[Dixielandjazz] New Orleans Jazz Vipers

[LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing]

You know I don't think it's the band or the place but it's the expectations
of the audience.  When we go to New Orleans we expect to have a good time
and we are somewhere else.  In other words not at home in view of our
neighbors, friends and as a result people have a good time.

Here in St. Louis that rarely happens except on several occasions.  Fat
Tuesday at Soulard and First night but then it's usually too cold.  People
are just so conservative here.  A band in New Orleans even a bad one draws a
crowd and people just walk by here.  I've played for years here with lots of
bands and it just doesn't happen very often.  One time I was playing at a
plaza - South Main Street Band - and people were walking around us as usual.
A couple of kids about 16-17 years came up and started dancing.  We never
knew who they were but they were dressed 1940's retro and danced really well
and were having a really good time.  They danced for about a half hour and
the crowd swelled to about 200 people.  When they left the crowd did too.
No one else danced or did anything but watch.

People simply quit dancing in the 1970's and started the Rock Concert (TV)
style of enjoying music.  People just sit and stare.  With the crackdowns on
drunk driving people just don't loosen up with alcohol and they stay
conservative.

I think it's great when people have a good time and that's what OKOM is all
about.  It sounds like this band is doing the job.  I think we have to
create the atmosphere where people can have a good time and part of that is
dancing.

My wife treated me to an Andre Reau concert last year and it was a great
concert.  Everyone listened, clapped and did all those things that audiences
do here.  At $125 a ticket, (you had to buy two tickets = $250)  he packed
the place.  A sell out crowd.  Last week I saw him performing for a European
audience.  Same group, almost the same music etc.  That audience almost tore
the house down dancing swaying and clapping.  A big difference.  Those
people came to have a good time.  The St. Louis crowd didn't, at least not
in the same way.  To be completely fair there were several ushers that were
having a really good time off in the wings.

It's difficult to change that but we have to keep trying..
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 11:49 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] New Orleans Jazz Vipers


>
> I met this group at the French Quarter Festival in April, and they were
very
> good, all Jazz Societies should be interested in booking them to give your
> audience a taste of the real thing from New Orleans.  I listen to their
CDs
> weekly and so far have not grown tired of them.
>
> Listmate Tommy Saunders nephew plays Bass Sax in the group, these guys
> actually have a good time playing music and entertaining people, the key
word in the
> article about them is DANCING.  No doubt one of the main reasons they are
> attracting attention and media coverage in New Orleans.  I saw folks
dancing in
> the streets to them when they played on Bourbon Street, and they were
playing a
> club on Frenchman Street the next day and they had a couple hundred of
folks
> in the club and many more outside dancing on the street.
>
> They emit what OKOM is supposed to be all about, catch them if you can,
and
> if not order their CDs and keep OKOM alive and well, that is the best way
to
> support OKOM if you can't travel to all the shows.  Just play the CD and
pretend
> you are on Bourbon Street without the rain falling on your parade.  Also
> notice the wide range of audience they attract, but then again maybe jazz
> societies prefer to not have any of those Bywater Punks bringing their
money to hear
> some real music.  Gotta remember folks that those jazz unwashed punks have
not
> had much if any exposure to OKOM for their entire lives since we have had
it
> hidden away.  Believe it or not they are the future of the music, and
someday
> they will remove the needles from their noses and eyebrows, and other body
> parts they have pierced and grow up and discover real music, but they need
our
> help.
>
> Musical content:  "Bringing in the Sheeves"
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Tom Wiggins
>
>
> VIPERS AT THE MINT:
> Led by the illustrious bassist/provocateur Robert Snow, the New Orleans
Jazz
> Vipers are unique in that they perform hot jazz classics of the '30s and
'40s
> ("Them There Eyes," "I Wish I Were Twins," "If You're A Viper," etc.)
without
> drums or electric amplification, resulting in swinging sounds that provoke
> flamboyant dancing between everyone from St. Bernard grandmothers to
Danish
> tourists to Bywater punks. On Saturday afternoon, December 4, from 2 until
4 p.m.,
> the Vipers will perform for free at the Old U.S. Mint, 400 Esplanade
Avenue.
> For a digital byte of the Vipers, head to
http://www.jazzvipers.com/index.html,
> where you'll find the band's excellent live CDs and Curtis
Casados-designed
> t-shirts. GOING SOUTH:
>
>
>
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