[Dixielandjazz] Sop Sax Vibrato + Loud Music

[Ron L'Herault]

Vibrato:

I believe pronounced vibrato is a New Orleans thing.  Maybe it is French
in origin?  Listen to the vibrato French singers like Piaf used.

Loudness:

I don't see "loud" in what you quoted.  I see passion, emotion, feeling,
and joie de vive.  That "blast of super heated steam" is hot playing,
not necessarily loud playing.  To paraphrase Jelly, you can't put more
into a glass if it is full.  Oliver, I've been told wanted to be able to
hear the shuffling of dancers feet as they moved in front of the band.

Ron L


-----Original Message-----
From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com
[mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com] On Behalf Of Steve
barbone


<snip
I think Bechet chose Sop Sax because it is a "lead" instrument the way
he
played it. He could express himself, be the center of attention. <SNIP>

Loud Music:

I play and love loud Dixieland, contrary to many on the list. Growing up
around the Condon Gang in NYC, I can't help it. Ask Jack Maheu about
those
days at Condon's. As he tells Dick Sudhalter in "Lost Chords": page 298.

"If you could only have heard it back then" clarinetist Jack Maheu said,
wonder edging in his voice. "You'd open the door to some little club
where
those guys-Eddie and some of his cronies -were playing. And that music
would
hit you like a fist, a blast of superheated steam. It was powerful. . .
I
mean lots of guys today play well. But back then there was something
else -
in Pee Wee, Bud, Wild Bill, Teagarden, George Wettling."

"Take Wettling, for example. One of those breaks could just lift you off
your chair. They had a fire to them. The records? Yeah, some of them
capture
it a bit, but you should have heard what it sounded like live. You
wouldn't
have believed your ears. It was the most emotionally powerful kind of
jazz
I've ever heard. But that's gone now."

Amen Jack, our mates on the list should have heard it live. LOUD,
VISCERAL,
and FAR BETTER THAN TODAY'S SISSIFIED PSEUDO ARTSY DIXIELAND played
around
the world for shrinking audiences of folks who also believed in "The
Emperor's New Clothes".

Cheers,
Steve Barbone 





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