[Dixielandjazz] Jazz in The USA - Was Jazz In The UK

[Arnold Day]

In that case, Steve, my original question was based on a false premise and 
"Traditional Jazz" is doing quite OK here then. It didn't appear so to me 
from all the many pessimistic posts on this list! OK, so we have the ones 
you mentioned (including your own) doing quite nicely, thank you. Maybe you 
could add Pete Fountain if he is still performing with a permanent group. 
But are the other regional bands you mention, with many of which I am 
familiar, actually professional, full-time groups? If they are, good for 
them.

But the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra you say? Well, here is their mission 
statement:

"First formed in 1988, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO) is the 
official "house band" for Jazz at Lincoln Center activities. Under the 
direction of Wynton Marsalis, the orchestra is dedicated to developing a 
performance repertory of historic compositions and newly-commissioned works 
for big band. The LCJO specializes in the music of Duke Ellington, and its 
annual presentation of Ellington's music at Lincoln Center has become a 
cultural hihglight of New York City. The LCJO annually tours the United 
States and has also performed across Europe and Asia. Their music is 
documented on three recordings produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center for 
Columbia/Sony Music, including Portraits by Ellington (1992), The Fire of 
the Fundamentals (1993), and They Came to Swing (1994).
Performance highlights include concerts in The Hollywood Bowl, Vienna Opera 
House, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Tanglewood, London's Royal Festival Hall, 
and the Symphony Halls of Boston, Atlanta, Detroit, Munich, and Hong Kong. 
The orchestra has appeared on television broadcasts in France, Spain, 
Finland, Germany, and the Czech Republic, and has also appeared on "Live 
>From Lincoln Center" and the "Tonight" Show. Along the way, the LCJO has 
performed numerous concerts for young people and has conducted workshops and 
master classes for students at universities and high schools nationwide.

The historic repertory of the LCJO includes compositions and arrangements by 
Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Sy Oliver, Thelonius Monk, 
Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Jay McShann, Benny Goodman, Charles 
Mingus, Bennie Moten, Eddie Durham, Edgar Sampson, Eddie Sauter, Woody 
Herman, John Lewis, and others. Jazz at Lincoln Center has commissioned 
works for the LCJO from Benny Carter, Joe Henderson, Jimmy Heath, Chico O'Farrill, 
Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, and Stephen Scott. 
Guest conductors for the LCJO have included Benny Carter, Jon Faddis, Robert 
Sadin, David Berger, and Loren Schoenberg.

>From January through March of 1997, the LCJO will tour 24 cities across the 
United States and Europe performing Wynton Marsalis' highly acclaimed epic 
oratorio on American slavery, Blood on the Fields. The recording of this 
work was release by Columbia Records as a 3-Disc set in the spring of 1997"

~~~~~~~~~~

Ahem.....jolly good!!  Just my opinion, but if Wynton and his associates 
were not the beneficieries of huge private and public subsidies, they would 
all be driving taxis (am I allowed to say that in America??). Seriously, I 
have no objection to their music but it sure ain't what I would call "Trad". 
Now, Nick Payton, he can really play the stuff when he wants and is allowed 
to. Have you heard his recording with the late Doc Cheatham?...fabulous! 
(Verve, 1997). But I see they (the LCJO) have made four recordings in their 
16 years existence. WOW! The relatively humble Lightfoot band I mentioned 
has made 47!

Still, I sure hope you can pass a dose of your optimism and commercial 
know-how onto a few other musicians on this message board. I think you are 
right; it's just a matter of getting the message out, putting on a fun show 
with a bit "slick", and not compromisising on the basic style of music you 
play. Perhaps the regional small theaters are one way to go, as seems to 
have happened in the UK. Not too many years since   Johnson "Fat Cat" McRee 
put on those great concerts at the Hayloft Theater in Manassas, VA

Arn





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 12:39 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Jazz in The USA - Was Jazz In The UK


> We have many opinions that OKOM Jazz Bands are not viable in the USA. IMO,
> that is simply not the case.
>
> There are 3 VERY VIABLE OKOM bands in the US and MANY other Working Jazz
> Bands in the US that make a living on a "territorial" basis.
>
> The VERY VIABLE that fill venues.
>
> 1) Preservation Hall Jazz Band
>
> 2) Lincoln Center Jazz Band (Its N.O. Jazz Versions)
>
> 3) Jim Cullum's Jazz Band.
>
>
> The "working" Jazz Bands include mine in Philadelphia, Vince Giordano in
> NYC, and a HOST of others, too numerous to name.
>
> In my case, our band is the major source of musical income for many of the
> top musicians in the area. They cancel other gigs to make Barbone Street
> dates.
>
> In Giordano's case, look at the line up he has for the Pennsylvania Jazz
> Society on October 16. Trumpets - Randy Reinhart and Jon Erik Kellso.
> Trombone, Brad Shigeta, Reeds, Dan Levinson &Mark Lopeman and Dan Block,
> Brass & String Bass + Bass Sax,  Vince Girodano, Violin, Andy Stein,
> Banjo/Guitar Mark McCarron, Drums, John Gill. This band performs on a
> regular basis in New York City.
>
> If near the area, I suggest folks go see them at the BARGAIN rate of $18, 
> 2
> to 6 PM, Easton Moose Club.
>
> In my case, we have two MONSTER gigs coming up in addition to all of our
> regular stuff.
>
> October 30: Beaux Arts Ball. Philadelphia's Premier Party. Attendance 
> 3500,
> at the New Constitution Center 7:30 PM to 3:00 AM. Varied admission 
> schedule
> for this charity event, from $75 to $2000. We play one hour sets at 7:30 
> PM,
> 10:00 PM and Midnight. Maybe a final at 2:00 AM if folks are still 
> partying,
> and we suspect they will be.
>
> Nov 6 and 7; Dover Downs Wine & Jazz Festival, Dover Downs Casino. We play
> one hour sets at Noon, 2 PM and 4 PM. Both days. Other headliner is Tito
> Puente Jr. (Both of us back by popular demand from 2003) We expect an
> audience of 1000 at each of our sets.
>
> Point being there are some extraordinary opportunities for OKOM bands out
> there which we mostly ignore because we do not follow the current
> entertainment scene. Most of us are simply not hip to what is going on 
> these
> days because we are no longer a part of it.
>
> EXCEPTIONS ARE A FEW OF US WHO ARE NOT SUFFERING FROM THROMBOSIS OF THE
> BLOWHOLE. Bands like the ones mentioned have found a niche playing for the
> new audience here in the USA, while the rest simply wallow in self pity 
> and
> bitch about lack of interest among the uncultured youth.
>
> Heck, I'll bet most of us even missed the press release that Queen Latifa
> has just recorded a jazz album (standards) while saying that she is 
> leaving
> hip-hop for jazz. Ha Ha, doesn't she know, (like most of us would declaim)
> that there is no market for jazz?
>
> Hey old folks, get hip to the fact that there is a market for jazz. Bill
> Gunter gave us the part of key in his post.
>
>> Audiences want to participate rather than listen. They want VOLUME.
>> they want youth. They want ATTITUDE!
>
> Isn't that what OKOM should be? Isn't that what it used to be? Before the
> current crop of bands de-balled it? Golly gee, if you want to dance to 
> music
> are you somehow an idiot? My my, how far the music has gotten away from 
> what
> it really was. All in the name of Art so we "listeners" could massage our
> egos in our old age. ("We recognize art, you don't, you philistine.")
>
> However, his:
>
>> They want stuff that will offend anybody
>> over 30. Pander to that sort of
>> audience and you, too, can be a millionaire.
>
> Is just myopic sour grapes. The usual old folk's lament. Exactly what our
> parents and grandparents said at the dawn of the jazz age. The kids under 
> 30
> ARE the audience and it's time we old, artery hardened, reactionaries
> realized it. After all, most of us came to love jazz when we were that 
> age.
> All they want is music with a message. That's what ODJB, NORK, King 
> Oliver,
> Louis, Bix, Condon, Scobey, et al delivered.
>
> Have we already forgotten that simple fact? Alzheimer's perhaps?
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
>
>
>
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