[Dixielandjazz] We made "The Rag"!

[Dave Gravatt]

Hey, gang!

I am proud to announce that the August, 2003 issue of the "Mississippi Rag" has a good article on the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival and the funeral/memorial service for "Ragtime" Bob Darch. The article, written by Murray Bishoff, features a couple of photos of our group, The Creole Dixieland Jazz Band. There's a good shot of our tuba player (and listmate) Mike Marois on page 1. A shot of the whole group with guest sit-in Butch Thompson can be seen on page 6.

One correction: There's a paragraph on page 3 that discusses the "rivalry between ragtimers and jazz"(?). (We were not aware of any "rivalry".) The next paragraph reads, "With directions to stick to material more befitting to ragtime, The Creole Dixieland Jazz Band did its best with selections such as Jelly Roll Morton's 'Frog-I-More Rag' and 'Big Lip Blues', Kid Ory's 'Muskrat Ramble', and the 'Darktown Strutter's Ball'." Just to set the record straight, we were not given any "directions". We just played what we wanted to play and were given free reign by the festival organizers -- which we appreciated a lot.

Anyway, we are happy to be in "The Mississippi Rag" and are grateful for the coverage and writeup that Murray gave us.

There are several more photos of the fest and the funeral on our website, http://www.creolejazz.com.

Thanks, guys.

Dave


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Dave Gravatt
"It's a treat to beat your feet."
The Creole Dixieland Jazz Band
Ozark, Missouri
http://www.CreoleJazz.com
http://www.Syncopation-Enterprises.com