[Dixielandjazz] Competent musician or competent performer?

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Jazz Fans,

I have a few minutes this morning so I guess maybe it's time I jump into the
fray on this one.

The other night I attended a show that was advertised as "exceptional young
performers". It seems the promoters were their parents, if you get my drift
... There was alleged to be a jazz trio, a funk band, a Dixieland band and a
girl singer. As relates to this topic, these bands varied greatly in
competence.

The jazz trio was the best, but perhaps partly because one of the kids was
sick and his father played in his place. Now, I hate modern jazz, and this
was no exception. They played pieces by Monk, Parker, and other top names,
on guitar, upright bass and drums, and each of the players was obviously
skilled on his instrument. But, sorry folks, to me it sounded like 45
minutes of random notes. I could discern no difference between the songs, no
melodies or features that I might recognize next time I hear it. I'm not
even sure if they were in different keys. The drummer was the best one. When
he took a solo, it actually took me a moment to realize that the others had
stopped playing. In short, they played trash -- IMHO -- but they played it
well. However, as is usual with this genre, there was almost no interaction
with the audience. Other than announcing the songs, they said nothing, and
during the songs they were either looking at one another or staring into
space. I was glad when they finished ... that is, until the next group came
on.

Now, I don't know from funk, but the funk group were 3 young teens on
guitar, electric bass and drums, and these guys just couldn't play. The bass
player was obviously trying to drive the band, but the other guys weren't
keeping up with him. I don't think they were playing together at all, and
this is not merely my hostile description of funk. Had it been acoustic, it
might have been cute. But electrified, this group was painful. They said
nothing at all to the audience, not a word, and the lead guitar had his back
to us. In the middle of the set, for some unclear reason they all crouched
down around the amp, maybe futzing with wires or knobs or something, for
over 5 minutes. Various adults came to the stage, looked  and left. Finally
they emerged with another guitar player hooked up. No explanation for the
delay, no apology, and no patter to fill the dead time. And with 4 players
they were worse than with 3.

Next was a teenage gal singing Joanie Mitchell songs. Her voice was quite
good, her guitar playing borderline OK. She also timidly announced names of
songs, but you couldn't hear what she said, and she spent the rest of the
time looking at her fingers (on the chord hand). It was a shame someone else
didn't accompany her so she could just sing, which she did quite nicely.

Finally my heart sank as the alleged Dixieland band I had suffered 2 hours
for ascended the stage -- 2 saxophones, a trombone, and a guy with a snare
drum. One of the saxes doubled on electric keyboard, and the other on
clarinet. The kid playing trombone was an excellent player, and the obvious
leader of the group. Both sax players stopped playing periodically during
songs for no apparent reason, but each one did better on his alternate
instrument, and for my money I would have preferred keyboard and clarinet to
the saxes anyway for Dixie. However, they did not play one Dixie song, and
their style was not particularly Dixieland, though there was some multi-part
improvising. I had discreetly brought a cornet with me in case there was a
jam session after the show (but I did come to listen, not to play). When I
saw they had no trumpet, and some of the people knew who I am, I momentarily
thought Doctor Jazz might get invited to sit in. Once they began the first
song, I could tell I don't want to touch this one with a 10-foot pole. These
guys also said nothing to the audience, not even the song titles. Their
performance had moments of quality, but except for the kid on the bone, it
was very uneven. And when they finished their last song, they looked at each
other as if wondering whether to continue playing, then turned to the
audience and said, "We're finished." Then they got up and packed their stuff
and left, and the show was over.

The point of all this is that I agree with Steve Barbone that there is a
level of competence that other musicians can and should recognize and
respect even if we detest their musical tastes and style, or their
personalities. Audiences may not be able to articulate it, but they will
also sense that someone knows what he is doing, or not. When a group plays
in the groove, the audience can feel it.

What I have not heard in this discussion, though I didn't read a lot of it,
is anything about distinguishing between musicianship and showmanship. There
are great musicians who are incompetent performers, and there are average
musicians (and I put myself in this class) who can deliver decent if not
great music, and in the process can charm and delight their audience. When
someone has both, you have a star. Now no amount of showmanship can cover a
bad performance, unless it is meant to be comedy and not music, and then
even that could work. But popular audiences often like popular music better
than the more sophisticated stuff anyway, and someone who can deliver it and
put it into a good show has half a chance of making a living in this
business.

My 2 shekels' worth,

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