[Dixielandjazz] realistic future for Dixieland jazz

[Elazar Brandt]

Shalom Jazz Fans,

My contribution to the future of OKOM discussion/debate:

I've been strummin' away in Jerusalem and around Israel for 7 years now. I
started alone, with my banjo and untrained voice, playing the streets,
pedestrian malls, parks, and what have you of Jerusalem and other cities. I have
consistently made part of my living playing music, and not only on the streets.
You have to start somewhere, get out and let people hear you. They don't hear
this on the radio, and there is hardly any live OKOM here. But slowly I have
found and teamed up with another New Orleans style band that needed a banjo or
occasionally other horn that I play, as well as individual players who are
capable of pulling together and producing some listenable and danceable jazz
when there are paying gigs. Someone who is willing to work the streets daily can
make a modest living, or a healthy supplemental income, while helping to get the
music into the public eye and ear.

Two years ago, an Israeli kid came to me, fresh out of the army, and told me he
used to sit and listen to me play when he was in high school. Now that he's out
of the army, he decided he wants to learn banjo. Six months later we did our
first show together -- a 45 minute set in one of the folk music clubs. A few
months after that we were playing together regularly on the streets, now with me
on tuba and other horns, and sometimes banjo too. He's worked hard and well, and
we began to hit a groove, and to make more money each in our street playing than
I ever did alone. We also get hired for parties, restaurant gigs and other jobs.
Now, another year down the road, we have 2 friends of his, one on drums and the
other learning trombone and progressing very nicely. We're still hitting the
streets 2-3 times a week, and getting hired for a variety of modest jobs, and
some not so modest. I want to find 2 more players in their age bracket,
preferably more of their friends, on clarinet and another horn, and maybe in
another year we'll have a full lineup that can play acceptable trad jazz at a
beginning level.

These guys are all under 25, all Israeli born. I figure if I can keep it
together, by the time I hit my 10 year mark in Israel, we could be on the map
with a full Dixie/Swing band, playing festivals, civic events, private events,
school programs, weddings and bar mitzvahs, and so on, all over Israel. The
infrastructure is there. The connections are there because of my work over the
years. People know me. There is some public recognition and a growing
appreciation of our contribution to keeping a festive atmosphere downtown during
the wartime circumstances.

So my suggestion: Get out of the clubs and work the streets and parks, wherever
people are. We've been making more money since the war heated up 3 years ago
than I made before, even with far fewer people out. If you have a CD to sell,
you can probably clean up. By contrast, we get nuthin' for playing a folk club
except reimbursed travel expense, and peanuts for playing restaurants. And the
streets are more fun and less demanding. Wear something colorful. Doesn't have
to be straw hats and vests. Work with a balloon artist, or juggler or magician
or animal trainer or whatever, to attract more attention, and split the
proceeds. Have a good barker to work the crowd, give out business cards and
collect the tips. Bring some old cheap axes for the kids to try. Recruit
students. Maybe a photographer to sell people photos of themselves playing
washboard with the band... You get the idea. It works. Not overnight, but it
does work.

And in the process, who knows if some of us might discover another Louis, Tommy,
Jimmy, Benny, Artie, Woody, and get them their start. Our music could indeed
have another rebirth. Hey! It's good music. It's artistically stimulating and
challenging. It's fun. It can be establishment or anti. It's about life. Has a
broad potential appeal. People usually like it when they hear it. They just
don't know to ask for it, because we stopped educating them. So as long as we
enjoy the music, let's get out and share it with the world. I do know this
much... It ain't gonna happen by itself.

Elazar Brandt
Misrad HaJazz
Doctor Jazz Band
Jerusalem, Israel
<www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz>
Tel: +972-2-679-2537