[Dixielandjazz] Strange Gig

[David Richoux]

Jack,

 From your description they should have been very happy with the  
music!  Wedding bands from parts of India sound like that ;-0

There are several CDs of Indian brass bands - "Wedding Bands From  
Rajasthan" is a bit more traditional, "Disco Bhangra" is a bit more  
modern  with "Boom Box" DJs (heavily amplified.)

An interesting article on the subject:
http://indiacurrents.com/news/view_article.html? 
article_id=0678e4413ef7377f950743b1458dc4cc
http://tinyurl.com/pnya2

  (there is a really cheezy guitar & vocals version:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xob1WJOa5Js&mode=related&search=bollywood% 
20disco%20dancer
http://tinyurl.com/ng33g

Dave Richoux

On Aug 6, 2006, at 11:08 AM, J. D. Bryce wrote:

> So we start playing as they're getting ready to parade. The mother  
> of groom is unhappy with our music. It's not what she expected.   
> Apparently, she had described what she wanted to the booking agent,  
> and he told her what she was looking for was a "dixieland band."   
> She agreed without having any idea what a trad jazz band sounded  
> like. The agent booked us.  Now she's unhappy.  She wants us to  
> play along with recorded music she has on a boom box sitting on the  
> tailgate of a station wagon.  The music is Indian ragas with sitars  
> chimes bells and God knows what all else in thirteen-seven tempos  
> and in keys and scales that don't even correspond to western  
> music.  Littlefield tells her it is impossible.  She wants it anyway.
>
> Lacking a choice, we play along with the boom box ragas.  The  
> predictable result is cacaphony.  The parade starts. The girls  
> dance, complete with finger cimbals in front of the costumed groom  
> on the horse with the umbrella over his head.  The parade lasts  
> perhaps ten minutes. I cannot remember what tunes we played, but  
> there were up tempoed with no solos.