[Dixielandjazz] Young folks

[Jim Kashishian]

We don't suffer the problems you are mentioning in this latest thread about
schools.  In Spain there is no particular preconception as to what Jazz is
or isn't, so we get huge crowds of young people coming in off the street to
hear the band.
They all say they don't understand Jazz, but enjoy our band.  I tell them
it's up to us, the musicians, to understand it, all they have to do is
enjoy!!!...and, that's a fairly easy proposition for a Spaniard!   :>
 
One particular Jazz Club (ie:  night club) that we play 7 nite stretches
usually once a month is on a pedestrian street in the hippist section of
downtown Madrid.  We play from 11pm until 1:30am...two 45 min sets.  When we
leave the club at night...any night of the week, we can just barely get down
the street pushing our way through the mass of people out at night.  Talk
about pedestrian traffic jams!!  (Young clubbers stay out until 7am, by the
way!)
 
Our music reaches the street, even through two sets of closed doors, and
there is a large window so people on the street can see the joint is
hopping!  Forget even entering the place 10 minutes after we start, and the
majority are 17 yrs to 37 yrs of age.
 
By the way, the music is amplified, we are certainly not a "stationary
group"...at least not me on trombone!..., we run the sets like a show (one
tune after another, very little chatter...just hot Jazz).  There IS smoke,
and not all of it smells entirely legal!  A small, hot, smokey, filled with
people place!  My kind of place!    :>
 
There's another Jazz Club two blocks up the same street where we also play
(but less).  They feature mainly modern Jazz & there is a stiff door charge.
Plus, the audience feels it is in the "know", and there is a churchy
atmosphere about the place.
Not near as much fun as the other place.  Less young people due to the door
charge.
 
Jim