[Dixielandjazz] Those Beads........!

[Jeffmatthews111 at aol.com]

Hi All,
 
Well, my band played a jazz dinner last night and because people around  here 
are a little shy about getting up and dancing, I introduced the Mardi  Gras 
Beads on the second set. 
 
They worked!  For all the ladies that got up and danced they were  handed a 
set of those beads. So by introducing that fun element we had the dance  floor 
full for the rest of the evening. Girlfriends and wives of the band also  got 
up and showed how much fun it can be to get involved with the  music.
 
I am very happy to hear from any of you fellow musicians who have  tips about 
how turn this great music into an entertainment so we can all  have fun - 
audience and the bands. Most of the audience we had last night (young  and older) 
will not have had much of a chance to regularly hear this music live.  Maybe 
we converted a few more to OKOM and showed that jazz has many acceptable  
faces.
 
Thank you to Steve for the Beads idea.
 
Jeff Matthews
The Southern Sounds Jazzmen