[Dixielandjazz] Dancing - pro or con?

Sat, 4 Jan 2003 11:11:03 -0800

As an entertainer who started dancing at the sound of the very first
downbeat I ever heard (while still in Mom's womb!), I disagree with Pat when
she says that dancers "are simply not interested in anything that's not
danceable" -- as with all generalizations -- this one goes too far. I love
many kinds of music -- from Dixie to swing to disco and I've been going to
Dixieland festivals since I was a teen in 1982 -- (my first was Bill
Oakley's festival in Colorado where I heard Banu Gibson and the New Orleans
Hot Jazz Orchestra (with Steve Yocum & David Sager!), Carol Leigh & the
Salty Dogs and Pat Yankee with Turk Murphy's band -- and what an
introduction it was! I admit I'm partial to showbands -- from the Titan Hot
7 (I'm heartbroken that Louis has gone to heaven!), the Sorta/Kinda Dixie
Jazz Band, Don Neely's Royal Society Jazz Band, Vince Giordana's Nighthawks,
Uncle Yoke's Black Dawgs to Igor's Cowboys (and my prayers are still with
his recovery) and MANY OTHERS because I enjoy the shtick as much as I do the
music. The Dixieland circuit is so fortunate to have some of the best
"entertainers" as well as the fnest musicians in the land (yes, I'm thinking
of Bob Draga, Jeff Barnhart, Steve Yocum, Banu Gibson, Tommy Saunders, Mike
Vax, Danny Coots, Tom Hook, Dave Gannett, Bob Leary, Big Mama Sue, Fast
Eddie, Jeff Gilbert, Cami Thompson and SO MANY MORE!) I wish that there were
musical variety shows on TV today like there were back in the 50's where
more of these fabulous entertainers could perform for a national audience --
like Steve Barbone says, it's not that young people don't like the music --
it's that most of them have never HEARD the music!!
    But back to disagreeing with Pat -- she's right -- many of the dancers
DO talk and are very sociable people -- but I wonder if lots of them aren't
like me. They LOVE the music! They LOVE the people! They LOVE the
entertainers and the shtick...but they don't necessarily know what they're
listening FOR....one of the reasons that I don't like modern jazz is because
 I can't hear a melody EVER -- and I never feel like the music is going
anywhere -- it seems like it's stuck in an endless loop of nothingness. At
least in Dixieland, the melody starts and finishes every song, nearly every
song seems to build and climax to the ending and the soloists seem to soar
with feeling (they may have left the melody but they haven't left the
building!) I had an interesting privilege a few years back, the fabulous
reed man Jim Buchmann (from the Rhythm Rascals in Florida) sat with me
listening to a marvelous band (it may have been Bill Allred's or Buck Creek)
and EXPLAINED to me what they were doing musically and harmonically. It was
fascinating! Now, perhaps it's because I've studied piano and saxophone as a
kid, perhaps it's because I sing with bands every chance I get -- I loved
understanding the music at a deeper level than I had before...and I wonder
if some festival might not consider for an early morning "set" having a
music theory/appreciation class taught by someone like Jim Buchmann -- to
explain what you're listing to and for...don't have it scheduled against
other bands but do it at 9 or 10 AM when there's nothing else
happening...I'd love it if they could bring videos/tapes of some of the
early jazz recordings and use those to discuss/teach it -- so often when
musicians refer to Kid Ory  or Joe Venuti in their introductions -- it'd be
so nice to have heard the originals! And yes, I have done some of that -- I
was fortunate enough to have stayed with the wonderful Tom & Bronson
Saunders (former tubist with New Orleans Hot Jazz) once in New Orleans
listening to a WALL of records by everyone from Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys
to the Boswell Sisters.
    And that's one of the reasons I love being on the DJML -- it's so
interesting to understand the music and the musicians at a deeper level --
from the discussion of the "key of Love" being F -- to stories about touring
and other musicians...it's a treat! And always knowing when John Farrell has
put up his latest piano roll on his website! But please don't think that
just because my body won't stop dancing when I hear the music that I don't
LOVE and appreciate the music -- I do!
Jeanne Brei
Tin Pan Alley Cat Entertainment
Las Vegas, NV
http://hometown.aol.com/jmbrei/myhomepage/resume.html

P.S. In New York, the Swing Dance Society used to host a different big band
every Sunday night -- and the entire ROOM was filled with dancers -- and you
could FEEL how much the dancer's energies were energizing the musicians and
really got the orchestras going! (The listeners were relegated to the sides
and the bar). They've since moved to a venue where there's an upstairs
balcony and that's where the listeners go to listen -- so the dancers have
EVERYWHERE else!

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Farrell" <stridepiano@tesco.net>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 6:43 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Dancing - pro or con?

> Pat Cooke said :
>
> >    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.
>
> During my one and only visit to New Orleans, Steve Pistorius (great
pianner
> player) picked me up and took me to a jazz club located well away from the
> French Quarter
> tourist traps. The resident band was called the New Orleans Repertory
> something-or-other, the large room was packed to the rafters and as each
> number struck up everybody, but everybody got up and danced beautifully.
In
> particular I
> remember one gorgeous high steppin' blonde gal strutting her
> stuff who I later learned was a ballet dancer.
>
> While the music was playing nobody was a noisy pest, everybody obviously
> enjoyed themselves without interfering with the pleasure of others, if
> anybody was alcoholically over-served (love that Ingle
> expression!) they kept it a secret. It was an unforgettable experience.
>
> BTW, if you like a dram or two don't stay at the New Orleans Howard
Johnson
> on North Rampart
> as I did for seven long days - it is a temperance establishment, a policy
> which they
> enforce with the utmost vigour. Other than that the only downside to my NO
> visit was that I had my first, and certainly my last encounter with grits
> for breakfast - beats me why people eat the stuff, it is quite disgusting.
>
> John Farrell
> stridepiano@tesco.net
> http://homepages.tesco.net/~stridepiano/midifiles.htm
>
>
>
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