[Dixielandjazz] What Now? Revisited

[Steve barbone]

In answer to the question what should I do now:

>Celibate "Fr M J (Mike) Logsdon" <mjl at ix.netcom.com> wrote

>Thank your lucky stars.

Maybe, but all this is what I have been praying for.

>Then Jerry Gordon <jerrygordon at juno.com> wrote

>First thing to do, Steve: don't tell Martha!

She knows me like a book and shakes her head in wonderment. I did not tell
her about the e mails, but did tell her that Dave Robinson and I were
sharing a 2 bedroom band condo with 2 Philadelphia swing dancers in their
early 30's. They took one bedroom and Dave and I the other. Cramped my
style, but then how many of us get to spend a weekend alone with 2 young
chicks even if celibate for those 2 nights like Fr Mike?

>Then "Ron L'Herault" <lherault at bu.edu> wrote:

> you're just telling us this to make us feel bad, aren't you Steve? 8-).

No, just talking about making a living with Dixieland like those heroes of
mine did in the 1950s & 60s. Sex, booze, swinging music, audience
participation all go together. Not my idea, but what I experienced back then
in NYC. Barbone Street today, just refines it slightly.

YOUNG, ADORING, SCREAMING FANS DIGGING DIXIELAND. It is no different today
with the kids. They are there for you as the new audience if you connect.

On the West Coast? Ask Conrad Janis about the young kids who cheered and
screamed for his various NYC bands in the 50's. Hundreds of them at
gatherings in the Central Plaza or Stuyvasent Casino every week. Ask about
the music he played then. The high energy, the volume, the swinging New
Orleans beat. I guarantee his eyes will mist over as he tells you about it.
Tell him also that I was a fan of his as well as a competing jazz muso in
NYC back then.

In New Orleans? Ask Jack Maheu about the raw power of the Condon groups at
Eddie's joint, or the bands at Nick's and all the other NYC joints. Ask him
how the kids liked it.

In the Washington DC area? Ask Dave Robinson about last Saturday night at
Sydney's in Rehoboth. I think it was an eye opener for him. Especially the
dancers with whom we shared the condo. :-) VBG

In Pittsburgh or Cleveland area? Ask Paul Cosentino whose Boilermaker Jazz
Band now has a huge, young, swing dance following In Pennsylvania and Ohio.
You Festival goers might remember that his band used to be a clone of George
Lewis and New Orleans revival. Ask about the style change.

Nationwide? Ask any 50's Dixieland musician about the College Circuit. Wow,
we all made money and had tons of fun at Colleges every Spring and Fall.

What changed? The Dixieland Bands, not the kids. The bands forgot to connect
and listened to the artsy folks who claimed this was Art Form listening
music to be appreciated in silence, by effete snobs. It is time for the
musicians to take the music back.

Barbone Street is not doing it any differently than it always was in this
area. Sure we play an "evolutionary" style, but it is easily recognizable as
Visceral Dixieland Jazz to which you can dance.

We may break a few "rules" that were put in place by the artsy crowd, but
then, those rules are not valid to begin with. "Jazz" is Freedom and "Jazz"
fans understand that. (As opposed perhaps, to fans of one jazz genre or
another, who would restrict the definition to suit their personal ideology)

And lastly, I learned from Greg Stafford when visiting the Palm Court in New
Orleans more than a decade ago. On break, MINGLE with the customers. Go
table to table. Thank them for being there, ask if they have a special
request and tell them you love them. The only thing I added was beads and
bikini panties as a low cost momento. Last Saturday I got kissed by EVERY
woman in the place (including lesbians) during my table hopping bead
presentations. It doesn't get any better than that.

The music we play? The best, as far as the new audience is concerned. The
show? They adore it and us.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone