[Dixielandjazz] Jazz Funerals

Wed Jul 13 13:04:08 PDT 2005

At 02:10 PM 07/13/05 -0500, Charlie Suhor wrote:
>Rick's description of the jazz funeral he played for sounds like a 
>dignified event, originating with a request from the family of the 
>bereaved. 

Outside of NO, surely that's how dixieland funerals occur. We're usually
told the deceased was a big dixieland fan, and he/she may or may no have
specifically requested one.

>I have misgivings, though, about a highly aggressive 
>marketing to play jazz funerals. Is it the moral equivalent of the 
>lawyer who chases ambulances and offers his services to the accident 
>victim's family? 

No way. It's merely notifying relevant prospects of a particular service,
and one can reasonably assume the director will be happy to have the
information in the files. You can also inform the local booking agencies of
your product. A poop sheet describing the parts of a funeral, the possible
band formats, and providing a per-musician price. If you don't do it, the
family will have to start from scratch--where the hell does one find music?
Booking agencies are not obvious.

If the client gets you from the funeral director, there'd be a possibility
you'd be added on to the bill with a considerable markup. 

> Maybe 
>I'm tripping out on some sort of snooty moral high ground and should 
>grow up, but this is how it strikes me.

In my experience, none of the NO syndrome would apply. It's just a very
meaningful add-on to a sad event. To the musicians, mainly a different kind
of gig...

--Sheik 
>
>
>
>
>On Jul 13, 2005, at 1:25 PM, Rick Knittel wrote:
>
>> Hello Larry Walton (& Listmates);
>>
>> Our Maine Street Paraders played for the ceremony of internment of 
>> ashes
>> of a woman who requested that a jazz band play Darktown Strutters Ball 
>> at
>> the grave site. We did this last month in Standish, Maine at the 
>> request
>> of the deceased's daughter from Virginia. It was an uplifting 
>> experience
>> and we felt as if we had done something especially meaningful.
>>
>> The woman who arranged this hired a team of horses and a wagon 
>> decorated
>> the way they do in New Orleans to carry the urn. We walked behind the
>> wagon and played A Closer Walk With Thee and Amazing Grace at a dirge
>> tempo with cornet, clarinet, trombone, banjo and tuba. The deceased's
>> family walked behind us for the distance of about 1000 feet from the 
>> farm
>> house to the cemetery.
>>
>> At the internment site in the cemetery, some scripture was read, people
>> were asked to tell favorite stories about the deceased and the band, as
>> requested, played Nearer My God to Thee, It is Well with My Soul and
>> Darktown which was her favorite song.
>>
>> We fell in behind the wagon on the way back to the farm house and 
>> played
>> Darktown Strutter's Ball and The Saints all at up tempo. Our banjo
>> player, who had spent several years in New Orleans was beside himself
>> with emotion and remarked that it was the most moving performance he 
>> had
>> ever played.
>>
>> We were then invited for lunch with the family and felt as if we had
>> become one of them.
>>
>> Kind Regards
>>
>> Rick Knittel - JAZZBONE
>> The Maine Street Paraders and The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Band
>> 37 Ship Channel Road; South Portland, Maine 04106-5136
>> Bus phone; (207)-741-2407; fax 2409; Cell: (207)-233-3480; Home;
>> (207)-799-6382
>> E-mail; Knittelsportland at juno.com; Winter Office; 7657 Bergamo Ave;
>> Sarasota, FL 34238-4765; Phone/Fax; (941)-924-5186
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 13:06:14 -0500 "LARRY'S Signs and Large Format
>> Printing" <sign.guy at charter.net> writes:
>>> Is there anyone out there who does Dixie funerals?
>>>
>>> I have been thinking about it for some time and did at one time talk
>>> to a funeral director that was interested and played one for a guy I
>>> knew. I have also done solo sax w/o accompaniment at a couple of
>>> funerals which was received really well.   I can put together a band
>>> at almost anytime.
>>>
>>> The one I did for the friend was sort of a rink dink affair
>>> organized by another band leader (who has the worst OKOM band in St.
>>> Louis).  We stood around the coffin and played a couple of tunes
>>> until the funeral director panicked because the sound was going into
>>> other rooms.  The tuba player was a little rude to the director.
>>> Obviously it wasn't cleared with the director first.  I really
>>> didn't think the tunes were all that appropriate and ended up with
>>> the guy in a snit and a minor scene.  Obviously I don't want to go
>>> in this direction and I'm sure that funeral home won't be real
>>> receptive to having a band or recommending one after that.
>>>
>>> How big a band do you use?
>>>
>>> How do you do them generally?  what is the structure?  example: At
>>> the service play several tunes before the service, a hymn or
>>> inspirational tune during and at the end play 4 or 5 tunes.  Taps?
>>>
>>> Appropriate Tunes?
>>>
>>> Price structure? Night vs. day? What will the traffic bear in your
>>> area?  What's the average gig pay?
>>>
>>> Do you do wakes or graveside or both?  Are there different prices?
>>> How long does it take to do a service and then go to the graveside?
>>> Are we looking at two or three hours?
>>>
>>> Advertising?  Direct to funeral directors or in the Obit page of the
>>> papers? Both?
>>>
>>> At present there is no one here in St. Louis doing  Dixie funerals.
>>> I thought that advertising in the obit pages might bring in other
>>> business because older people who tend to hire this kind of music
>>> read the obits to see if they are still alive.  They do not read
>>> other kinds of advertising or look in the yellow pages for bands.
>>> The down side is that this could get to be expensive.
>>>
>>> The other problem that I have is that St. Louis does not have a
>>> tradition of bands at funerals like New Orleans and some other
>>> cities.  This might take awhile to catch on.
>>>
>>> Any advice would be helpful
>>> Thanks
>>> Larry Walton
>>> St. Louis
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Dixielandjazz mailing list
>>> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>>> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> Rick Knittel - RK Associates, LLC - Film Extrusion Engineering Services
>> 37 Ship Channel Road; South Portland, Maine 04106-5136
>> Bus phone; (207)-741-2407; fax 2409; Cell: (207)-233-3480; Home;
>> (207)-799-6382
>> E-mail; Knittelsportland at juno.com; Winter Office; 7657 Bergamo Ave;
>> Sarasota, FL 34238-4765; Phone/Fax; (941)-924-5186
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Dixielandjazz mailing list
>> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>>
>
>
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