[Dixielandjazz] Celebrating Louis Artmstrong

[Steve Barbone]

Just returned from Rehoboth Beach a resort area on the Atlantic Ocean in 
Delaware. Celebrated Louis Armstrong's 103rd Birthday on Friday & 
Saturday nights at Sydney's Jazz &  Blues Restaurant just off the main 
street.

What fun. The club is small and so the raised band stand is up close and 
personal to the bar/lounge/dance floor area. Dancers are within 6 inches 
of the end of your axe and about 50 people are jammed in there by the 
bar in an area about 20 feet by 30 feet. Room for about 100 diners in 
adjacent rooms whre the bandstand/dance floor action is shown on 8 by 10 
ft TV Screens and band sound is piped in. Only the vocal mike is live in 
the bar area speakers.

Audience demographics:

Age: 21 to 74 (with the 74s being in the band.) Mostly under 35.
Sex: 60% female, mostly under 30, mostly without dates.
Multi Racial & Multi Gender (all 5)
Mostly upper middle income range,
$6 music charge per person.

A TOTAL BLAST.

They know who Louis was, danced all night like nobody was watching, 
spent lots of money and paid rapt attention to what we were doing, 
hollering and screaming after solos and tunes and quieting down to 
listen to performer introductions, and short stories about the visceral 
beginnings of jazz (sex/booze/the mob/ etc.)

Trombonist Glenn Dodson had his own cheering section of 4 young ladies 
at the corner of the bar, who danced for him and cheered loudly at his 
solos. Matched by a couple of girls standing right next to guitarist 
Sonny Troy and doing the same, as well as in front of trumpeter Paul 
Grant and me. The girls had a competition to see who could cheer the 
loudest for "their hero"

They did the "funky butt" (after I described a short history of it) to 
Butt Love. (I Can't Give You Anything  . . .) They had a ball. Yes, we 
draped beads and I kissed just about every female in the place while 
doing it. And got caught in a sandwich on the dance floor. Butt to Butt 
with a beauty and front to butt of another. They playfully trapped me 
for a couple of minutes. That has to be better than viagra. ;-)

After draping the big beads on Friday to a gal saying to her "You are 
the sexiest lady in the joint" I was surprised to see her again on 
Saturday, this time without her date. Draping her again, I repeated the 
phrase adding "still". Then sang "I Can't Get Started" with updated 
lyrics to her. She came up on the stand, sat on my stool, grabbed me and 
said softly: "In a parallel universe, you and I would be passionate 
lovers." Considering she was about 23, I  was very flattered. There is 
more to the story . . . but.

I could go on and on, but don't want to bore everybody all over again. 
Just want to repeat that Dixieland Jazz is a HUGE HIT, in our territory, 
with YOUNG people. We draw a larger audience at Sydney's that any other 
band all year. We turn the crowd on better than any band they've ever 
had there. And people come from 250 miles away, every year on the 
Birthday weekend to hear us because they love the music.

Even had a group of German tourists who went there for dinner, and then 
stayed all night dancing in front of us. They thought they'd died and 
gone to heaven. They told us they were so lucky to hear "real, honest to 
Gott, exciting jazz".

So, I hope some other Froggies will jump out of the pan and go a 
courtin. It takes a little work, but then, unless you are dead, it is 
well worth the effort.

Yep, play where the young people are. In the night clubs etc. It just 
does not get any better than that. There is a HUGE, YOUNG AUDIENCE out 
there just begging for good, exciting music that is presented with them 
in mind.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone