[Dixielandjazz] Jazz is not a museum piece . . .

Fri Dec 29 10:24:47 PST 2006

Blue haired or no haired folks sitting
around tapping their toes for $3.00 to $8.00 a seat and complaining
about the music is too loud or they don't have a Banjo so they are not
Traditional Jazz, or they didn't play such and such like Delbert and
the Dippity doos did it in 1933,

Hey Tom where do you find Seniors willing to pay $8.

Personally I get tired of seniors pleading poverty.  Since I am a Senior I 
know a lot of them and they afford what they want to afford.  The depression 
left scars on many people of my fathers generation and at least I can 
understand their tight ways but they are for the most part all passed on. 
My mother and father did not spend a lot of money on entertainment or non 
tangible things.  My mother thought that unless you had something in your 
hand at the end of the day you spent your money foolishly.

You can go to any casino in the country and walk down the line of slots and 
you will find the Blue hairs sitting there.  My wife and I attended a 
concert last year at $125 each.  Guess what, almost everyone there was in 
our age group.  I attended the Philharmonic Christmas concert  sponsored by 
AG Edwards.  Now you don't deal with that company unless you have a few 
spare bucks laying around.  What do you think was the predominant age group? 
A clue -- it wasn't the 20-30 year olds.

One of my friends who retired a year or so before me was extremely frugal. 
When we would go out to eat at the local burger emporium he would have the 
smallest cheapest burger and water.  That man has about every cent he ever 
made in the bank.

It is true that some and possibly many seniors are on fixed, poverty level 
incomes and need help.  To that end I will give a senior facility a price 
break if the majority of the people there are on Medicaid but what about the 
upscale senior residences that charge $6K and up a month per person.  They 
plead poverty too and everyone knows that by saving a buck they increase 
their corporate profits.

Personally I have run across a lot of seniors who can buy and sell most of 
us several times over who really believe that they are poor.  These are the 
same ones that will sit there and gripe about how much they paid in capitol 
gains last year or how much they enjoyed their cruse in the Bahamas or 
gambling trip to Tunica.  I have toured on the Mississippi and American 
Queen steamers and almost everyone there is over 60.  They are paying from 
$350 to $1600 a day for those cruses each.  There is a band leader here that 
takes those cruses several times a year, takes a suite cabin,  eats with the 
captain,  who is a very wealthy man and to hear him tell it hasn't a cent to 
his name.

I have played for events that were subsidized by cities and the Seniors pay 
maybe $2 or $3, sometimes less, to get in.  They have lunch and get some 
entertainment.  Some of those people, who I know live better than I, are 
sitting there sucking up an almost free afternoon. This is right at the 
price of a burger at most restaurants!

I think that Senior poverty is pretty much a myth but many seniors even 
though they are wealthy or have good incomes believe it.  On the other hand 
I guess I don't blame people for taking advantage of a good deal.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <tcashwigg at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2006 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Jazz is not a museum piece . . .

> It's actually easier than that guys:
>
> All we have to do is expose new younger audiences to it and it will
> survive very well and take care of itself much better than the Jazz
> Preservation Societies have done with all their valiant efforts to keep
> it localized and private club oriented, while the musicians themselves
> have sat around on their butts and done nothing but accept that as the
> STANDARD of the Industry and be happy that they had built at least
> enough of a reputation to continue to be invited as an ALL STAR  even
> if they can't bring their own Band because it would just cost too much
> and they would have to raise the admission price too high and the
> audience of yesteryear would simply not pay that for good and quality
> entertainment even though they do pay $3.50 a gallon for gasoline, that
> they used to pay .15 cents for  and $3.00 a loaf for the bread they
> used to get for .05 a loaf.
>
> Musicians are supposed to be better at Math that That,  So much for
> that Myth Huh ??
>
> Ask me If I would rather go play to a screaming crowd  of young Turks
> with ears, lips and eyelids pierced and wearing funny clothes willing
> to pay $35.00 to $ 50.00 each to attend a concert or would I like to
> play for a bunch of nice polite Blue haired or no haired folks sitting
> around tapping their toes for $3.00 to $8.00 a seat and complaining
> about the music is too loud or they don't have a Banjo so they are not
> Traditional Jazz, or they didn't play such and such like Delbert and
> the Dippity doos did it in 1933,  Hell folks we weren't even born then,
> and most of us never heard of DELBERT TILL WE DISCOVERED THIS LIST and
> eventually figured out what OKOM music was, and we are a minority
> amongst the 600 members. here.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Tom Wiggins   Who played Rock & Roll in a Pizza Parlor when they fired
> the banjo band, and now only goes to by take out Pizza from a take and
> Bake, which by the way is still a cheap meal at about $10.00, to take
> it home and drink your own store bought Beer.