[Dixielandjazz] Re: The Sneak

richard88jazz at att.net richard88jazz at att.net
Thu Mar 3 20:25:59 PST 2005


Craig:

Do you need a copy of the music for "The Sneak"?  Let me know.

Rich Skrika
Albany, NY
richard88jazz at att.net

-------------- Original message from dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com: -------------- 


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> Today's Topics: 
> 
> 1. Re: Astute observation of reality 
> (LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing) 
> 2. Re: Astute observation of reality (TCASHWIGG at aol.com) 
> 3. The Sneak (Craig I. Johnson) 
> 4. Re: OKOM in California (Jim Larson) 
> 5. OKOM in the Great State of California (Jan Nichols) 
> 6. Re: OKOM in the Great State of California (TCASHWIGG at aol.com) 
> 7. Re: The Sneak (Bill Haesler) 
> 8. Very unusual (Bob Romans) 
> 9. digest (pcrums) 
> 10. Where is the Music Going? -A Surprising Redux (Steve barbone) 
> 11. Re: Where is the Music Going? -A Surprising Redux 
> (Andy.Ling at Quantel.Com) 
> 12. Re: Very unusual (G. William Oakley) 
> 13. Re: Where is the Music Going? -A Surprising Redux (Don Kirkman) 
> 14. Bye For a While (Jazzjerry at aol.com) 
> 15. Re: Where is the Music Going? -A Surprising Redux 
> (TCASHWIGG at aol.com) 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> 
> Message: 1 
> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 14:59:57 -0600 
> From: "LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing" 
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Astute observation of reality 
> To: , 
> Message-ID: <003a01c51f6a$cc745e60$21e1d918 at gateway2000> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" 
> 
> Some years ago the band played for a Japanese Construction firm. This was a 
> very high end party at the St. Louis Club which is about the most posh place 
> in town. There were about 100 guests, mostly Japanese. The president of 
> the firm danced with every wife there and all the execs and most of the 
> guests had taken dancing lessons at company expense. There were three 
> professional photographers. One was a portrait photographer, one was doing 
> large format and the third was taking 35 mm candids. Unfortunately they 
> were all from different studios and the large format and the 35mm gal argued 
> rather nastily all evening about who was stealing and getting in the way 
> of whose shots. (who cares?) 
> 
> Every Japanese person there had a camera and proceeded to take photos of 
> everybody and everything. The CEO had his picture taken dancing with 
> everyone's wife. The band and singer were also a main attraction for their 
> lenses. 
> 
> When I got out of there I was almost snow blind to say nothing of the blue 
> spots that doubled as notes. (blue notes?) 
> Larry 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: 
> To: 
> Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 8:13 AM 
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Astute observation of reality 
> 
> 
> > Tom, 
> > 
> > I'd have to agree with you there -- every night that I go out to hear 
> OKOM, there will be at least one or two large groups of Asian tourists who 
> are seriously into the music. Many of them tell us that they came to New 
> Orleans specifically to hear our local bands (and I'm surprised at how many 
> of them are musicians too). 
> > 
> > Sue 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________ 
> > Dixielandjazz mailing list 
> > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 2 
> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 17:25:10 EST 
> From: TCASHWIGG at aol.com 
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Astute observation of reality 
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> Message-ID: <141.40c4fb72.2f579746 at aol.com> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 
> 
> 
> Yes, that can be a bit annoying, but it's all part of getting popular for 
> musicians, just think how many folks they passed those photos around to and how 
> many times a year they take them out and look at them and remember the good 
> time they had and the music and the band. :)) 
> 
> By the way Larry and those around the St. Louis Area, 
> 
> Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band is the Featured Artist on WCH Radio out 
> of St. Louis for the month of March. You can check them out at: 
> www.wchradio.com 
> www.thewave.i8.com 
> www.nextstep.5u.com 
> 
> New Orleans at: IradioLa91.7FM 
> Laginiappbroadcastingnetwork in New Orleans 
> Dave Robinson's French Quarter show at XM70 6-9 on Fridays 
> 
> Fearlessradio in Chicago 
> 
> We are also being featured in Michigan on FlagAss Radio out of Frankenmuth. 
> www.FlagAssRadio.com I will be doing a live on air interview with them on 
> March 24 at about 8:00 p.m. 
> 
> down in Austin, Texas you can catch some of our tunes on: 
> http://thefeveredbrainofradiomike.com 
> 
> In Australia you can catch five of our songs on the top 20 Jazz playlist at: 
> www.ISONLiveRadio.com 
> International Network "Cool Cats Jazz hour" 
> Radio Cairns Fm89.1 Australia 
> Bay FM Radio Australia 
> 
> 
> In the UK 
> Brian Healey at Music maker UK is playing us. 
> www.Passionfmuk.com 
> 
> I am compiling a list with call letters of all the stations which I will post 
> shortly. 
> 
> We are getting a lot of air play for OKOM in places you would never think of, 
> If you send them the CDs and they are good music they will play them folks. 
> And you can soon start to sell some too and get em off the garage shelf or out 
> of the closet. 
> If we don't shamelessly promote OKOM who the Hell will??? 
> 
> Our list of stations playing St. Gabriel's CDs includes already: 
> 
> The UK At least three stations 
> Australia About six stations so far: 
> New Zealand 
> Alaska 
> Texas, Austin and El Paso 
> Florida Miami Beach, Sunrise 
> Missouri 
> Ohio Zonetainment radio 
> Louisiana At least three programs 
> Chicago Two programs that I know of 
> Japan Chiba, Kamagawa, 
> Italy 
> Taiwan 
> Germany at least three stations. 
> California Santa Cruz, Redway, Chico, Santa Monica, Sacramento, Covina, 
> Los Angeles, 
> 
> And I have not included the stations or programs from my friends on the DJML 
> who requested CDs for their shows, Thanks to all of you for your efforts. I 
> would appreciate it if you guys would email me with your station and or program 
> information so I can include it in my dossier. 
> 
> These programs have all requested us to send the CDs folks, they will play 
> yours as well but you have to approach them they will never find you. Last week 
> some member of the list asked me what my day gig was? :)) I told them it was 
> booking my night and day gigs for my band and other full time working bands. 
> 
> I will shortly be sending out CDs to about five hundred other stations, 
> anybody on the list serious about promotion contact me off list if you would 
> like 
> to find out how to be a part of it. This is how you generate Good Paying gigs 
> folks. Self Promotion. 
> 
> Cheers, 
> 
> Tom Wiggins 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 3 
> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 19:00:18 -0800 
> From: "Craig I. Johnson" 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The Sneak 
> To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" 
> Message-ID: <000a01c51f9d$22480940$6501a8c0 at satchmo> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" 
> 
> Has anyone heard Nacio Herb Brown's "The Sneak" by any of the following: 
> Isham Jones, 
> Herb Weidoft 
> or possibly, the best, Jimmy Blythe? 
> -- Or possibly one of the current jazz bands? 
> Thanks, 
> Craig 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 4 
> Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2005 18:09:44 -0600 
> From: "Jim Larson" 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re: OKOM in California 
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed 
> 
> Speaking of OKOM in California - I'm going to be in San Luis Obispo next 
> week on the 7th, 8th and 9th. 
> 
> Any good live music in the area on these nights? 
> 
> Jim Larson 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 5 
> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 17:08:46 -0800 
> From: "Jan Nichols" 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] OKOM in the Great State of California 
> To: "DJML" 
> Message-ID: <410-220053431846860 at earthlink.net> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII 
> 
> Okay, okay, I'm finally motivated to join in on this thread. Since I'm usually 
> a lurker, I hold my tongue when it comes to banjo pedagogy, obscure chord 
> changes and other IMPORTANT stuff on the DJML. However, when you start talking 
> about the Left-Coast......well that's something else indeed. 
> 
> Here are my credentials: My family arrived in California when a German sailor 
> jumped ship in Monterey somewhere around 1847. He married a beautiful Mexican 
> girl who was a house maid for the Pico family (last Mexican Governor of 
> California). Since that time, we have felt all of the earthquakes, dodged the 
> mudslides and watched (from a distance) all of the brush fires. 
> As already mentioned, so far no Tsunamis or hurricanes. 
> 
> Our band, the Old Town Jazz Band (blatant self-promotion) works as much as it 
> needs to. We have averaged 40-50 gigs per year in the early days, but now are 
> only taking those gigs that pay enough to turn a profit or a benefit for a group 
> that is special for the band. No complaints from the band, so far. Steve 
> Barbone, who has my unqualified admiration, seems to measure success by the 
> number of decimal places on the check. Tomorrow, we begin another School 
> Marathon where we will play for six schools in two days. We stand a chance of 
> getting OKOM to 1,400 kids in the next 48 hours. Are we making a profit, yes. 
> Are we getting rich, no. However, seeing the light in that many young eyes adds 
> several 0's to the check. 
> 
> Perhaps, the demographics have something to do with this question. How many 
> people have retired (in Chicago) and moved to California. I live near a 
> community that is filled with retired folks, since the city has promoted Hemet, 
> California as a great place to retire. We never run short of an audience for 
> OKOM in this area. Perhaps there is more of an audience for OKOM festivals 
> because of the number of seniors in the neighborhood. While we continue to work 
> on building a more youthful audience, our retired folks are our bread and 
> butter. 
> 
> We all have noticed the fact that audiences are declining (nobody lives 
> forever), perhaps we should consider demographics. 
> 
> Jan Nichols 
> Left Coast Cornetist 
> Old Town Jazz Band 
> San Jacinto, CA 
> 
> hotjazzcornet at earthlink.net 
> Why Wait? Move to EarthLink. 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 6 
> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 20:22:48 EST 
> From: TCASHWIGG at aol.com 
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] OKOM in the Great State of California 
> To: Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 
> 
> In a message dated 3/2/05 4:57:10 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
> hotjazzcornet at earthlink.net writes: 
> 
> > Tomorrow, we begin another School Marathon where we will play for six 
> > schools in two days. We stand a chance of getting OKOM to 1,400 kids in the 
> next 
> > 48 hours. Are we making a profit, yes. Are we getting rich, no. However, 
> > seeing the light in that many young eyes adds several 0's to the check. 
> 
> 
> Marvelous Jan, 
> 
> Go get them kids, they will someday be a paying audience or at least better 
> for the exposure to OKOM rather than Chicken Pox or Heavy Metal. If more guys 
> like you would not lurk and step up and tell the rest of us who are always 
> shouting about getting the music to the kids etc. We would not have to keep 
> preaching the same sermon over and over. Guys like Barbone and I just get 
> frustrated when it seems nobody at all is paying attention. 
> 
> > 
> > Perhaps, the demographics have something to do with this question. How many 
> > people have retired (in Chicago) and moved to California. I live near a 
> > community that is filled with retired folks, since the city has promoted 
> Hemet, 
> > California as a great place to retire. We never run short of an audience for 
> > OKOM in this area. Perhaps there is more of an audience for OKOM festivals 
> > because of the number of seniors in the neighborhood. 
> > 
> > Totally understandable: 
> 
> While we continue to work on building a more youthful audience, our retired 
> folks are 
> > our bread and butter. 
> 
> 
> Also understandable, but there must be some non retired working folks all 
> around you that are having all those kids in the schools, those are the ones who 
> need to be cultivated, and the sure fire way to them is through one of two 
> options l. Their Parents, or #2 Their Kids. 
> Both if you can get their attention. 
> 
> We must remember that for many years in American culture anyway, kids grow up 
> and leave the nest, many of them head straight for the Big cities to get away 
> from dullsville at least as they consider it. Now many of the retired 
> OKOMers did the same thing and just forgot about it. When they got fed up with 
> the 
> crime and hustle and bustle of everyday life in the big cities that had lost 
> their lure that they moved there for earlier in life, not to mention getting 
> the opportunity to sell out their expensive property in the cities and head for 
> more economical places like Hemet and retire comfortably. 
> 
> Now many of the OKOM musicians lost an audience in the big cities, as 
> happened to Lu Watters and Turk Murphy and Clancey Hayes that I specifically 
> recall, 
> as the older folks of their era retired and moved away, many no doubt back to 
> the small towns they came form many years earlier, ( going back to their 
> Roots) . 
> 
> Now many OKOM musicians have followed them to the smaller towns and the 
> ongoing scene for lively OKOM in most major Cities just disappeared since nobody 
> was cultivating the new kids in town or coming to town every day from the small 
> cities to seek fame and fortune in the big cities or at least a good job. 
> 
> We all have noticed the fact that audiences are declining (nobody lives 
> forever), perhaps we should consider demographics. 
> 
> Life is a Circle, 
> 
> Musical content: 
> 
> "May the Circle be unbroken" 
> 
> 
> Cheers, 
> 
> Tom Wiggins 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 7 
> Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 13:19:15 +1100 
> From: Bill Haesler 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re: The Sneak 
> To: "Craig I. Johnson" , dixieland jazz mail list 
> 
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 
> 
> > Has anyone heard Nacio Herb Brown's "The Sneak"...< 
> Dear Craig, 
> What! 
> Another trick question? 
> You sneak. 8>) 
> But it sure beats reading daily posts about California vs the rest of the 
> USA! 
> Just kidding. 
> The piano roll version of "The Sneak" (played by Nacio Herb Brown) can be 
> downloaded from the net. I have just done so. 
> A copy of the sheet music cover can also be viewed on a net site. Just 
> looked at it. 
> I have never heard the Jimmy Blythe piano roll (Supertone 5245) but 
> perhaps the currently-silent John Farrell has a copy. (I hope John is OK.) 
> To my knowledge the Isham Jones' Brunswick 5171 (Nov 1922) has not been 
> reissued. 
> "The Sneak" was also recorded by The Club Royal Orchestra for Vic 18921 (27 
> June 1922), but also not reissued - so far as I know. 
> I can't locate a Herb Wiedoeft (note correct spelling) recording of it. But 
> that is not to say that it does not exist. 
> Nacio Herb Brown (1896-1964) grew up in LA and died in San Francisco (oh, 
> not CA again!) and did a lot of composing for films from the early years of 
> talkies. 
> Most OKOMers will not have heard of "The Sneak" but they will know some of 
> NH Brown's other tunes including: "Pagan Love Song", "When Buddha Smiles", 
> "Rag Doll", "Wedding Of The Painted Doll" "You Were Meant For Me", "Singin' 
> In The Rain", "Temptation" [yup! the one Red Ingle made even more famous], 
> "You Are My Lucky Star", "I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling", "Smoke Dreams", 
> and the hit for Donald O'Conner in the 1952 film 'Singin' In The Rain' - 
> "Make 'Em Laugh". 
> Kind regards, 
> Bill. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 8 
> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 21:20:29 -0800 
> From: "Bob Romans" 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Very unusual 
> To: 
> Message-ID: <00c401c51fb0$bb7cca70$5e0cb543 at Bob3000> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" 
> 
> Pete Main, clarinetist extraordinaire just talked to me on the phone and told me 
> that last Saturday night in Martinez, he was playing with Ted Shafers band at La 
> Beau's on Ferry Street, when Glen Calkins, trombonist, took out his opheclide, 
> and Pete Main unleashed his recently purchased sarrusaphone, and they proceeded 
> to play...probably the only jazz band in the world with that 
> instrumentation...it will probably happen again this Saturday night, if anyone 
> is interested! I wish I could be there! Jim Gammons on trumpet, Ted Shafer on 
> banjo... 
> Just FYI... 
> Warm regards, 
> Bob Romans 
> Cell Block 7 Jazz Band 
> 1617 Lakeshore Dr. 
> Lodi, Ca. 95242 
> 209-339-4676 
> www.cellblockseven2002.net 
> Cell 209-747-1148 
> Because I play trumpet, I envy no one. 
> """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 9 
> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 21:31:51 -0800 
> From: pcrums 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] digest 
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII 
> 
> digest 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 10 
> Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 10:00:59 -0500 
> From: Steve barbone 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Where is the Music Going? -A Surprising Redux 
> To: DJML 
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" 
> 
> NOT OKOM, THOUGH THERE ARE REFERENCES TO ELLINGTON & STRAYHORN - BUT 
> DEFINITELY JAZZ and an INTERESTING TAKE on the answer to this question. 
> If you have broad musical tastes, and the resultant intellectual curiosity, 
> you will love this article. 
> 
> Cheers, 
> Steve 
> 
> PS. The "pipa" referred to in the article, is kind of like a wooden banjo. 
> Probably would be a fantastic instrument for a "Dixieland" band. Beautiful 
> picture of one in the original article. 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
> 
> March 3, 2005 - NEW YORK TIMES 
> 
> The Musical Odyssey of Min Xiao-Fen By JOSEPH HOROWITZ 
> 
> n his well-known Norton lectures at Harvard in 1973, "The Unanswered 
> Question," Leonard Bernstein asked, "Whither music in our time?" The 
> influences of Schoenberg and Stravinsky were duly pondered; the question 
> remained unanswered. Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, the answer 
> is all around us. The future is global. Non-European and popular music, not 
> 12-tone rows and Neo-Classicism, are what have refreshed and expanded the 
> musical traditions Bernstein held dear. 
> 
> Composers like Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams, none of whom can be 
> called classical musicians, are one part of "postclassical" music. And 
> legions of young conductors and instrumentalists have broader, less 
> Eurocentric worldviews than their elders. 
> 
> The Chinese, whose Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 sent Westernized musicians 
> into the countryside, have carved a special place in this transitional 
> moment. Steeped in their own traditional and folk music and equally schooled 
> in Western practice, composers like Zhou Long and Bright Sheng have forged a 
> hybrid idiom remarkable in expressive range and sophistication of timbre. 
> And by finding new ways to write for pipa, erhu and zheng, they have 
> catalyzed a generation of Chinese instrumentalists scarcely less remarkable. 
> 
> Min Xiao-Fen, who performs at the BAM Cafe tomorrow, is a pipa player like 
> no other. When she speaks the language of Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington or 
> Miles Davis, the results are not ersatz but transformational. In her trio, 
> Blue Pipa, with guitar and double bass, the lutelike pipa becomes a 
> super-banjo. With orchestra, she performs concertos by Zhou Long, Tan Dun 
> and Bun-Ching Lam in which a Western concert genre acquires new foreign 
> accents. 
> 
> Ms. Min's fretted string instrument is itself unusually versatile. Its four 
> strings and heavy rosewood body traditionally invite sharply contrasted 
> "martial" and "lyric" performing styles. The martial, connecting with 
> depictions of battle, is harsh, noisy and percussive. The lyric, connecting 
> with nature, is fragrant: with quivering vibrato, the pipa here imitates the 
> human voice. 
> 
> Ms. Min's rendition of Monk's "Ask Me Now" is a cross-cultural tour de 
> force. The skittery repeated notes that bind and shape the long lines, the 
> twanging sustained tones, the interpolated pentatonic riffs, the dry 
> precision of every sound, all intended to connect equally with Monk's 
> quirkiness and with centuries-old Chinese practice. The bent notes Monk 
> idiosyncratically simulated on his piano are, on the pipa, truly and 
> idiomatically bent. If jazz is America's most influential "classical music," 
> the Monk-Min idiom is a postclassical signpost to the future. 
> 
> Ms. Min also sings. In her performances, the cool, sauntering thirds of 
> Miles Davis's "All Blues" are a pipa accompaniment to a breathy vocalise. 
> Her "Satin Doll/Shanghai Doll" bilingually combines Duke Ellington and Billy 
> Strayhorn's "Satin Doll" with the 1930's Chinese pop song "Night of 
> Shanghai"; here the vocal embellishments variously derive from scat singing 
> and Beijing opera. (This number, Ms. Min says, is especially appreciated in 
> Taiwan, where audiences know both tunes.) 
> 
> Her bluegrass style, as in "The Red-Haired Boy," incorporates flicked 
> inflections of timbre and melody that banjos, with their lower frets, cannot 
> manage. 
> 
> At 43, Ms. Min has traversed a sweeping musical odyssey. She comes from a 
> family of musicians and visual artists. Her father, a pipa master in 
> Nanjing, was her first teacher. Her sister is a prominent virtuoso on the 
> erhu (a two-stringed fiddle). Her brother conducts an orchestra in southeast 
> China. 
> 
> "Of course we heard Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, all the famous European 
> composers," she said in a recent interview. "Our neighbors played violin, 
> cello, piano. Every day after dinner we all made music. The Cultural 
> Revolution was not yet over. Everyone was a little afraid of being called to 
> the countryside, and if you could play music, you could get a better job." 
> 
> Chinese universities were still closed - a legacy of the Cultural Revolution 
> - when Ms. Min graduated from high school in 1979. At 18, she auditioned 
> successfully for the Nanjing Traditional Music Orchestra, with which she 
> performed as a soloist for more than a decade. The orchestra gave about 80 
> concerts a year and toured widely in Europe. 
> 
> Meanwhile, Ms. Min began singing in Chinese clubs, backed by saxophone, 
> electric guitar and drums. Sudden exposure to Michael Jackson, Whitney 
> Houston and other American pop stars was ear-opening. Though Ms. Min had 
> been trained by her father to sing Beijing opera, her voice proved adaptable 
> to cooler Western styles. Some of her father's colleagues were not pleased. 
> 
> In 1992 she felt the need for something new and moved to San Francisco. It 
> was in the Bay Area that she first encountered nontonal concert works by 
> immigrant Chinese composers. "That was challenging," she said, "all kinds of 
> new rhythms and meters. I had to practice a lot, sometimes eight hours on a 
> couple of measures." 
> 
> Ms. Min moved to New York in 1996. (She now lives in Forest Hills.) Months 
> after arriving, she played at the Knitting Factory. The composer-saxophonist 
> John Zorn was there, and he invited her to make a recording with the 
> guitarist Derek Bailey. The entire CD, produced by Mr. Zorn, was to be 
> improvised. 
> 
> "I said, 'I don't know how to do it,' " she recalled. "In China that kind of 
> individualism was not encouraged. I always needed someone to tell me what to 
> do. In traditional music you could improvise some ornaments, and that was 
> it. John said I should listen to Derek's recordings and decide. 
> 
> "Derek made guitar sounds I had never imagined. I felt sparks and colors - 
> like a Dalí or Picasso painting. I even practiced by improvising along with 
> his CD's. A week later I phoned John and said, 'O.K., I can do it.' " 
> 
> In 2003, Ms. Min was invited by Jazz at Lincoln Center to perform a 
> 30-minute solo set of Thelonious Monk compositions. 
> 
> "At first, I thought he was actually a monk," she said. "Little by little, I 
> started to like his music. It reminded me of different styles of Chinese 
> calligraphy: standard script, clerical script, seal script and especially 
> the running script, a very fast, very free style with a little improvisation 
> involved. And my contact with his music felt physical. Even though I had a 
> year to prepare, I honestly wasn't ready for this engagement. But the 
> feedback was so positive that I wanted to continue." 
> 
> Moving on to works by Davis and Ellington, Ms. Min conceived a mission to 
> build a bridge between American jazz classics and Chinese tradition. She 
> also wants to explore the music of Mr. Zorn and of the venerable pianist and 
> composer Randy Weston, whose explorations of African music she finds 
> inspirational. And she is eager to expand the range of Blue Pipa, whose 
> other members, the guitarist Stephen Salerno and the bassist Mark Helias, 
> are practiced jazz and classical musicians. 
> 
> The variety of settings in which Ms. Min has performed, from clubs to 
> concert halls, with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and other American orchestras, 
> tells the story of her versatility. Her repertory with orchestra includes 
> "Two Poems From Tang" by Zhou Long, whose unsurpassed gift for combining 
> Chinese and Western instruments parallels Ms. Min's intermingling of Chinese 
> and Western genres. She also toured Europe in Peter Sellars's version of the 
> Chinese opera "The Peony Pavilion," with music by Tan Dun. 
> 
> Her concert tomorrow, with the cellist Okkyung Lee and the drummer Susie 
> Ibarra, will include solo and ensemble versions of various Monk, Davis and 
> bluegrass numbers. 
> 
> Central to all these activities is the pipa itself, which originated 2,000 
> years ago. The body acquired its present pear shape in the fifth century, 
> influenced by the Middle Eastern oud. Partly because of its considerable 
> weight, it gradually evolved from a horizontally held instrument to one held 
> vertically. Today, there are more than 70 playing techniques, many of which 
> were devised only over the last century. 
> 
> "I want to show that this instrument, which so far not too many people know, 
> has no limit," Ms. Min said. "I want to tell the world that there are no 
> boundaries. I can say I'm an avant-garde musician, right? I'd like to go in 
> this direction. I like this kind of feeling. I feel free." 
> 
> 
> Min Xiao-Fen performs at the BAM Cafe, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland 
> Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, tomorrow night at 9. (718) 636-4100. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 11 
> Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 14:59:31 +0000 
> From: Andy.Ling at Quantel.Com 
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Where is the Music Going? -A Surprising 
> Redux 
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> Message-ID: 
> > tel> 
> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 
> 
> Steve Barbone said :- 
> > PS. The "pipa" referred to in the article, is kind of like a wooden 
> banjo. 
> > Probably would be a fantastic instrument for a "Dixieland" band. 
> Beautiful 
> > picture of one in the original article. 
> > 
> 
> Well, it's got 4 strings, but hardly a banjo ;-) 
> 
> There are photos and sound clips from the lady herself here :- 
> 
> http://www.bluepipa.org/ 
> 
> Have fun 
> 
> Andy Ling 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 12 
> Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 11:12:31 -0500 
> From: "G. William Oakley" 
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Very unusual 
> To: "Bob Romans" 
> Cc: DJML 
> Message-ID: <01c201c5200b$db18eca0$709ceb04 at yourkybtg65gxe> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; 
> reply-type=original 
> 
> (snip) 
> "Glen Calkins, trombonist, took out his opheclide" 
> 
> Dear Bob: 
> 
> In my hometown when one takes out his opheclide he is arrested for indecent 
> exposure and I won't even discuss the purchase of sarrusaphones. Oh, my, 
> no! 
> Does Master Ringwald know you are speaking thusly? 
> 
> Best, 
> Bill 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bob Romans" 
> To: 
> Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 12:20 AM 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Very unusual 
> 
> 
> Pete Main, clarinetist extraordinaire just talked to me on the phone and 
> told me that last Saturday night in Martinez, he was playing with Ted 
> Shafers band at La Beau's on Ferry Street, when Glen Calkins, trombonist, 
> took out his opheclide, and Pete Main unleashed his recently purchased 
> sarrusaphone, and they proceeded to play...probably the only jazz band in 
> the world with that instrumentation...it will probably happen again this 
> Saturday night, if anyone is interested! I wish I could be there! Jim 
> Gammons on trumpet, Ted Shafer on banjo... 
> Just FYI... 
> Warm regards, 
> Bob Romans 
> Cell Block 7 Jazz Band 
> 1617 Lakeshore Dr. 
> Lodi, Ca. 95242 
> 209-339-4676 
> www.cellblockseven2002.net 
> Cell 209-747-1148 
> Because I play trumpet, I envy no one. 
> """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Dixielandjazz mailing list 
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 13 
> Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 09:38:53 -0800 
> From: Don Kirkman 
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Where is the Music Going? -A Surprising 
> Redux 
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii 
> 
> On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 14:59:31 +0000, Andy.Ling at Quantel.Com wrote: 
> 
> >Steve Barbone said :- 
> >> PS. The "pipa" referred to in the article, is kind of like a wooden 
> >banjo. 
> >> Probably would be a fantastic instrument for a "Dixieland" band. 
> >Beautiful 
> >> picture of one in the original article. 
> >> 
> >>Well, it's got 4 strings, but hardly a banjo ;-) 
> 
> I think it's usually considered to fall into the lute family. The 
> Japanese version is called a "biwa" [the same cognate word as pipa]. I 
> don't know if the biwa has ever been used in Western jazz--maybe the 
> group Hiroshima used one? 
> -- 
> Don 
> donkirk at covad.net 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 14 
> Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 13:17:27 EST 
> From: Jazzjerry at aol.com 
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Bye For a While 
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> Message-ID: <159.4c07adda.2f58aeb7 at aol.com> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 
> 
> Signing of for a couple of weeks. Firstly off to a British jazz weekend at a 
> hotel in Hayling Island (way down south in the UK!) then across the pond next 
> Tuesdad for 10 days in New York and hoping to sample some of the musical 
> delights of that city, OKOM and otherwise. 
> 
> As I don't wish to plough through hundreds of emails on my return I shall go 
> into 'holiday' mode. 
> 
> Cheers, 
> 
> Jerry, 
> Norwich, 
> U.K. 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> Message: 15 
> Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 13:45:28 EST 
> From: TCASHWIGG at aol.com 
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Where is the Music Going? -A Surprising 
> Redux 
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" 
> 
> In a message dated 3/3/05 6:58:14 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
> barbonestreet at earthlink.net writes: 
> 
> > The Musical Odyssey of Min Xiao-Fen 
> 
> She is "ALL THAT" and more, don't miss the chance to see and hear her if you 
> can, 
> I remember when she was struggling in San Francisco which simply was not 
> ready for her or to embrace the great talent she and other fine Chinese 
> instrumentalist in this market have. 
> 
> The musical education system in the Far East is so much better than ours it 
> is frightening, however, it is also very hard on the students who are expected 
> to become traditional virtuosos on their instruments. 
> 
> In many cases the very best ones are totally supported by the government and 
> are expected to perform for them for life as National Treasures as a return 
> for the investment in their training. It is indeed rare that a talent as fine 
> as Min Xiao-Fen can get out of the country and make their way to the USA and 
> get a taste of Western life. 
> 
> I hope she becomes as popular as Yo Yo Ma, she certainly deserves it. 
> 
> Cheers, 
> 
> Tom Wiggins 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------ 
> 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Dixielandjazz mailing list 
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz 
> 
> 
> End of Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 27, Issue 4 
> ******************************************** 



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