[Dixielandjazz] Modern Jazz Listen - Mainstream?

[Patrick Cooke]

 I guess we can't afford to turn away any segments of the audience, but a
jazz festival is really more of a concert environment than a lounge
environment.  I remember attending the Sweet & Hot festival in L.A. a few
years ago, and the "listening audience was centered in front of the stage,
while the dancers were off to the sides.  Even though I was right in the
center in front of the stage, the noise from the dancers made it difficult
to concentrate on what was being played.
   When dancers sit one out, or are not actually dancing, they talk.  And
they try to talk over the music.  They are simply not interested in anything
that is not danceable;  and there were always a number of them sitting one
out, trying to shout over the music.  To them it is more of a social
gathering than a cultural event.  I, and the rest of the listening audience,
found them to be most annoying.
             Pat Cooke


----- Original Message -----
From: "Margaret Squires" <margeaux@inreach.com>
To: <JimDBB@aol.com>; "Randy Fendrick" <jfendrick@bak.rr.com>
Cc: <Dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 1:29 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Modern Jazz Listen - Mainstream?


> Hey Randy,
>
> As far as Modesto is concerned, if the people are dancing while you're
> playing, you have connected with your audience!!
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Randy Fendrick" <jfendrick@bak.rr.com>
> To: <JimDBB@aol.com>
> Cc: <Dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 11:10 PM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Modern Jazz Listen - Mainstream?
>
>
> > A couple of years ago, the California Academic Decathlon group choose
> > jazz as a topic for the music portion of their competition.  The
> > Bakersfield Symphony has for years played a concert each year
> > demonstrating the music to be tested over and then giving a lecture
> > that helped young people understand what the music was.  This year, for
> > instance, the music was from the 19th century and generally things that
> > most symphony orchestras play.
> > For the jazz presentation, the committee presented me with a CD and
> > asked if I could replicate the groups. This included Armstrong, Parker,
> > Dizzy, Miles, Clifford Brown, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and
> > Charles Mingus.  The first thing that I had to explain to the Symphony
> > was that the soloist were not playing written parts, but were
> > improvising, that is creating for the moment. Which is really foreign
> > to many symphony types.  The first tune that they wanted me to recreate
> > was a Louis Armstrong version of St James Infirmary.  Upon hearing the
> > tune, I found that it wasn't Louis playing and singing but  rather Jack
> > Teagarden.
> >   Anyway, to make a long story short, one of the tunes that we played
> > with the big band that morning was Sing Sing Sing, the Benny Goodman
> > arrangement.  I still have the video of 16, 17 and 18 year old kids up
> > and dancing in the isles as we played the tune.  When it was finished
> > they screamed for 5 minutes for more.  During the morning, they heard a
> > dixie band playing Bill Bailey, a bebop group playing Donna Lee, or is
> > that Indiana? and so on.
> > A year or so later, I ran into an music educator who said that he was
> > at a conference where one of his colleagues stopped him to say that he
> > had been at that concert and thought that there was more learning going
> > on there than you would ever get in a classroom.
> > This music is made to dance to,  look at the young kids of three and
> > four that are dancing in front of the band when playing for a store
> > opening or somewhere that real young people can hear it.
> > I would agree that if you want to kill this music, then stop the
> > dancing.  I must admit, however, that when we play venues where dancing
> > is shunned to the rear on in another room, like Pismo or Three Rivers
> > in California, the band has more fun as it is easier to connect with
> > the audience.   In Modesto and Fresno where dancing is more acceptable
> > this sometimes removes the band from the audience or, at least you feel
> > that you aren't connecting with your audience.  We always try to play
> > tunes that are pleasing to who our audience is.  When dancers are in
> > the forefront we try to take tempos that they can dance to.  Some
> > tempos are much too quick for dancers.  Our version of Naughty Sweety
> > is played very fast with a vamp in 3 that keeps returning.  Very
> > difficult to dance to but enjoyable to listen to.
> > Anyway, its late,
> > later,
> > Randy Fendrick
> > Southside Chicago Seven
> > Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra
> >
> >
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> >
> >
>
>
>
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