[Dixielandjazz] Who is Jim Cullum? AND If you play it - they will come.

[Steve Barbone]

on 12/23/06 11:00 AM, Gluetje1 at aol.com at Gluetje1 at aol.com wrote:

>Neat article from Steve that I snipped from.  NKOM, not OKOM needs to be how
we're thinking and branding.  >NKOM = New kind of old music.  Of course, the
young don't know what DL is and when we tell a younger booker we >play DL,
we likely have not communicated anything so how can we expect the job?  So
market that your group >brings fresh, energizing, driving, interpretations
to quintessential American (put in your own adjective if not U.S.) >party
music.  Then do that when you perform.  (Better dumb-down the word
quintessential also. LOL)

„I think another important element of why Firecracker Jazz Band  is
succeeding may be that they are mixing younger „and older musicians in band
composition.

„And meditate on their name, their descriptive adverbs--what's more new/old
than jumping and jiving, being a
> firecracker.

>I also think language shapes reality.  As we think and speak, so we are.


The two threads mentioned in the subject line go hand in hand. Let's look at
some of the reality they present and the positives about bringing the music
to young people, rather than thinking it can't be, or isn't being done

Tom Wiggins, for much of his musical career, was not tuned into the OKOM
scene. Even though he is an old fart. But when he got here, because he
markets with the best of the marketers around, he successfully took "The
Ambassadors of New Orleans" to the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel where
they were enthusiastically received by crowds of young people.  And he now
does it in the USA with St Gabriel. Since he was wired into the Rock scene
previously, little wonder that he did not know who Jim Cullum, or the rest
of us were. That he knows now, and is an enthusiastic marketer is what's
important.

Jim Cullum's band has since the 1960's played with fire and enthusiasm that
reaches both young and old at their regular gig in San Antonio and over the
radio to hundreds of thousands of people every year.

Barbone Street has target marketed OKOM to the young for over 10 years in
the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. Reaching hundreds of thousands of young
people yearly at public concerts, school concerts, swing dances, fraternity
parties etc.  For the newbies on the list, I've been posting about making a
living playing to the young for 5 years. Perhaps more importantly, I noticed
that when my marketing efforts dropped to zero because  I was playing 4 days
a week at the Showboat in Atlantic City, my young people gigs dropped
dramatically, even though I had the time to play them also. I'm correcting
that now since the AC gig died after 15 months and it and the other Harrah's
owned Casinos there are about to be bought out.

Boilermaker Jazz Band has successfully marketed to Swing dance groups in
several Eastern and Central states for many years. The young people love
them as evidenced by their enormous following . Proof? Google for
<Boilermaker Jazz Band + Swing Dance>

Several bands from the Washington DC area are now successfully marketing to
the young swing dance groups there.

Joe Hopkins has successfully marketed OKOM to the young at swing dances in
the Arizona area for MANY years.  He even brought the Boondockers there for
a session and the kids loved them.

Firecracker is now successfully marketing to the young in Asheville NC per
the recent post.

Bob Ringwald has recently posted about a Swing Dance gig he and Fulton
Street are playing in California. Perhaps the first of many?

Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, according to a recent press release, is expanding
their swing dance venue and swing dance band performances because of 2006
success with that venue.

Young players are surfacing as "attractions". Jonathan, Bria, Brett, the
young ones in Firecracker, Capitol Focus Jazz Band, numerous youth bands
performing with the help of the Sacramento Trad Jazz Society, etc., etc.,
etc.

IAJE, through the prodding of Cullum, Mississippi Rag, American Rag and
others is featuring more OKOM next month in NYC, after Cullum led the way in
2006.

And there are a lot more positives out there. Dare I include that Woody
Allen's Bands have been successfully performing to appreciative audiences
since the 1970s. Through his steady club gig in NYC and his tours.

And we certainly should mention that Woody Allen's movies have included OKOM
and American Songbook tunes as background music in most of his movies.
Consider "Sleeper" circa 1973 where he played background with Preservation
Hall, as well as with his own Funeral & Ragtime Orchestra. And consider
"Sweet & Lowdown" circa 1999 with all that wonderful OKOM music played by
current musical stars. He has reached millions. Like him or not, he has done
a hell of a lot for the genre.

No doubt many more positives. Please forgive me if my old brain left out
YOUR story. Please send it in.

Point being that "Marketing" does indeed make a difference. And "Target
Marketing" makes a huge difference in getting the music out there.

And even though we are making great progress in doing so, like Wiggins says,
we need to do more. There are 30 million seniors out there still left to
reach and many more young folks.

So much potential, so little time.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone