[Dixielandjazz] all-stars Vs Real Stars

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/18/04 10:24:06 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
nancyink at ulink.net writes:

> 
> The "all-star" musicians have made a commitment to the music they love. They
> know what they're doing and they do it very well, indeed (IMHO).   If some
> folks have "issues" with the term "all-star" and choose to forego listening
> to them, that's their prerogative, but I think they're missing a lot of
> spontaneous, creative, inspiring music. To each his own.
> 
> Love and hugs,
> Nancy, who is bracing for Tom's response (as he doesn't buy any of this)
> ;-)
> 
> 

Not quite Nancy!!

You, and Dan Barrett make some excellent and certainly very valid points, 
many of which I totally agree with.

However, the point I am always trying to make is simple:   Most of these fine 
musicians are indeed Professionals,  yes indeed PROFESSIONALS and I admire 
them and respect them for being just that.   They however, in my personal 
opinion simply not All  All-stars.   I contend that the term all-stars has been 
grossly over used for  years and has been used to death by many far less than 
all-star musicians.   A well recognized  highly technically skilled and admired 
musician is not necessarily a "STAR"  many of them simply have a regional 
following where ever they live and perform the most.

In my professional opinion as a veteran Talent Buyer, Promoter, Booker, for 
40 years, a Star is an Entertainer/Musician who sells out major venues and 
events under their own name.

Such as:  Frank Sinatra,  Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Barbara 
Striesand, Madonna, Celine Dione, Dionne Warwick, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis 
Armstrong,  Barry Manilow,  Regina Carter, Dianne Reeves, James Brown, B.B. King,  
Patti Labelle,  Gladys Knight,  Ray Charles, Lou Rawls,  Nat King Cole, etc. and 
even guys Like Kenny G. and Rod Stewart fall into that category.

I actually played with a couple of guys who fancied themselves band leaders 
back in the 70's who had the gall to bill the band at every gig they got as 
Sammy and the All-stars, and all of the other sidemen that ever happened to 
snatch a gig from passing out their card or telephone number to audience members 
booked the band as Joey & the all-stars for the next gig and so on and so forth. 
 This certainly dissipated the image in the marketplace of any band calling 
themselves all-stars, and the employers of music groups figured it out pretty 
quickly and discovered that they were getting who ever the leader could get for 
the gig that day and the music was often not even close to what he thought he 
was purchasing, because the band was not an organized professional band at 
all.

In my early days as a Booking agent I saw this activity over and over and 
over again and witnessed it eroding the live music marketplace as clubs and 
private parties gave up on finding an established group of professional musicians 
who could and would deliver what they asked and paid for.

Their are Professional Musicians and then there are professionals who play a 
little music and there is a distinct difference in the level of their 
professionalism which includes a lot more than just how well they play their 
instrument.

Rather than use the term All-stars, the images and reputations of these 
really great professional players would in my opinion be much better served by 
billing them under their own names and let them stand on their own reputations.  
By doing this many of them would get far more supportive coverage in the media 
and greatly enhance their image to the general public made up of millions of 
folks who never heard of them and would not be inclined to buy tickets to an 
event to see and hear some guys billed as All-stars that they have never heard 
of.

Think in the terms real all stars in other genres of music and you will see 
my meaning more clearly:

1, Crosby Stills & Nash

2.  Martin, Modeski and Wood

3.  Peter, Paul and Mary

4. Simon & Garfunkle

There is no shortage of Good musicians out there, it is what, and how they 
treat themselves, and allow others (agents, Promoters and PR persons, Festival 
organizers, club owners, etc.) to treat them and exploit their image that is 
just as important as how well they play their instrument.

I still maintain that slam dunking a group of these great players onto a 
stage is an over worked presentation for the Dixieland circuit as a whole, and is 
simply (albeit it sometimes wonderful) a cost cutting method of stretching the 
budgets of some festivals to avoid hiring the man and his regular band.  
Sometimes it works musically and sometimes it does not, it is just a high caliber 
Jam session, which probably would happen at the festival at some point anyway. 
  

I personally prefer the spontaneous jam session when the hottest players walk 
onto the stage with any given group they choose because they like the group 
and or the all star leading that group.  This then produces music from the 
Heart and allows each musician to show his/her mutual respect for each others 
talent and really says something to the audience.   

I also like to see a genuine star caliber musician walk in and go play with a 
young group of players who have great chops and talent to burn but nobody 
will give them the time of day. I say if you want to present an All-star and make 
the best use of them have them do a set with the hottest youth group you 
have, and that way you might actually get the audience in that venue to see and 
encourage the youth group to continue with the hopes that they might someday be 
as good and popular as that all star player.  Another way of putting something 
back in the game which we all talk about.


Oh well,  we all got our opinions and likes and dislikes,  where are the 
Block Buster Hit recordings and super star Dixieland groups that have emerged from 
all of these ALL-Star sessions?     Where are the new Hit Original Songs ?    
There should be a bunch of them headlining Dixieland Festivals and touring 
the world playing Major Jazz & music festivals and selling thousands of 
recordings and spreading OKOM music to the younger generations of unwashed unexposed 
waiting concert goers.

Big Fish in Small Ponds syndrome as I see it, and the unfortunate thing as we 
all keep saying on this list is that the POND is getting smaller every day.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins