[Dixielandjazz] Preservation ? Creativity? Rule # 1

[Zenith at ANS]

Dear All,

I was following the Preservation and Creativity thread which in general
terms I agree with however I feel that another viewpoint should also be
considered.  That of "Joe Public" rather than that of purist (mainly
American on this list) jazz thinkers/players who are perhaps saying 'how
dare you' trying to copy our national treasure. (e.g. Louis Armstrong).  

If one takes his OKOM hat off for a minute and considers himself simply an
entertainer (say in a SHOW BAND) rather than a musician we have found that
in practice we bring the house down when our trumpet player Mike Hallam does
a Satchmo number.  Many CDs are sold with impulse buying from tourists.  How
dare an Aussie try to emulate Louis even with scat singing and a like
rendition that has the non-jazz audience riveted?  A chorus of harmonica
seems to also get the younger set smiling as well.  I know that even some
Sydneysiders (on this list) don't like it even though I think we do it very
well with Mike singing it to perfection plus 'that's all folks at the end.'


I reiterate that to a certain extent we are playing for what our "Joe
Public" wants to hear (although we still control the situation) rather than
what politically correct jazz fans and other musicians consider we should
play or not play.  I think I said once before on this list that our best
sales for CDs are to "Joe Public" NOT jazz fans.  We will play WWW and
perhaps Hello Dolly at the Mardi Graz in Edinburgh again this year and try
to beat our 2003 (125 sales to tourists) record for this one gig.  The
public like to hear it so what is wrong with trying to capitalise on this.
I must admit however, I am having difficulty getting Midnight in Moscow and
Samantha onto our playing sets this year as with 12 CD out and about 170
numbers on CD we need to look further for new tracks for our 13th CD!!  I
remember suggesting to Steve Barbone that he get a CD out and I now see that
he likewise has decided that this is a good income trick for touring bands. 

Tom (jazzman rather than musician) Wood
Sydney Zenith JB
www.sydneyzenith.com