[Dixielandjazz] Musical Whores was Armstrong imitators

[Steve Barbone]

"Robert S. Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com> wrote

>AS my friends & fellow musicians will attest, no one hates the Louis
>Armstrong imitators any more than I do.  However, there is a time & place
>for everything.
>
>When playing any kind of a Jazz gig, I abhor anyone doing this.
>
>However, there is money to be made in non-jazz gigs.  These are jobs that
>you get because someone wants, what they think is a Dixieland (Roaring 20s
>or Gay 90s) band, for a picnic, supermarket opening, or whatever.  In these
>cases, no one wants to hear all 5 strains (or is it 6) of "Panama", or cares
>if you play the authentic changes on "St. Phillips Street Breakdown".
>
>On these kind of gigs, it is "Bill Baily", "Hello Dolly", "Wonderful World",
>"California Here I Come", "Yes sir, That's My Baby," etc.  And, if you growl
>a little on the end of "WWW" they love it.
>
>This point was brought home to me again on Saturday when I worked a gig with
>a longtime musician from Reno.  It was for a party to draw numbers for a
>lottery to see who gets first crack at new houses being built in the Sierras
>near Donner Lake.
>
>
>Now, don't get me wrong, I would never play this stuff at a Jazz concert or
>festival, but for money, (& good money at that), I'll become a musical whore
>any day.
>
Gee Bob, we've played WWW, Hello Dolly, and Yes Sir That's My Baby at 
some pretty damn upscale jazz festivals within the past two years. (E.G. 
Berk's, Clifford Brown, Rehoboth) And we played them as JAZZ. And even 
when we play at some of the venues you mention, we play them, (as well 
as Panama) as JAZZ. And yes, the JAZZ FESTIVAL AUDIENCES LOVED THEM, but 
then, what do they know? ;-).

Perhaps the problem of being a musical whore like your pal, is that he 
doesn't play them as JAZZ?

But then, why shouldn't you as the piano player, play them as JAZZ 
regardless of what the rest of the band does? In my book, playing what 
the audience wants to hear is not prostituting oneself. Everybody does 
it all the time, whether playing Zonky or Changes at an OKOM festival, 
or WWW and Hello Dolly at a private corporate event.

Our secret is simply to play everything as JAZZ. Not hard to do and you 
still get booked back.
Regardless of what the tune is, if you make it swing, create within the 
tune and just do it, that's Jazz, No? The only thing we refuse to do is 
dress up like old farts in costumes, straw hats and arm garters, etc. We 
may be old, but we are still hip and perceived as JAZZ MUSICIANS by the 
audience, jazz literati and the great unwashed at all venues. And, 
that's exactly what we are.

Wish I lived out there. We'd take away all those non jazz gigs, turn 
them into jazz gigs and really light a fire under the audience. :-)

Folks, that's exactly where your new audience is. Go get them.

Check out the VENUES page on my web site. Every gig at every venue was JAZZ.
http://www.barbonestreet.com

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
Who thinks that the term "musical whore" is a ploy by starving "artists" 
for sympathy and refuses to acknowledge it.