[Dixielandjazz] There are two kinds of musicians...

[David Story]

I'm framing this!

Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: "Edgerton, Paul A" <paul.edgerton at eds.com>
To: "'DJML'" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 5:42 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] There are two kinds of musicians...


> ...Those who read and those who don't.
> Those who can't read don't get reading gigs. Some of them will explain
that
> reading isn't important. They'll sometimes tell you that arranged jazz
isn't
> "real" jazz. (Whatever *that* might be.)
>
> ...Those who improvise, and those who don't.
> Those who can't improvise had better be able to read if they want a gig.
> It's a good thing for them that big bands need a lot of expert readers.
>
> ...Those who double and those who don't.
> Doublers can provide more tonal variety. Listeners like variety, you know.
> For the brass players, I'm talking about mutes here. A muted trumpet
differs
> from an open trumpet in they same way as a clarinet differs from a soprano
> sax. Yes, it takes more work to be good on more than one instrument -- or
> even different ways of playing a single instrument. Other things being
> equal, would you rather hear listen to four hours of one sound, or hear
> something new every now and then?
>
> ...Those who swing and those who don't.
> Hmmm, not all music swings. (Quite a few ballads) Some kinds of music have
a
> different sort of swing than the usual 4/4 stuff. But there's no such
thing
> as too much swing.
>
> ...Those who care about the audience and those who don't.
> There are many ways to provide for the audience; all accomplished
musicians
> take care of this in some manner. We have words for the those who do not:
> words like "boring," and "unemployed."
>
> All of the musicians I have known have mastered more than one of these
> things. The very best have nailed them all.
>
> -- Paul Edgerton
>
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