[Dixielandjazz] Giving them a break-

[Cebuisle2 at aol.com]

Hello List-
 
Jim's story (which I haven't heard, being fairly new to the web) is  not 
uncommon. It resulted in the breakup of the Dixie group I started here some  years 
ago.The band had originally begun as a garage type group, playing for fun  
once a week at a rehearsal hall at a local college. As it got better and  
tighter, some of the members wanted to play for audiences. A first, these were  rest 
homes, etc and churches, no pay.  Some were fraternal clubs the  members 
belonged to, and so forth. 
 
Unfortunately some of the guys had egos and they continued to grow. The end  
came after several; years when the trumpet player announced he had booked us  
into the annual festival. He hadn't bothered to run this by me-but being laid  
back, I didn't take him to task. What did finally get to me was our not 
getting  paid-although a rock group also hired by the festival managers was getting 
 thousand bucks. I flatly refused to play free, the rest of the group went 
along  with the trumpet player. I later learned the piano that had been promised 
  for the outdoor event never showed up-they played with out it. This was the 
last  time the group played together, and the last time I tried to organize 
any kind  of Dixie group. 
 
Clashing personalities and values are the ruination of many groups. I am  
sure those of you with performing groups know this already. Cutting the price  
for this group or that will certainly lead to dissension within a group unless  
everyone is of like mind-which is seldom. Once you cross the line from just 
fun  to business, there can be no looking back- I sure do miss the fun we 
originally  had though-
 
                                                                       
tradjazz ted