[Dixielandjazz] Jazz amputees

[Bill Gunter]

Hi Listmates,

Burt Wilson writes (about Barbara Dane):

>There is also Barbara Dane, the blues singer who sang with Lu Watters on 
>the
>"Blues over Bodega" album. She had one leg. Other wooden.

That's amazing!  When I was in the Black Diamond Jazz Band, Barbara was 
booked to play with the band at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee one year. She 
came to band practice, went to the Jubilee with the band and played all ten 
sets with us.

I had absolutely no idea that she was handicapped in this manner. She is a 
great blues singer and we enjoyed having her sing with the band.

Barbara was interesting from another standpoint . . . she's quite liberal. 
When she is singing with a group at a blues or folk festival I'm sure she 
feels right at home. But the audiences at trad jazz festival tend to be a 
bit more on the conservative side. I've found in all cases that it's best to 
leave personal political philosophies off the bandstand but Barbara kept 
throwing in little zingers about how rotten Republicans are which 
embarrassed me a bit.

I always figure that if you make such political statements from the stage 
you're likely to offend about 50% of your audience.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill "Middle of the road" Gunter
jazzboard@hotmail.com

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