[Dixielandjazz] Whats wrong with British Trad?

[john petters]

Ken asked
> >From a musical point of view what is wrong with British Trad?
>
I was born in 1953, in London. I was aware of some jazz from an early age. I
first heard Louis Basin St  Blues when I was about 3 years old - but it
meant nothing to me then. The 50s were the boom years of British Trad, hence
many musicians came up during that era and were influenced by the likes of
Lyttelton,Colyer and Barber and later Bilk, Ball etc.Had I been born ten
years earlier it is very likely that I too would have been struck by this
homespun version of the music. However, when musical maturity reached me, I
was about 15. I heard the Hot Fives, Morton, Oliver Armstrong, Krupa,
Goodman.....and to my ears this was vastly superior to anything marked 'made
in Britain'.
Most British bands miss the rhythm thing completely. We have produced some
dire rhythm sections. We haver also produced a few good ones - Colyer in the
mid 50s with Colin Bowden, Bilk late 50s with Ron Mckay. It mainly comes
down to drummers who fail to listen to where the music comes from. Same
applies to front line players. An exception is Humph who has always played
great trumpet with good time and phrasing.
To my ears, the early Barber band took the jazz out of jazz. It sounds more
like folk music than New Orleans jazz. To quote one musician, "its morris
dancing music". I did have a recording of Chris Barber himself playing with
an all star American line-up which was fine. Kenny Ball is a fine trumpeter
and I have enjoyed working with him on several occasions as I have also
enjoyed Acker Bilk, who is a fine clarinettist. The problem lies not so much
with these name bands as with those who used them instead of the American
originals as their inspiration. The problem was worse in Germany, where the
Brit trad bands were and are  still are heros.
British Trad could be vastly inproved with more study, more practice and
more imagination. That study means listening to where the music comes from
at source.

John Petters
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ
www.traditional-jazz.com
----- Original Message ----- >
> Steve could start.
>
> Cheers
>
> Ken Slater.
> London (wouldn't you know).
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