[Dixielandjazz] Help for New Orleans musicians

[Stanley A. Klein]

As an early active and now mostly lurking member of the list, I wanted
to come out of lurking for a while to express some ideas about how to
help New Orleans musicians.

It's getting to be time to start preparing lemonade from the huge lemon
Katrina has handed us.  Here are some ideas of mine on things that can
be done:

1.  Organize as many NOLA musicians as possible, get them gigs in as
many places as possible, and put them "on tour" for the duration.  This
is the main lemonade.  OKOM (our kind of music, for those being cc'ed)
is mostly off the radar screen of the music industry (except for
reissues of decades old recordings), and there are few black musicians
playing OKOM outside New Orleans.  This is an opportunity to get wide
exposure for the music, to educate people to the fact of black musicians
currently playing it, and perhaps to get people dancing to it.

2.  There are jazz programs in many schools.  We could propose that New
Orleans musicians be hired as "visiting resource people" to school music
programs.  Perhaps entire metropolitan areas could do it on a shared
basis.

3.  There is a jazz festival in Silver Spring, MD next Saturday.  (It is
somewhat tilted modern rather than OKOM.)  There is a "New Orleans
street parade" in which high school bands will compete for an award.  I
thought it would be wonderful if an authentic New Orleans street band
were in the festival.  I called the director of the festival and she
said that although the schedule was full, she would fit in a New Orleans
group if I could find one.  (Winton Marsalis will appear at the event,
and I hope he will take the opportunity to bring in some other New
Orleans musicians, even if my efforts are uunsuccessful.)  I also left a
message for the president of the PRJC, which has some upcoming events.

This is an example of what needs to be done.  Events coming up in a week
to a month may be too short fuse, but with more lead time, things like
this should work out.  Also, it should make it easier to share travel
costs among events.

4.  We can make a nationwide effort to sell CD's of New Orleans
musicians.  They don't need to be there for CD sales to get them income.
This may need some kind of publicity and coordination, because many of
the record labels are "buy directly from the band" or other independent
companies.

I'm cc'ing the organizer of the New Orleans musicians headcount and the
addresses of Doreen Ketchens and Troy (Trombone Shorty) Andrews.  I saw
them in the late 1990's playing at a park bench in Jackson Square.  Some
kids would carry around a bucket for contributions by the audience.  It
was some of the best OKOM I've ever heard.  If my memory and research
are correct, Trombone Shorty was the kid who held a trumpet note for 10
minutes.  (I think that started when I said something to Doreen about
how few players I had heard on record or seen in person who could play
the Louis Armstrong solo with the held note on the Mahogany Hall Stomp.)
I don't think they are DJML'ers but we need to get coordination going
between the New Orleans OKOM musicians and the general OKOM community.


Stan Klein