[Dixielandjazz] Letter on Sacramento Jubilee

[Tim Eldred]

For whatever it's worth, here is a letter from the Tuesday Sacramento Bee commenting on the article regarding the Sacramento Jubilee.  For the record, there were a number a significant number of excellent blues, zydeco, etc., bands and I did not see one straw hat in a band....

Re "Jazz Jubilee finances get rolling," July 27: If the drop in admissions is troubling to the Sacramento Jazz Society, they need look no further than their band lineup. What they call "traditional jazz" most everyone else calls "Dixieland." Listening to group after group of guys with straw hats and banjos playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" grows tiresome. 
Adding a Zydeco act, a swing band and a blues outfit won't do the trick. To attract more people, offer more variety. How about modern jazz, bebop, Latin, free, classic or pop jazz? How many name jazz acts could be brought in if instead of 120 Dixieland bands, they went with 60? They could turn this into a quality jazz event people would flock to. 

The society insists on sticking with unknown bands from a genre that just isn't popular anymore. They can continue to cut costs and reduce the number of acts each year until there is nothing left, but that's not the goal, is it?