[Dixielandjazz] opening a can of worms

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Cees and listmates,

I must say, some of the best bands I've heard are in Prague, Budapest and
Milan. But to say which one is better than the others is so subjective that
I cannot even venture a guess. It depends so much on taste too. Some are
more "pop", some more in the "street band" mode, some more refined and maybe
even classically trained. If they're playing in tune and in the groove, I
enjoy them all, and trying to rate them only takes away from the enjoyment.

I was astounded to find that in Prague, a city that is not particularly
wealthy to my knowledge, there was a hotel in the center of town that
featured a 7 piece Dixieland band every night -- yep, 7 nights a week. On
one of my visits they had two bands-- one upstairs and one down. Try to find
a gig like that in the US!

OK, now I'm going back to the Lebanese border, where it's safe.

Blessings from Israel,

Elazar
Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537


-----Original Message-----
From: Cees van den Heuvel [mailto:heu at bart.nl]
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 2:09 AM
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] opening a can of worms


Europe embraced the jazz legacy in the forties, started to copy and then
started developing jazz on its own. Reading DJML I found out there's
a lot of unjustified patriotism in the U.S.A. I think the level of jazz in
Europe is much higher than in the U.S.A. Most bands in Europe
are just superiour to U.S.A.-bands. I know we all have to pay our
debts to the originators, but it is time to see the truth, so that
we can communicate on the right level.

Ducking,

Cees van den Heuvel
http://www.revivaljassband.nl