[Dixielandjazz] festivals

[Jim Kashishian]

 I am with you though, I think I prefer clubs to festivals, though festivals
have a certain kind of energy you won't always find in clubs.
Mike


The one & only experience I have had with a festival was the Dresden Jazz
Festival, the last one before the Berlin Wall came down.

We were flown into East Berlin via Rome on a Russian jet, then bussed to
Dresden.  In Dresden, we couldn't go anywhere, whatsoever, without one of
the "guides" (plain cloths police) coming with us.  "Oh, I'm just going out
for an ice cream", I said.  The answer was "Oh, I'd love an ice cream"!  

The crowd response was fantastic, but we were bussed here & there for
different gigs, some on the street, some for 10,000 people, some in a horse
drawn cart (sans our pianist, of course), and were kept extremely busy.

Festivals are just concerts, of course, so the "magic" that might happen is
limited by the situation....play your best tunes, don't take as many risks,
etc.  More chance in a club, where the atmo is more relaxed.  

Funny story (exposing the ever present "naïve" American...meaning me!):
When I told my wife we were going to Dresden, she said..."Oh, china".
(Note, as she was speaking, not writing, I wouldn't have seen the small
letter on the word china.)  I said, "no, I think it's in Germany"!
Apparently, Dresden was once famous for its china.   :>

Jim