[Dixielandjazz] Harold Arlen

[Steve barbone]

Hi Ric:

Certainly. We play a few current tunes, as well as Beatles tunes and others
written in the last half of the 20th Century, as well as Arlen, Kern,
Gershwin, Rodgers, McHugh, Donaldson, et al, written in the first half.

And people still come up sometimes and say, "I didn't know that song was
jazz." 

But then, most people don't have the foggiest idea of what jazz encompasses.
Instead, they define jazz in terms of their very narrow likes and dislikes,
rejecting the philosophy of Eddie Condon e.g. "We called it music".

Yeah, play and appreciate "The Music" :-) VBG.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Ric Giorgi at ricgiorgi at sympatico.ca wrote:

> Hi Steve, if they did "write them like that" now, would you play them?
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Ric Giorgi
> 
Steve Barbone wrote originally:

Our band plays many of Arlen's songs in Dixieland or Small Band Swing
fashion. They are wonderful. Yet every once in a while some blue haired old
lady, or some know it all bald old man will come up and hurumph haughtily:
"I didn't know that song was 'jazz'"
 
Oh my, how we want to be rude in kind, but still forebear, smile sweetly and
remembering Eddie Condon, say only; "It is the way we play it."
 
They sure as hell don't write them like that any more.
 
Cheers,
Steve Barbone