[Dixielandjazz] Relevant Dixieland

[Steve Barbone]

I was asked the following question off list and thought the answer might
explain better what Dixieland relevance is, IMO, of course. :-) VBG

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


> I have been at least skimming the recent thread about relevant music for
> the younger people, less music by dead musicians, Oliver not being
> relevant, etc. etc. etc., yet you are pushing events like that birthday
> bash for Armstrong put on by some young, new owners of the place where
> it occurs etc.  How do you reconcile that the older musicians on
> "scratchy" disks are not relevant with your own jobs honoring them and
> pushing the fact that many or most of the customers are under 40?

The 2 day Louis Armstrong Birthday Bash, featuring us, has been ongoing for
7 years now on the weekend closest to his birth. At one of the top 100 jazz
night clubs in the USA. (According to a "Jazziz" magazine poll)

I have promoted the hell out of it, and the reason it sells is because even
today, folks respond to the name "Louis Armstrong". However, what they
respond to is music from his "All Star" years. The tune they most remember
and enjoy is "Hello Dolly". Secondly, "Blueberry Hill", thirdly "Kiss to
Build A Dream On", etc. Or they remember him from the movie "High Society"
with Bing Crosby.

They do not (except for us old folks) know a damn thing about Hot 5, Hot 7
records. They do not know about his years with King Oliver, or Fletcher
Henderson, or the mediocre bands he fronted in the late 1930s.

So I promote the name Louis Armstrong . . . and his birthday. (105 this
year) But we do not play the "old stuff". What we play is updated,
evolutionary Dixieland and a few tunes he is still associated with like
Indiana, Struttin With Some BBQ, Shine, etc. All in the 4/4 swing based
rhythm that he pioneered in the 1920s, refined in the 1930s, and used with
piano/double bass/swing drummer from 1947 onward till his passing. That
music is relevant to young people.

We also sell his love of life, sexiness (4 wives, numerous girlfriends),
Swiss Kriss, Marihuana, Beads, and the general double entendre of jazz. And
we sell quotes from his admirers like Miles Davis (kids knowa bout him) who
said: You can't play jazz today without playing something Louis played."

Etc., etc., etc. In short, we are selling his legend, his mystique, and his
influence on jazz. But not selling Potato Head Blues, or all that early
stuff because the mass audience, and kids, are totally ignorant of it. And
we are earthy jazz musicians, not art historians.

Cheers,
Steve