up is more a revival thing, and
in the UK the 6 piece piano less band was common in the trad boom. Club
owners and some mouldy figgs have complained when I have put in a trio or
quartet saying it is not a full band. I remember playing a jazz club in
Essex some years back with a presentation called Boogie Woogie & All That
Jazz. The late Duncan Swift was on piano, Tim Phillips doubled on banjo,
guitar, bass and drums and I played drums and vocalised. We arrived and one
of the club bookers said what time are the other musicians arriving. When
told it was a trio he said he was paying too much money for a trio. (He was
paying us more than he paid most 'full'bands. We went on, did a first class
show and entertained the crowd, sold a shed load of CDs and he apologised at
the end.
My friend and fellow list member Louis Lince, who mentioned my name a couple
of days back - so I'll return the compliment, works regulary with a small
band. I recorded it, Line up drums banjo/guitar, sax/clarinet, trumpet.
Thus is fully a band, and Louis gets a lot of work with it - but mostly I
suspect corporate functions where the punters no nothing of the figgs
obession with numbers.
Another thing - in the mid 80s I ran a quartet which I called the Worlds
Greatest Dixie Band (I'm in danger with this at out-Barboneing good old
Steve). it was a marketing excercise and it worked. Musically it was much
better than many of the bands on the scene in that it went for broke. The
trumpet player was Denny Illet, a powerful and exciting player who should
have become a super star, clarinet was Dave Bailey, one of the most
individual and hot players anywhere, with Pete Gresham, a rolling two handed
blues soaked piano player who was a one man rhythm section. Most of the
clubs would not book it. They wanted me to add musicians. It will detract
from the band I said. No matter numbers count. So sometimes I played the
gigs carrying passengers.
Nowadays I play very few jazz clubs, promote most of my own gigs and make a
profit _ and I play the music I want to play.

John Petters
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ
www.traditional-jazz.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Custode at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 10:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Future of Dixieland - Redux


> While it is true that Dixieland Bands do have regular engagements both in
the
> US, as well as, abroad, the fact remains that unless the younger
generations
> are exposed to it, we as musicians will be playing to a dramatically
reduced
> audience in 15 years.  And, most of those steady engagements that people
> continually site as proof of the popularity of Dixieland Music, will be
all but
> extinct.  This is written, mind you, from the leader of a Dixieland Band
with a
> steady engagement.
>
> Now, I am not a fatalist by nature, but I am a realist.  The fact of the
> matter is that Dixieland Music was popular music in its' heyday.  We will
never
> see that again, and most rational people will agree with this assertion.
So,
> the style became some people's nostalgia.
>
> Then it was seen as distinct and neat style of music, most often
associated
> with Bourbon Street in New Orleans.  A revival in interest followed in the
> 50's, and after much interest on the national level, the Dixieland style
was once
> again associated with the "Crescent City."
>
> Herein lies the point.  One needs to only spend a few hours on Bourbon
Street
> to realize that OKOM is not the most featured on the block.  In fact, on a
> recent trip to New Orleans, I was disappointed to find only three clubs on
> Bourbon Street with Dixieland Music, and two of them were on certain
nights only!
> The bands for the most part, no longer carry the traditional 7 piece
setup,
> and nobody seems to care...except us of course.
>
> The Queen City Jass Society recently held a children's open house during a
> special monthly get-together for their membership.  Of the members who
attended,
> only a very small handful (I surmise less than 2%) brought their
> children/grandchildren.  This was tremendously disappointing to me for two
reasons: 1) I
> would have thought that the membership would have been more responsive and
2)
> children meant children of all ages...adult children as well as
> young/adolescent children.  Obviously, I was wrong to assume or think
along these lines.
>
> So, where do we go from here.  If people who love this style of music, and
> openly advocate the perpetuation of it, do not take a proactive role in
its'
> future, how can we expect the younger audience to do so?  This time, I
have no
> answers.
>
> Lewis D. Custode, Jr., CLU, ChFC
> Bourbon Street Brass, Buffalo, NY
> leader/trumpet
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