[Dixielandjazz] It's Trad, Dad

[Charles Suhor]

Hi, Amkek--

Thanks for the good news. Lucky for other nations that young and old  
audiences there are tuning in to OKOM in large numbers. We're less kind  
in the USA to the earlier music styles, in terms of popular support.  
Many listmates say, truthfully I'm sure, that they can promote their  
bands to young audiences and do get good responses from them, but  
that's far from a strong popular base like the ones you describe. New  
ORleans would seem to be an exception, since younger and older players  
(and older fans--tourists, mostly) go there to listen, play, and  
preserve and develop older styles. The problem as I see it is that it's  
mandatory for tourists who don't give a hoot about jazz to go to Pres.  
Hall or The Palm Court, have a great time, maybe buy some souvenir CDs  
that to show off to friends, then forget about it while they tune into  
American Idol or whatever else they normally like. None of this is to  
say that the music is doomed but I don't think it's likley to gain  
large grass roots fans here. Those who love it will be a niche audience  
and an enduring subculture fandom for the players.

Charlie

On Dec 30, 2006, at 5:05 PM, Marek Boym wrote:

> Hello Charlie,
> In Europe they still make it!
> I attendeed the Enkhuizen Jazz Festival two years ago. That small  
> (1994 pop. 16,037) Dutch town has several jazz bands, the best known  
> of which is the Herringtown Jazz Band.  But, more important, one band  
> - The Hot Revival Jazz Band - is young!  I had heard them before in  
> Bude, England, but here they were on their home ground.  On the Pub  
> Crawl night I went to the bar where they usually play.  Wow!  At 63, I  
> felt ancient!  And the place was so packed I could not turn to face  
> the band!  The young public not only enjoyed the music, but actually  
> knew most songs played, and often chanted with the band.
>
> At another venue - paid - I had a chat with a teenager.  When he heard  
> I was from Israel, he enquired about jazz in Israel, and then said:  
> "Probably same as in Enkhuizen, I guess."  He had never been abroad,  
> or even away from Enkhuzen, and was very surprised to hear that jazz  
> was not as popular in other places as in his home town!
> So, perhaps jazz has emigrated and is alive and well in Europe (and  
> other places, Japan for example)/
> Cheers
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Suhor" <csuhor at zebra.net>
> To: "Marek Boym" <nmboym at 012.net.il>
> Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 7:43 PM
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] It's Trad, Dad
>
>
>>
>> Yes, Marek, that's part of the interesting contrast. In the U.S.   
>> revival of the 40s through early 50s, Dixieland/early jazz, etc., was  
>>  never really the rage. It had strong and widespread popular  
>> subculture  support while the dying strains of the swing era and  
>> plenty of novelty  tunes dominated the Hit Parade. By 1955 or so it  
>> was a lot of shallow  rock as noted below, with early good R&B making  
>> some inroads, and Elvis  killing off both swing and Dixieland as  
>> popular favorites for all time  (with the exception of occasional  
>> one-time hits like Midnight in Moscow  or Stranger on the Shore). By  
>> the time the Beatles invaded around '63,  the combination that was  
>> represented in the movie would have been  unthinkable in US popular  
>> culture, as bizarre as a scholars' convention  on Aquinas and  
>> Sartre..
>>
>> Charlie
>>
>>
>> On Dec 30, 2006, at 3:46 AM, Marek Boym wrote:
>>
>>> Trad was THE popular music in the UK until the Beattles came around.
>>> Cheers
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Suhor" <csuhor at zebra.net>
>>> To: "Dan Augustine" <ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu>
>>> Cc: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>; "Price, Monte"  
>>> <monte.price at quaternity.com>
>>> Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 8:29 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] It's Trad, Dad
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Strange, indeed. It was odd for me as an American to try to  
>>>> understand
>>>> that, unlike here, there was obviously an audience in 1962 in  
>>>> England
>>>> that simultaneously dug trad/Dixieland and the lite rock that made  
>>>> up
>>>> most of the rest of the movie. Young folks here who were digging
>>>> Frankie Avalon, Gary U.S. Bonds, Chubby Checker, and early bubble  
>>>> gum
>>>> rock, doo-wop, etc., weren't usually interested in Dixieland at  
>>>> all. I
>>>> was grateful to see this unique little period piece, though, and  
>>>> there
>>>> was plenty of OKOM. Any hints as to whether the chick with the male
>>>> voice was lip-syncing?
>>>>
>>>> Charlie
>>>>
>>>> On Dec 29, 2006, at 10:53 PM, Dan Augustine wrote:
>>>>>  i immediately thrust off my
>>>>> drunken stupor (well, some of it) to watch this very entertaining
>>>>> (but a little strange) film. \
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>>>> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
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