[Dixielandjazz] Another view of Tribute bands

[Brian Towers]

Very well put Jerry!    I kinda wish I had said it (perhaps I will!)

Incidentally, many bands, like my own, who play 20's and 30's jazz, are
aiming to embrace the style, philosophy, approach and the nuances of classic
jazz, not trying to copy it note for note, unless it is something  like the
trumpet opening chord to "Dippermouth blues" which is an integral part of
the tune.
Very few people like myself are capable of reading a score and copying it
note for note anyway - we cannot help but improvise, we do not have the
reading skills to copy!   So our product can never sound the same as the
original version by King Oliver's or Jelly Roll Morton. But, if we can
capture something of the joy and spirit of 20's/30's jazz, then we are more
than happy. Even though we are not trying to be revolutionary in our jazz,
our intrepretations cannot help but be unique to us.
Cheers,
Brian Towers

Jerry wrote: (a brief extract)
>.It seems that the writers who make the sort of comments have one very
>important premis behind all of their thoughts and that is that jazz must
reach out
>for 'new music'. As the anonumous writer says "They're pursuing a
long-lost,
>gentle-age ideal, and stubbornly refusing to engage what's happening around
>them." I will always dispute this premis and would go so far as to say that
this
>trendy outlook is what is actually killing the music. Why is it that a
>performance of Wagner's 'Ring Cycle' at a music festival is considered as
great >music and 'art' whereas the performance of the complete recorded
works of (For
>example) King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band would be considered as "like a
threat to >the very health of the form." Very odd.