[Dixielandjazz] amplification in Carnegie Hall

[Phil O'Rourke]

Jim & others

I am reminded of a set that the late John Pickering did in Australia. The sound man/thing/person/whatever would not listen to the band saying how they wanted to be heard.
After the first number the band walked off the stage and played on the floor of the hall where the sound-object could not get at them. This was in a beautiful old hall designed before electricity so the natural sound had to be good. 

Phil O'Rourke
Australia

     Paul...aren't we going from silly to sillier on amplification.  Amplification is here to stay.  Of course there are abuses of it everywhere.  I have found that every gig setting is different and adjustments have to be made on the spot. This applies to the bass volume, the mikeing of the piano and guitar/banjo plus the horns.  Usually the reed instrument is the only horn that can use some amplification but this is always a variable. It really is up to the leader to balance the volume of everything in the band and this is not always easy.


  .
  Paul, one of the most disapointing gigs I ever played was at Carnegie Hall.   Yes, the Carnegie Hall.  Some years back, the New York Jazz Festival had a Chicago Night and brought out 6 Chicago bands with a wide range of styles, from traditional to avant -garde.  This was an exiting event as most of these bands and musicians had not played at the NY Jazz Fest.  New Yorkers were really looking forward to it.  Mama Yancey, Art Hodes, Wild Bill, Jimmy McPartland Cy Touff  a leading Avant Garde group etc. were all on this. We got there in the afternoon for a sound check and were shocked to find that the venerable Carnegie Hall had hired a rock sound system...and a half assed one at that.  With the usual totally clueless sound man.

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