[Dixielandjazz] The OKOM "product"

[Gary Kiser]

Cees van den Heuvel wrote:

> *It's French! Parts of France speak German.

Well, only the Alsace region to be exact.  Actually, Alsace also speaks 
Alsace, a strange dialect that sounds like a mix of French and German.  
I spent 6 days at the Münster Jazz Festival last May.  When I 'listened 
in' on locals speaking 'their' language, I could understand 1 in 3 
words.  Strange stuff.

Down in the extreme south-west of France, they speak Basque.  In the 
extreme north-west, they speak Breton.  And, in a large area about 200 
km south of where I live, they speak Occiton.  There are many other such 
dialects.  As General DeGaule said in the '50s (but, in French); "How 
can you expect a country that produces 2000 sorts of cheese to speak the 
same language."  Or, something like that.

Now closer to home, well, my old home.  Look at most of the wines in 
California.  They have names like Merlot, Sauvignon, Chablis, etc.  
Hmmm, doesn't sound like Calibeachtalk to me.  When you transplant a 
certain cépage, you keep the original name in respect of the species of 
the grape.

I'm still collecting my thoughts for my post concerning jazz in Europe.  
It ought to be good.  Perhaps the best post ever made to this list.  
Peter Lovric would be so proud of me.  Put on your safety belts and hang on.

All the best, Gary