[Dixielandjazz] Comments on this weekend's postings

[Beth Villanyi]

Hi all,

I'm back from the Vintage Jazz Festival and have read through the tons of postings on reading vs. memorizing, showmanship, etc., and would like to add a few observations from the festival.

We had incredible talent at this festival - most people were having a very hard time choosing one venue over another because they wanted to be everywhere at once. Some of the bands had charts, some didn't. No one really noticed (or at least it seemed that way).

What people DID notice was musicianship, and we had it in SPADES. I ran the musicians' hospitality suite and during the sets it was practically empty, as those not playing were down listening every chance they could. 

People also noticed and enjoyed the active participation of the musicians on stage. We all loved the Hot Club of San Francisco - they are incredibly talented, but mostly I heard comments about how much fun it was to watch them interact, take cues from each other, etc. (I also did a double take the first time I saw them and noticed Clint Baker playing guitar with them!)

Which leads me to my next observation. There were so many talented musicians playing different instruments with different groups (or in the same group). Clint Baker, Jim Meihak, Paul Midiri, etc. That is certainly impressive. Wouldn't it be fun to have a special set at a festival where ALL of the musicians played several different instruments and all switched after every song? What a show that would be! Musical chairs takes on a whole new meaning.

It was fun to meet many of you at the festival - let's hope we can all do it again next year. We missed you, Mr. Wonderful!

Beth