[Dixielandjazz] Re: Ken Colyer

Judy Eames jude at judyeames.co.uk
Thu Jun 9 16:02:39 PDT 2005


Pat Cooke doesn't know who Ken Colyer was...... well sort of England's
answer  to California's Turk Murphy except he played trumpet  He died some
time ago but still has become a saint of English jazz, partly because he
spent time in New Orleans ...... There is still a band calling itself the
Ken Colyer Trust.  I have to state my bias, I heard him play frequently in
the late 70s/early 80s in London and couldn't understand what all the fuss
was about but hell what does a singer know?  He was not a person to project
his personality, never said a word to the audience and when a good friend of
mine subbed with the band, Ken didn't say a word to him all evening.

Jude



 as Judy Eames
Kaminsky Connection
Aston, Oxfordshire
UK
www.judyeames.co.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Cooke" <amazingbass at cox.net>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 9:38 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 30, Issue 19


> Judy writes:
>
> >The thing that I find irritating in the UK is that so many festivals
devote
> >themselves to what we here  call "New Orleans" music and disdain anything
> >else.
>
>       Many of the festivals in the U.S. do the same thing.  Sometimes I
> think all the musicians at a festival get on the same plane and go to the
> next festival......and play the same tunes the same way we've all heard
them
> a thousand times before.  The "all stars", I find are particularly guilty
of
> this, in their desire to "play something we all know".  I know they are
> extremely capable of playing something different.  I would not like to
hear
> the same tune more than three times in one day.
>       If you want to hear something that is a little more creative, you
> almost have to go to a different kind of festival.  Some of the "trad"
> festivals seem to hire a few token "all stars" in a half-hearted attempt
at
> a more varied line-up, but they're still basically trad festivals.
>
> >Chris reckons that jazz in New Orleans has moved on
> > since the days when Ken Colyer was there.
>
>     I have to admit I don't know who Ken Colyer is/was, but I was living
> California and Florida for about 45 years, and just returned to New
Orleans
> 11 years ago.  New Orleans has advanced to using PA systems, and there are
a
> few purists who even stay to listen when there is more than one microphone
> in use.  There are still a few smug "elitists" who still would rather hear
> an out-of-tune acoustic piano than an in-tune electronic one, even though
> the new keyboards can sound like a concert grand.  There are a few other
> silly notions harbored by a few that make them feel they are above those
of
> us who live in a world of electric refrigerators, TV, computers, and
> automatic transmissions.
>     But basically the music has survived and even advanced a little,
> somewhat to the dismay of a few who feel that improvement is impossible.
>     Come to the French Quarter Festival.....It's mostly local New Orleans
> musicians.  They still play a lot of the old chestnuts, but most of the
> musicianship is superb.
>      Pat Cooke
>
> ----- Original Message ----- > Message: 13
> > Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 12:01:14 +0100
> > From: "Judy Eames" <jude at judyeames.co.uk>
> > Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Lurkers reacting.... and does size really
> > matter:-)
> > To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> > Message-ID: <002b01c56c19$64515080$a300a8c0 at Jude>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> >
> > Cees Van Heuvel thinks he's got problems with negative reaction to
> > postings
> > about Jazz in Holland just imagine being English, a singer and female on
> > this list:-)
> >
> > Those Americans who do make it to Europe are usually surprised at the
> > quality of some of our bands; not something that can always be captured
in
> > recording.
> >
> > The thing that I find irritating in the UK is that so many festivals
> > devote
> > themselves to what we here  call "New Orleans" music and disdain
anything
> > else. I love the music when it's played well but it can become very
solemn
> > (some) musicians of the genre take themselves far too seriously.
> >
> > Last year I was asked to arrange a gig with Chris Burke and Les Muscutt
> > from
> > New Orleans.  I was dreading a restricted  diet of blues and gospel (Oh
I
> > forgot to mention my 4th listy drawback, I'm an atheist) BUT we and the
> > audience had a wonderful time and Chris and Les knew the songs from Lee
> > Wiley's repertoire.  Chris reckons that jazz in New Orleans has moved on
> > since the days when Ken Colyer was there.
> >
> > So my question is do other countries/areas have a dominant (fossilised)
> > form
> > of the music?  .
> >
> > As to size .... it was an allusion to Uncle Bob's strange ambition for
the
> > list, (just imagine 500 people posting every day) and also an invitation
> > to
> > some off-topic banter that will send him apoplectic:-)
> >
> > Judy Eames
> > Kaminsky Connection
> > Big Bear Stompers
> > Aston, Oxfordshire
> > UK
> > www.judyeames.co.uk
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 14
>
>
>
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