[Dixielandjazz] Re: Show tunes from Chicago

[Steve barbone]

on 8/10/05 7:23 PM, Bill Haesler at bhaesler at bigpond.net.au wrote:

>> Why do musicians have to put down show tunes if they aren't from "older"
> musicals???<
> 
> Dear Steve and Mike,
> I certainly agree with you both, all the way, for knocking the knockers who
> pick and choose specific older tunes and reject out-of-hand more recent ones
> as unsuitable for OKOM.
> But. In the case of 'Chicago' and some recent shows ('Cats", 'Les Mis',
> 'Lion King', 'Phantom of the Opera'', et al) have you, apart from the
> several exceptions mentioned by me mate Pat the Ladd, ever actually featured
> any as jazz with your respective bands???
> In fact, how many can you whistle along with, or even hum?
> Instantly forgettable.
> They suit the magnificent spectacle that these 'shows' have become but,
> generally, most fail as 'stand alone' songs.
> As you said Steve: "......I enjoy the show and the music for what they are."
> Exactly!
> But jazz tunes? 
> Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
> Kind regards,
> Bill. 

Dear Bill:

I agree with you . . . mostly. Our band does not play them on a regular
basis, but we have played "All That Jazz" at an upscale private party. Are
they Jazz tunes? Well maybe yes, maybe no. Just because we can't hum them or
remember them is no criteria. Heck, I can't remember or hum all 6 strains to
Panama either, much less Copenhagen, The Chant or The Pearls. :-) VBG

But I can play them if the lead horn knows them, or if I have a chord chart
in front of me. Jazz is filled with tunes like that. From OKOM to Avante
Garde.

Main point which I neglected to make, (as I remember the original post) is
that a band customer somewhere asked a band to play some tunes from Chicago.
That is reason enough to play them. And, if a band can't fake them, then get
the music. Barbone Street does it all the time with all sorts of tunes from
"Pacobel's Canon in D" to Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are". Whether or
not the rest of the folks in the world like those tunes is immaterial.

Perhaps that is the defining difference between a "professional" working
band and the "amateur" bands. Not talking about musical quality or the type
of band here since either could be better than the other, but rather of the
desire and ability to play whatever the customer wants . . . Within Reason,
of course. Especially at a private function.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone