[Dixielandjazz] To read or not to read.

[LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing]

I completely agree with everyone on this subject.  It is true - it's so much fun to see a group that is polished and tight.  But let's get into the real world.  A city like St. Louis really doesn't support musicians very well.  We all have to take what's offered.  Tomorrow night I'm playing with a Dixie group.  Thursday I'm playing lead tenor with a big band for not much money.  Sunday I have a gig of my own.  This is the way it works here.  I job several bands.  If I only wanted to play Dixie I would suddenly be unemployed for the most part.  

There are a couple of guys that specialize on instruments like banjo that work all the time but I guarantee the first instrument they lose is the soprano sax/clarinet when the bucks aren't there.

The problem for Traditional Jazz is several fold.

1.  improvising musicians are becoming rarer.  At least ones that can play anything that remotely sounds like a Dixie solo.  The ones that I know are all over 50 with most being over 60.  Young people just don't seem to be interested in traditional jazz.
One of the young (@30) trumpet players that I work with has great range, reads great, good sound, plays with a salsa band, does big band, brass groups and  shows.  He just can't improvise very well.  When I was 30 if you didn't know everything on "the list" in a couple of keys you didn't work.  If you didn't know it you had better by the time the head was done.  No one cared if you could read.  All that has turned around.  If you want to work you better read and do it well.  One band I play with only has about three improv rock solos per evening everything else is written.  The leader really doesn't care if you can do good improv or not but he really cares if you can read well.  I went to a concert yesterday with my old AF outfit.  They have a rock/jazz band and there wasn't one improv solo.  Everything was written.  Sign of the times.

2. Almost everyone I know plays in multiple groups that covers a big range of styles.  They have to, to keep the chops up.

3. I call it St. Louis style Dixie but you can insert your town's name.  This consists of Play the head hopefully in a Dixie style.  Everyone takes a  solo, usually in some fixed rotation,  then the head is played and if we are lucky and have a good cornet player we end together.  The problem with this is that all sorts of different styles creep in and the harmonic style is lost.  For 95% of the audiences, who cares,  they think it's great and after all those choruses you only do about 10 - 12  tunes an hour.  For the uninitiated all you have to do is look at the drummers kit.  Does he use a ride cymbal? (Great for swing but not really used in traditional")  Does he have a bass drum smaller than 30" ( cocktail,  swing sets and R&Roll tuning just don't make it )  Does he have a cow bell and wood blocks?  Is the cornet player actually playing cornet or is it a trumpet?  Most audiences frankly don't give a rip.

The reason for the latter is that no one less than 95 years old ever played in an authentic Dixie band.  There are some guys that have listened to records and do well with the style but unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of them.

I find that if I want an authentic Dixie sound with correct harmonies It's better to use charts of some type that lay out the intro's and clever smooth segues into each solo.  That's why Zep charts are favorites of mine.  Even though I have a large book of arrangements by several arrangers I still only plan to use about 30 max of them in my book.  Everyone knows "Saints", "Basin St" so why reinvent the wheel but tunes like "Jackass Blues", "The Eel", "Peacherine Rag:, and "Coney Island Washboard" are almost unknown so I think charts are OK on them.

But on the other hand the excitement of playing with different guys who know different tunes and may play anything in keys that you don't usually play the tune in makes for an interesting ride and a lot of fun.  The other night we went through "Saints" in all 12 keys.  I like the challenge of it.

There are only a couple of groups that are playing traditional head arrangements here.  Cornet Chop Suey, The Stompers and a group, who's name escapes me for the minute, lead by Steve Lilly. Those groups really cook.  The rest play from fake charts or arrangements and some of them are quite good too depending on who is on the gig.