[Dixielandjazz] Leaders and instructions

[David W. Littlefield]

At 07:27 PM 9/11/2004 -0500, Dan Augustine wrote:
>     If as seems the case a leader has the right (and the duty) to 
>tell the drummer what kind of stuff to play, does he also have the 
>right to tell the clarinet and all the other players what to play? 
>Does he tell the clarinet player not to play in the low register, or 
>what?  What kind of instructions does he have?
>     Do some leaders (as i suspect Turk Murphy was) want a very 
>specific kind of sound from each instrument, even to the extent 
>sometimes of not including an instrument in the band (Turk sometimes 
>didn't use drums, which at the time he felt had a 'dead' sound)? 
>What kind of instructions might be given to the tuba (i have a 
>special but forgivable curiosity about this)(like, only play ON the 
>beat, no fills or runs, no high notes)?  Does too much of this cause 
>excessive band-member turnover?

Whatever it takes to do the job "right". If on occasion the clarinet player
plays mostly in the upper register, he needs to be told if it's
irritatingly excessive. 

Lately I have had to keep reminding my regular substitute tuba player to
play mostly basic 2-beat rhythm--hey, this is a 20s style trio, so rhythmic
support is his j-o-b. Surely there can be no disagreement that I have a
need and right to tell him what I need?? 

As for band turnover, when someone is organizing a band, he's going to try
to find musos who are congenial to what he's trying to accomplish. He's got
to tell them what he wants so they know whether it's congenial to them.
Obviously he's got to tell substitutes what the band needs.
 
Cheers!
--Sheik