[Dixielandjazz] Re: Strange Blues - indeed

[Craig I. Johnson]

Answer to Bill Haesler's comments on the lead sheet "crutch".
(Warning: It's long.)

Whoa there Oz-wald !!
I feel rather over-chastised.

Yes, you well should "regret this in the morning."
Some of us grew up in "East Gee--whiz" and never got to hear trad jazz til college.
Then we got many shots of Tiger Rag, the Dukes of Dixie repertoire and maybe
a shot or two of Sidney and Satch, but those weren't necessarily standouts in the 
record store vs. Goodman, Miller et.al and later Brubeck, Mulligan et.al and later
Elvis and the Big Bopper. We also didn't get a chance to list Ralph Sutton and 
Dick Carey as old mates nor play as often or as publicly as such an association
might imply.

(In addition to the issues raised below, I've not played as much jazz in
my adult life as I would have liked. A full time job as a computer programmer
and electrical eng. in a rather demanding company was required to support
myself, my wife and 6 six kids and send them to college (at least 5 of 'em).
(It also meant spending a lot of time on home-improvement and maintenance.)
Further, my wife thought it might be nice if I spent a little non-working time
with her and the aforementioned off-spring.  This reduced my exposure
to playing this music or even learning a large repertoire of the more complex
tunes.)

As pointed out by others, many of us play with musicians who, although
quite accomplished have played primarily other genres and therefor, tho
they may be able to play a solo the second chorus, cannot take the melody
(or lead) the first chorus as they may have never playedm or even heard the tune. 
This means that only the player who's familiar with the tune, (or has a chart of the melody
and chords) can lead off and that can restrict the lead to the players whose
primary genre has been trad. Some of my more "trad-oriented" colleagues
have played trad often, but with band leaders with the tendency to play a rather
restricted repertoire (e.g., ones who call for Bill Bailey and Tin Roof Blues on
every damned gig.) Thus, they may pay the style well and ad lib great solos, 
but have a limited trad repertoire. Before I came to Maine I played in one band 
whose leader was a really accomplished but trombone player, but a terribly lazy leader.. 
We must have constantly played the same 3 programs over and over,
(and we played 3 times a week.)
which is why I hate to play "Oh Dolly", Mame, Wonderful World, Tin Roof Blues
and the Saints.-- We played those EVERY gig.

Further, even those of us who may have played some of the old warhorses
(even) or that set of more obscure old tunes that make charming jazz, -- may not
have played them recently. This results in "what the hell comes next?"
if trying to perform one of the multiple section tunes like those of Jelly Roll,
I've played "the Chant" loads of times, but haven't played it in the last 6 yrs at
least and would like to have a quick glance at the lead sheet before attempting
to play lead on a re-exploration of that piece. Secondly, on that particular tune, I do not
want a total recreation of what Jelly Roll played, but there is a background
rhythm that  ends each of the solos taken on the section where those solos
are normally taken. I want that played each time!  I don't use an arrangement
for the tune, but the lead sheet would note that particular pattern and
the note "play this every time."
Hell, I even had a hard time
in my old band, to make everyone play that one unless I led it myself.
and that was WITH an arrangement loosely followed. Hence, MY solo
always lacked that rhythmic background by the rest of the band at
the end of my section. It would be even worse, with a new group
that had never, or hardly ever played it before. -- or the ones
who think every solo is a opportunity to "rest" if they're not the soloist.

 Larry spoke of the fact of not having a totally constant group of players and of the
fact that gigs are not frequent enough in some parts of the country
to make playing these tunes a frequent occurrence.

Other musicians, even those who have played a lot of trad, but
in different bands may have small sections of chord sequence not 
matching other musicians' who have played the same song. 
A lead sheet says, "this is the chord THIS band plays."

Finally, I hardly ever really read the whole lead sheet, but "the crutch"
comes in handy when you're trying to walk on a leg (actually a memory)
that at times gives out. (E.g. my recent gaff of leading a band into
the second portion of Big Bear Stomp when we had started on
Emperor Norton's Hunch (I hadn't played either for about 7 years.)

And finally, as to working it out yourself with records.... not all
my colleagues have extensive trad collections. And I can't force them
to build one up, nor have I the time, nor inclination to burn them
a copy of everythjing I want us to play. Nor can I even insist
that the "nurture their knowledge with hours of listening. Further, 
they might have more Mulligan or Miles than Morton in their collections. 
If I do a lead sheet I also quickly produce a midi file. At least that way I can get 
them to hear the basic melody and I give them something to play along with
if they need to to put the melody and chords into their  memory.

Yes it is "our music" originating here, but I dare say, I'd have
a hard time remembering all the 1740 tunes now in my leadsheet 
library. Hell I can't even remember some of the ones I played
regularly 20 years ago (or last week? - but that's another story).
.
Regards,
Craig Johnson