[Dixielandjazz] Elevator music

[Robert Smith]

After a bit of research I found out that an "elevator" is a kind of mobile 
room that carries people from one floor to another in large buildings. It's 
a bit of a daft name really because an elevator both elevates and 
de-elevates. So I assume that in the USA they actually pipe "music" into 
these elevators. We're lucky in Norway, all one hears is the gentle hum of 
the machinery, but we do get bombarded with "elevator music" from local and 
commercial radio, but at least there's an on/off switch within reach.

Luckily, there is a generally large interest in jazz, and the National 
Broadcasting Corporation sends two or three weekly radio broadcasts as well 
as a television programme about once a month. There was even talk of a radio 
canal sending jazz twenty-four hours a day, but this hasn't materialised 
yet. We've had the Ken Burns series, two Billie Holiday programmes, Diana 
Krall in Paris, an Oscar Peterson documentary, "Djangomania", Carmen McRae 
on "Women in Jazz", as well as two Norwegian produced series on the history 
of jazz. We have several jazz festivals during the year, and these are 
covered by the media, although dixieland bands are getting a bit thin on the 
ground, so these are generally used now in the street parades that accompany 
the festival concerts.

Cheers

Bob Smith