[Dixielandjazz] Re: Dixieland definitions

[Steve barbone]

"Fred Spencer" <drjz at bealenet.com>
 
> To be fair to the respected authors and columnists, the Peters (Clayton and
> Gammond) of the humorous "Bluffer's Guide to Jazz", this is from the latter's
> "Oxford Companion to Popular Music", which is the best "popular music"
> encyclopedia by content, accuracy, weight, and price: "Dixieland jazz. Name
> given to the brash, marching style that emerged in New Orleans at the turn of
> the century. Essentially a black jazz, a confusion arose through the
> association of the term with white groups such as the 'Original Dixieland Jazz
> Band', and hence the term was often applied to such groups playing in the
> revivalist tradition."

Hi Fred:

Interesting also that "The Twenties" are referred to as "The Jazz Age", not
the "Dixieland Age". Why? Because, even though they played what nwe now call
Dixieland, ODJB, Tom Brown's Band From Dixieland, and everybody else were
playing jass, or jazz. The "Dixieland" in ODJB referred to where they were
from, not what they played.

The meaning of the term today is quite different as you have posted. And
those black bands which used the term in their band names, Oliver in the
1930s, or countless others did so because they were trying to identify the
music they played with the record buying public so as to sell records.

Sadly, the media moguls thought otherwise and succeeded, by the 70s, in
changing the public's association of the word "Dixieland" to white bands,
like ODJB, playing zany music while dressed in outlandish costumes.

The public perception of "Dixieland" e.g. old white guys in straw hats and
arm garters damn near killed the music during the second half of the 20th
century. Took away its relevance to creative jazz.

IMO, The sooner we get rid of that baggage, the better.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone