[Dixielandjazz] Playing the same thing over and over

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

Hi folks:

I would like to take the winging solos & improvisation thread in another direction for a minute if you don't mind, but how it relates to another common situation for many top star entertainers and musicians that I have worked with.

We all get bored playing the same song exactly the same way every time which is why we head down the path of improvisation to get away from the original chart or the way we heard it on a record etc.   I would suspect that this is how improvisation actually became so popular long before my time.

It also could of course come about by beleagured song and tune writers trying to find the right arrangement for their song by constantly changing the format and the notes till they got what they liked.

Anyway, if you folks get bored playing the same old book and arrangements think about the poor singer or musician that GOD FORBID sells out and gets a Mega Hit record worldwide.   They must learn to improvise quickly because they will be required to perform that song incessantly for the rest of their lives at every show they ever perform at.

  It comes with the territory, and the fans that bought the recording and made them famous will continue to pay their money to attend live performances of the artist so long as they can hear that (those songs)and the artist who made them famous.   Not to mention the countless bands that add it to their performance repertoire and start to play it at weddings, parties and clubs everywhere to please the fans who request it.

And God Help the artist that only had ONE big Hit, although it will make them a living for the rest of their lives, they will bore themselves to heavy drink or worse and may never find another hit for twenty years or more or even never.   When this happens they are quickly relegated to playing OLDIES shows where they trot out all the one hit wonders that were created by the record companies in an attempt to make a concert of former stars.

So the next time somebody walks up to you at a gig or shouts out Play Marchin the Saints!  just smile and improvise it to Hell and back and watch the glow come across their faces, that's really what it's all about this game of music and communication.

cheers,

Tom Wiggins
Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band

I am having some problems with my computer today, so if there are spelling errors in this please bear with me, I am accessing my mail from another unfamiliar system and I can't find a spell checker in this program.   I am not trying intentionally to sound illiggerent!! :)