[Dixielandjazz] Top 10 Reasons--decline of Dixieland Jazz

[Bill Gunter]

Hi Tom,

Nice attempt at a refutation to my "Dixieland is dying" thesis - but, 
unfortunately, off the mark.

>You are no doubt one of those who said vehemently that Rock & Roll will 
>never
>last, well amigo, tell that to Mick Jagger who turned 60 years old today 
>and
>who still sells out football stadiums around the world with music that is 
>now
>almost as old as OKOM.

Oh no - I'm one of those who knew Rock and Roll would stand the test of time 
for several reasons.

1. good musicianship
2. basic appeal to the soul
3. danceable (especially in today's concept of dance)
but, and most importantly
4. Rock and Roll was, is and probably will be into the forseeable future 
REBELIOUS. The message is constantly changing according to the times. Rock 
and Roll is a social barometer. And, by the way, today's Rock and Roll is 
not the same as yesterday's.

Today's trad jazz is a preservation of yesterday's music. It's a museum 
piece. It takes us back to our youth (and that means 70 years ago!) and 
relives that which has been lost. We cherish it.  Screw around with the 
traditions of dixieland and you're committing an abomination.

That would be like screwing around with Mendelssohn or Schubert . . . "Hey 
man, we gonna finish Shubert's eighth - and it's gonna be in 5/4 time! 
Wow-eee"

And, by the way. the music of Bach and Mozart is not popular either. 
Nevertheless it does have an appeal on several levels to perpetuate it in 
the concert halls and on National Public Radio. One is, like dixieland, the 
music is Great! Two is, unlike dixieland, he has tremendous snob appeal. The 
fact that it is is avoided by the masses is virtually reason enough to be 
embraced by the sophicated cognoscenti.

>Tell it to Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Bob Dylan and a host of
>others who are still drawing magnitudes of fans and youth because they are
>still popular because their music was good and endured the test of time, 
>and was
>also constantly marketed to new audiences.

They are still rebels. See my main point above!

>If OKOM is to die it is the fault of the OKOM players who failed to
>perpetuate their influence and love for the music to younger generations 
>who would
>indeed embrace it and embellish upon it and find a way to make it their 
>own.

Pie in the sky, friend Tom. Oh, if such a thing were possible. The reason is 
isn't possible is that in order to accomplish this laudable goal it would 
have to change (as Rock and Roll does) and dixieland can't change because 
then it ain't dixieland no more! Dig?  Rock and Roll says to youth - "Hey, 
whatever's going on in the world, we're opposed to it." Dixieland says "No 
matter what's important in the world today, we're yesterday's news."

>Eminem will evaporate soon and your comparison to his genre is pathetic at
>best, I am actually surprised that you of all people would even admit his
>existence, I don't, nor do I accept or expect to hear about many other 
>rappers and
>their kind ten years from now.

Au contraire, mon ami! Eminem and his ilk show no sign of evaporation. If 
anything they show gathering strength! Their messages can change. They have 
changed and they will continue to change to stay current with popular 
attitudes. Dixieland can't do that. Remember - the basic question of this 
thread is "WHY IS DIXIELAND DIMINISHING?"

Hey - check this thought . . .  I'm not sure I want it to change and become 
popular anymore than I want the Brandenburg Concertos to change and become 
more popular!

>We are in an ever changing world of seekers of the new truth, and just like
>the last ten years found a new market for swing and jitterbug music and 
>zoot
>suits, so will OKOM and Dixieland find it's rejuvenation heyday, it could 
>come a
>lot sooner if more people of your generation would be persistent enough to
>take it to the youngsters who have no idea where to find it.

Wishful thinking.

Corrollary question - "What is a "new truth?"

>Promoting a Dixieland Jazz Festival to the members of your Society is not
>enough, you have to find a way to mass market it to new people who do not 
>even
>know what the HELL IT IS.  Even the new people who stumble onto this list 
>have
>no idea what the Hell OKOM means or stands for.

Of course! The way to "mass market" it is to spend tons of money in 
promoting some sort of "retro" art form. Sort of like the Chrylser 'Cruiser' 
- it has a "retro" style and has been mass marketed and people are buying it 
like crazy. But at best this is a temporary fad.

Since Rock and Roll and Rap (the 3 Rs) are currently cash cows for the 
recording industry (the arbiters of that which will be popular) where is 
their incentive to resurrect an archiac art form and mass market it at the 
expense of what they are already doing with the 3Rs. If you were the 
recording industry would you? (Well, you probably would, Tom, but the 
current administrators can't be depended upon to rescue dixieland).

>The Rolling Stones have a professional Publicist to keep them in the news 
>and
>media all the time, how many OKOM bands do you know that do that, that is 
>how
>you attract new fans and keep the old ones, when you fade away into being a
>Moldy Fig then you have no one to blame but yourself.

Would that a press release to the media now and then would solve our 
communication problems. Applied to the efforts of promoting dixieland with 
an aim to becoming popular would take more than we're willing to spend (or 
more than we're capable of spending) and would necessitate dixieland 
changing into something else (Gawd knows what).

>Most OKOMer's are rank amateurs at best and have no clue how to be big time
>in show business or even successful for that matter. And that is primarily
>because they all think from gig to gig and have no idea about marketing and 
>how to
>progress beyond the next pizza parlor.  You are or certainly should be in
>charge of your own destiny in this business, and not totally dependent upon 
>what
>your local Jazz society dictates that you should do or work for to maintain
>and achieve their goals.  IF ANY OF YOU HAVE A FIVE YEAR BUSINESS PLAN 
>(other
>than Steve Barbone) I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT.

Precisely! Although I'm not sujre I would characterize us all as being 
clueless as to how to promote the idiom. It may be that we actually don't 
want it to become popular - we want to preserve it.

Look, we're faced with a choice.

1. We can become entrepeneurs and promote the shit out of two beat jazz and 
"kick some ass" but then we'd have to change the nature of dixieland. As it 
stands among youth, dixieland is at best "quaint" but can never be "popular" 
again.  As I said in my first essay we would need to be perceived as REBELS 
-- and we ain't.

2. We can continue to preserve our music in jazz clubs and festivals and 
treasure our record collections and not care a fig whether or not it's 
POPULAR and then we can die happily.

>Now this ought to stir up some controversy on the list. But think about 
>what
>I SAID CAREFULLY, BEFORE YOU SPOUT OFF FOLKS.

What I have said above comes after carefully considering your thoughts on 
the matter and I can only conclude that you are well meaning but suggest the 
impossible.

When it comes to "SPOUTING OFF" nobody really has to do anything prior to 
doing it. I could have spouted off without thinking carefully and often do 
(as do we all) - however, in this case I did try to address your caveats 
before I wrote all this stuff.

Finally - If you've gotten this far in my e-mail your stamina is incredible. 
Thanks for sticking with me.

Love to all,

Bill "up with dixieland" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com

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