[Dixielandjazz] COUNTRY JAZZ

[Phil O'Rourke]

Tom & others

I do a two hour Traditional Jazz radio program every fortnight and one of
the things I love doing is "crossing" tunes. I will announce a tune as a
"jazz standard" and then play a country version of it e.g. Chinatown by
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant. I also will play something along the lines of
"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" by Wendell Brunious or some other "country
standard by a jazz (why are mainly "New Orrleans style") band.
Listeners will ring in and ask (for both types of band/song) "Where did you
get that from. I've never heard that before". They are so closeted that they
won't listen to another sort of music unless it is thrust on them.
The late great Roger Janes had a band in a Sydney pub for years and
interspersed traditional jazz, rhythm & blues and country songs all the
time.
There is so much good music (and so much more crap) out there that we should
at least not write something off until we have heard it.
I know in the hit parades of my younger days (daze??) there were some good
songs (and not just in my opinion); they are still being played. The crap
has been forgotten.
A good jazz band should be able to play tunes that had their roots in
country, rock, rhythm & blues etc. Jazz is not a song list. Jazz is a style
of playing songs.

But the again you all know that. :-)

I am often asked what sort of music I like. My standard reply is "Music I
can listen to with my feet."

I've had my little rave.

Phil O'Rourke
Australia