[Dixielandjazz] Re: Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 7, Issue 32

[Stephen Barbone]

Rob McCallum wrote:

> Having never had the opportunity to visit New Orleans I haven't experienced
> Preservation Hall first hand, however, I have read that when the Jaffes
> (sp?) opened it in the early 1960's the general opinion of the time was that
> they were crazy.  Apparently no one thought that bringing the older
> surviving, mostly African-American,  N.O. musicians out of retirement to
> claim their due would succeed and that the Jaffes were naive.  Preservation
> Hall didn't begin as an attempt to make a buck off the tourist trade,
> rather, I've read, it was more a labor of love.  The fact that it was so
> wildly successful that it became a tourist stop and spawned touring groups
> shouldn't be confused with the idea that it was created just to cash in.  My
> understanding is that, even today, it remains a rather humble place with
> very low cover.
>
> On another note, not long ago there was a concert from Preservation Hall
> broadcast on public television.  The crowd seemed very focussed on the music
> (though that might have been for the cameras - I've been told that some in
> the tourist crowd are oblivious to the music and won't keep their mouths
> shut).  The music was o.k.(if less than inspired) though there were some
> glaring intonation problems that were distracting, but the crowd seemed to
> really be enjoying it.

Right on Rob, it costs $5 to get in to Preservation Hall. No reservations, you
must stand in line outside if the place is full. Listening only, no food or
drink sold there.

Folks, having played on the same stage & same bill with Presevation Hall's
touring band twice in the last 16 months at major jazz festivals. (Berk's &
Clifford Brown) here are my thoughts.

They played well both times. They had large audiences both times. (unless all
the people came to see Barbone Street) They got great crowd reaction. We
preceded them both times and a half hour break separated the two performances.

As my ears heard them, they play better than many bands, and not as well as
many bands. Personally, given our style, I thought we out played them. But that
means nothing. The crowd loved them as well as us. We both had supporters.

At Clifford Brown, for their last number, they played "Joe Avery Blues aka
Second Line. Frank Demond and John Brunious marched out into the audience, in
the rain, and led a second line around the park. The audience, with their
umbrellas up, some shielding Brunious and Demond, marched right along with
them. Want to guess the audience reaction? Would our elitist bands have done
that?

Now, according to our jazz police, that couldn't have been "Preservation Hall's
Band", because PHJB was playing at the same time in the "real" Preservation
Hall in New Orleans. they were led by Greg Stafford there that night. (an
excellent New Orleans Jazz trumpeter btw). Therefore what we saw in Wilmington
were frauds.

Yeah, right. Tell that to the people who were there in Wilmington Delaware
having a great time with Preservation Hall. Tell them they were defrauded. Or
go to New Orleans and tell the people who were in Preservation Hall that night
that Greg Stafford is a fraud.

These players are PROFESSIONALS. They deliver what their audience wants and
they do it consistantly. Wake up folks and stop being jealous of their
achievements. They satisfy more audience every year than any other OKOM band in
the USA, if not the world except, maybe, for Cullum. And I know some of you
disparage Cullum because that band sometimes plays things you don't consider
either OKOM or Jazz. Another mistaken belief.

Folks, in all our elitism we still need to realize that we 400 people on the
DJML don't count in the jazz world. Not even a blip on the radar screen, But,
bands like Cullum's and Preservation Hall do count. What they do is far beyond
what we do.  And for us to bitch about PHJB is simply ludicrous prattle.

Don't like them? Don't like their web site? Fine, get your TS card punched by
the Chaplin.

Cheers,
Steve