[Dixielandjazz] Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 48, Issue 63

[Gluetje1 at aol.com]

I thought your whole post was healthy reasoning, Steve.  For me,  I'd rather 
have a blue-haired audience than no audience.  There's a plus or  two.  They 
generally are well-behaved, usually will greet you expectantly  and give you a 
chance to win them over.  They may want "their jazz" to stay  on fairly narrow 
tracks, but often if you explain a bit about what you are going  to try and 
ask them to vote their approval or not with their applause, they are  honored 
by that approach.  I don't call it jazz with the duo performances I  sometimes 
do, but we do ask the audience to vote on whether to keep a tune in  our 
repertoire or toss it out and they love getting asked.  Most of the  time, thank 
goodness, our initial judgement has been good enough that they tell  us to keep 
it.
 
My Hair Doesn't Look Good Blue, So Conducting Other Experiments,
Ginny
P.S.  I hope, on occasion, to be one of the few that's contributing to  
keeping the jazz of 1915 - 1930 a musical event that still finds  and pleases new 
audiences.
 
In a message dated 12/29/2006 2:27:00 P.M. Central Standard Time,  
slholzer at iquest.net writes:

When all  is said and done, we play the hands we're dealt. If  the future 
of  jazz must rest temporarily on a few souls, then that is how it will 
be. We  may wish otherwise, but we can't really hold others accountable 
for not  seeing things the way we do or having the same motivations. If I 
have to  choose, I will be grateful for the company thus far and let it 
go at that.  But if I can find a defibrillator that starts the old hearts 
pumping  again, I'll use it...

Steve Holzer