[Dixielandjazz] Misunderstanding Old Tunes - Racist Lyrics?

[Steve Barbone]

As an aside, when we first started to play "That's Why They Call Me Shine",
we had two black players in the band. They refused to play it because they
thought it was a racist tune and demeaned their race. (In fact, most people,
black and white, seemed to think it was racist)

After I explained it, they immediately embraced it. It was then that I
decided to carefully explain the meaning of the tune, the composer and the
show "His Honor The Barber" along the lines previously posted.

We now play it on every gig after a short preface about it being a
"signifying" tune and the first tune in jazz, to my knowledge, that was a
parody of racism and racists.

Ditto for "Darktown Strutters Ball". Bottom line is that neither tune is
racist unless one infers it based upon ignorance of who wrote them, why they
were written and what they were written about.

Today, many blacks in our audiences compliment us for both our music and for
the manner in which we present it.

Perhaps in these days of PC carried to ridiculous extremes, we need a little
more rational dialog?

Heck, even President Bush used the word "shit" in a conversation with Prime
Minister Tony Blair. :-) VBG

Cheers,
Steve Barbone