[Dixielandjazz] Are charts good for audiences? (Was Dixieland)

[Brian Towers]

Brian Harvey is on to something here.

Personnally I have found that the average jazz fan wants to watch jazz as
well as listen to it - it is something like a 60/40 thing - 60% watching the
players and 40% listening to the music.   So....when you get a band whose
eyes are glued to the charts, it can be boring for a big chunk of the
audience.      I remember watching the Stan Kenton band in Brighton many
years ago.   Absolutely wonderful symphonic music but the band looked so
bored, as they stared at their charts - it spread to some of the audience.

One of the key things the successful players do is to try to make eye
contact with the audience.  This is virtually impossible if one is buried in
a chart.   Also the players should be seen to be listening to the others and
showing some animation.   I think this is one of the reasons so many of us
jazzers sing - we are mostly pretty poor at it but it is a visual
distraction - something else to watch on stage and they seem to like it!
Too bad that many of us make the mistake of including too many vocals, when
we cut our CD's!

Just adding my sixpennyworth!

Brian Towers
Toronto


> Larry wrote -..... We got trashed because we were reading.
>
> Maybe if you'd ignored the dots - looked up at the audience and - dare I
say
> it? - improvised and had an obviously good time - they might have loved
you.
> Jazz, I thought, was supposes to be mainly improvised. Or am I in the
wrong
> discussion group?
> Brian Harvey