[Dixielandjazz] Why Randy Reinhart lives in Saylorsburg.

[Steve barbone]

Dick_Miller at pmug.org (Dick Miller) wrote about Reinhart in Saylorsburg

> Good grief! When I lived in NY (until 1978), we had a summer place in
> Saylorsburg at a tiny lake. It was at that time a real one-horse town. If
> it still is, I can't imagine a working musician like him living there:
> it's a couple of hours from anywhere, and at least forty minutes from a
> smallish airport (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, where an old buddy from the
> lake is the general manager).
> 
> He must just be a country boy at heart!

Well, yes and no. Saylorsburg in in the area of the Delaware Water Gap, a
little known musician's and artist's hangout. The area is home to all kinds
of GREAT JAZZ MUSICIANS including Phil Woods, Steve Gilmore, and OKOMers
like Randy and Chuck Traeger. Below quote sums it up.

"Perhaps the best kept secret in the Jazz world, the Delaware Water Gap
region of Pennsylvania is home to more than a few legendary and influential
figures in the art form of Jazz...and a subculture of musicians, teachers,
artists, and sophisticated audience members who hold the highest standards,
and offer support and encouragement. In the Delaware Water Gap, music is a
form of art, not a commodity to be marketed on MTV. A great place to live!"

LOTS of "New" Jazz being invented there. Played before a younger audience of
movers and shakers who are not bound up in trying to learn to appreciate a
note for note revival of the "Old" stuff. Plus, they pay well, to hear the
real thing. +It is like the 50's Greenwich Village, being transported to the
woods. A very creative place to be, it's influence on Randy shows.

Many musicians, myself included, are not naturally extroverted. We had to
learn how to be "on". And when we perform we are on all the time. So it is
nice to have a refuge in the woods, or horse pastures, or on a lake where
one can return and get back to a calmer, natural, non judgmental world.

The Water Gap area is perfect. A two hour commute to NYC or Philadelphia
against traffic when gigging. In my case, Oxford PA, I am on a horse farm
right near the Maryland border, 55 miles from Philly and 58 miles from
Baltimore. No great jazz musicians here, but the tranquility is marvelous,
especially when my Amish neighbors drive horse and buggy up the lane to sell
Martha & me Corn, Strawberries, Shoo Fly Pie, pickles, Tomatoes etc., picked
a few minutes ago.

Commute time of 2 hours to a gig is no sweat, if you have a refuge from the
other BS that goes on in life. Randy commutes to some of our gigs in the
Philly area and I drive 200 miles roundtrip to make 14-16 Atlantic City gigs
a month. It's worth it to us, to live in Oxford, or the Water Gap.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

PS. These days ABE airport is a neat place to fly from with great fares.
Many Philadelphians now fly from there to avoid the hassles of PHL airport.