[Dixielandjazz] Re: "Jazz" Festivals

[Stephen Barbone]

Mike Durham wrote:

> Forgetting for the moment about basically peripheral issues such as
> band/venue logistics, there is IMHO one important reason for keeping jazz
> festivals in the hands of enthusiasts rather than "paid professionals", and
> that's the music itself. Most of the for-profit, professionally-run "jazz"
> festivals I have knowledge of include a steadily decreasing proportion of
> any jazz at all, let alone OKOM.  Instead, they feature more and more
> so-called 'smooth jazz' and "jazz-related" music like R&B, Soul, Hip-Hop,
> even Rap.
> The more this happens, with other music being sold under the banner of jazz,
> the more the whole idea of real jazz is liable to get diluted and submerged
> in a sea of populism. I run a three day festival every year at Whitley Bay
> with 25 bands, it's advertised as a Traditional Jazz Festival, and that's
> what we deliver (from ragtime to swing). It doesn't take 60 people a whole
> year to set up, and being organised by musicians, it's musician-friendly.
> With a few donations from our sponsors, we just about break even. I agree it
> would be good to attract a younger audience, but if I can't find ways of
> doing this without diluting the jazz content of the festival, frankly, I'd
> rather quit - I'm in this primarily to play the music I love and to hear it
> being played by others. Yours in full old curmudgeon mode,

Yes, OK  a good point. If the Whitley Bay festival is viable and healthy there
is no reason to change it. Tom (I think) and my suggestions are for those
festivals that are not healthy. The one caution is to accurately asses festival
health. Not too long ago, everybody was pointing Sacramento Jazz Jubulee as the
very model to follow. (So keep your suggestions to yourself pal) Like any
businessman, we need to keep an eye on the future, as well as the past.

One should also note that very few, no fans are going to see all 25 bands at an
OKOM festival, so why not have 10 OKOM bands and 15 "others". What is the harm
in that? As Wiggins says, go for quality, not quantity. Get rid of the bottom
15 OKOM bands. The musicians in them may suffer a bit, but then, they probably
are not doing the genre any good either if they are presenting mediocre music.
And other jazz forms will expand the audience for the festival and perhaps for
OKOM.

Maybe there is a way to merge the pros with the enthusiasts? To see how a
little town like Media PA does their "jazz" festival go to:
statestreetblues.com  Then click on "jazz festival". BTW, the bearded
trombonist pictured is our guy, Glenn Dodson.

Media is a town of 50,000, near Philadelphia. They now put on 3 "music"
festivals a year. The "blues" festival employed one Dixieland Band, The "Jazz"
Festival Nov 8 employs two Dixieland Bands. Not sure what the "Roots" Festival
will employ as bands. They are professionally run. They did not exist before.
So, we (OKOM) are already ahead.

Perhaps a question we need to ask is: "Are OKOM Festivals as we know them since
the 1970s, going to remain viable?" Maybe, maybe not. But from the general
experiences of OKOM festivals around the USA it seems as if they are on a
downward spiral.

The point I want to make is that Dixieland is now viable music form in the
Philadelphia area. There are 5 or 6 bands performing OKOM on an ongoing basis.
Maybe because there never was an OKOM festival here. Be that as it may, there
is no need of an OKOM festival
in this area because the music is readily available, in various venues, by top
notch bands. Barbone Street alone performs publicly in the area about 40 times
a year. And the fan base is getting younger every year.

And lately, according to preliminary information, the New Jersey Jazz Society
which stopped producing "OKOM" events a while back, appears to be getting back
in the business. They are scheduling a Jazz Party for the weekend of May 7,8,9
in Edison NJ, near Newark Airport. Featured performers are "heavy hitters" like
the Alden-Barrett Quintet, New York Swing (John Bunch & Co,), Rebecca Kilgore,
Scott Hamilton Quintet, Kenny Davern Quartet, Bobby Gordon Quartet, Marty Gross
& The Orphan Newsboys, Barry Harris Quartet, Mideri Bros. Sextet etc. They are
selling the package for $395 including 3 days of music, room and most meals.
Unfortunately, it is limited to 250 people. This is TOP FLIGHT OKOM plus a
Tribute Band so those interested are urged to contact NJJS now for
reservations.
.
So on the other 51 weeks of the year when Whitley Bay Festival is not
operating, come visit Philadelphia, New York City and Washington DC. There is
some excellent OKOM in all three areas, ongoing, and the distance between NYC
and DC by I 95 in a straight line drive is only 220 miles with Philadelphia
about midway between.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone