[Dixielandjazz] Playing Loudly

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Absolutely correct Steve:

Most members of the list I presume have long forgotten how this music 
Really sounded when they were young and on the Prowl for young ladies 
and gentlemen and alcohol and other activities that young folks 
constantly engage in or at least attempt to engage in for good times.

It was LOUD, and it would not seem so loud today if many of us turned 
down the hearing aids, or turn them off. :))


Young folks have always liked LOUD and  hard driving danceable music, 
well before the invention of the electric guitar and bass with 50 
million mega decibels of power boost.   For young folks and or 
inebriated older folks to fully enjoy music they need to FEEL it.   
This often breaks down their inhibitions concerning exhibitionism and 
allows them to dance like NOBODY IS WATCHING.

So in the right place at the right time LOUD is indeed a good thing, 
This is why you don't see any laid back Dixieland Bands playing on 
Major Rock festivals, and getting exposure of this music to younger 
audiences, many of whom have been taught that Jazz is just music for 
Old people and musicians that are too old to play Rock any more.

Humm,  has not slowed down Paul McCarney, Mick Jagger, Axel Rose, and 
Elton John, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Diamond, and countless 
others, so why has The OKOM set given up playing with Balls and 
excitement and sufficient volume to turn on a younger audience.

Perhaps many have just stayed too long at the fair, and should retire 
and start doing Brain Surgery and Root Canals on the weekends and let 
some younger louder bands move into playing OKOM for the Jazz Oblivious 
and Ragtime unwashed.

Turn it up Mabel I can't hear it. :))

Huh?  what's at you say John??

What is the point of having a BIG BAND if you won't unleash them and 
let them play loud enough so you can hear them all ?
If ya want soft and nice and easy, go ride an Elevator all day or sit 
in a Dentist's Chair for a few hours, or your local mortuary which will 
have some soothing organ music to excite you.
Cheers,

Tom Wiggins
Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band
We are loud and Funky like a Big Brass Band is supposed to be.

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 14:54:30 -0400
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Playing Loudly

   Hear hear, for Mike Vax's comments.

Soft or Loud? IMO play the way you want. Like forget all this dogma 
about
one or the other being the only way to play, and or create.

It all works and there is audience for both loud and soft . . . IF THE 
BAND
IS A GOOD ONE.

Do it YOUR way, not somebody else's way.

Thought about that yesterday at the Showboat, where we play 2 numbers 
at one
end of a slot machine room that is 800 feet by 300 feet, with the 
machines
emanating a constant C Chord hum.  No band amplification. Yep, in that 
case
LOUD IS GOOD. So is ultra high register! The audience? THEY LOVE IT and
that's what counts, not what Lester Young said half a century ago in a 
very
different musical environment.

Maynard would be retired by now, and there would be no market for Mike 
Vax,
or me or countless others including Kenny Davern and Arturo Sandoval if 
LOUD
was wrong.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


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