[Dixielandjazz] Re: N.O. Style BANDS WORLDWIDE

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hi Tony & All:

New Orleans is a fascinating subject as well as the great Jazz musical 
history of the city.

I have been fortunate enough to travel around to many places in the 
world with my band of transplanted New Orleans musicians who left the 
great Mecca primarily because, ( Just Like Louis Armstrong and many 
others from there) they could not make a respectable living at home 
playing New Orleans Jazz.

The Myth is bigger than the reality.   I have run into countless New 
Orleans Style Bands in many countries and have yet to hear one that 
sounds like Real Down Home New Orleans Jazz Natives playing Real New 
Orleans Jazz.   Every country I visit has a few bands on the festival 
bills calling themselves New Orleans this and New Orleans that, but 
none of them we have encountered come very close to being Authentic.   
Most of them learned their music from Fake books, and old scratchy 
recordings and unfortunately their music sounds the same way.   Old 
Fake and Scratchy.   Their is a big difference in sounding Tired and 
being tired musically :))    I never heard Louis Armstrong sound Tired 
even when he was Tired.

But I have heard a lot of tired guys try and sound like him.

Even some of the current Raved about New Orleans Musicians are not a 
Native New Orleanser's  nor even from Louisiana, some of them are from 
Europe and Canada,  Some of them are good musicians, some of them are 
so so musicians, and some of them are bad musicians.   Just being from 
New Orleans does not make you a great musician, nor having visited 
there and played a sit in number or two at Fritzell's does not make you 
a New Orleans Musician either.   Neither does playing a set with the 
Preservation Hall Jazz Band in Preservation Hall mean that you are a 
New Orleans musician.    Being a New Orleans Musician is more of a 
feeling and a musical attitude than anything else, the music is just a 
bunch of notes, it's what and how you play them that makes the 
difference and makes it real New Orleans Music.   There are good 
musicians of all sorts all over the world who can play any style they 
choose respectfully, however there is usually a tight edge to the 
authentic guys that stands out above the others that may not have lived 
the life and culture to it's fullest.   Me included.  which is why I 
try to keep authentic New Orleans guys in my lineup.

The same thing can be said for Kansas City Jazz, Chicago Blues, Memphis 
Blues, and Nashville Country Music.   Heck most Nashville Country music 
stars were not from Nashville either.   How easily the public is fooled 
and continue to buy into the Public Relations and Advertising hype.  :))

Anybody who get a drivers license or residents ID card from New Orleans 
can claim to be a new Orleans Musician just holding an instrument, 
unfortunately I have recently met a few like that trying to collect 
some New Orleans musicians relief money, they got very upset when I 
called them on it and proving to them that they were actually from  
California not New Orleans where they had only resided for four weeks 
prior to the Hurricane.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins
Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band





Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Yarra Yarra Band

    I've sent the DJML posting on to Maurie Garbutt, leader of the Yarra 
Yarra New
Orleans Jazz Band.

Maurie is currently playing trumpet with the Louisiana Shakers -
www.louisianashakers.com/. Their regular Sunday afternoon gig is at 
Mesata
Cafe-Bar, 101 Smith St Fitzroy, just around the corner from my joint so 
when I
can I go to hear them and have the occasional sit in. They play the 
real N.O.
style.

cheers

Tony Orr
banjo, Foster's Foaming Five
Melbourne