[Dixielandjazz] Pet Peeves

[Trumpetom at aol.com]

I am a trumpet player. I can say without much chance of argument that if you 
get two male trumpet players on the front line (who do not work together 
much), the chances are pretty good that you will end up with a high note loud 
blowing contest. How about drummers with a size nine left shoe and a size eighteen 
right shoe? Or how about a banjo player who chooses to "improve" the chords of 
a tune without coordinating it with the piano player? Or how 'bout when all 
the horn players during an ensemble chorus choose to take a breath at exactly 
the same time for about six beats before the end of every phrase every time? 
How about the bad female singer who also is the girlfriend of the bandleader or 
club owner? How 'bout the inevitable request for "In The Mood". How bout when 
the non-soloing front line players stand together talking and scratching 
themselves while some other player is playing a solo? How about the sax player who 
tries to hog the microphone by tilting the mic downward and shoving his bell 
around it(as if we couldn't hear him real well anyway)? How about when the 
drummer waits for his chance when all the horn players have their instruments 
down, then he throws in a surprise cow bell ending? How bout when you blister the 
paint off the walls playing a great solo with no applause, and some other 
player during the same tune screws up his solo, gets lost, messes up the band, 
then he gets loads of applause? Any others out there?

Tom Loeb