[Dixielandjazz] Swing Dancers

[David Richoux]

Paul,

Not to defend/interpret Steve, but I think where he was going was  
about the bands that were in the "new-swing" trend of the late 1980s  
to mid 1990s (with a few survivors to date.) Bands that were made up  
of musicians under age 30 (at the time,) played driving swing & jump  
versions of older songs or totally new songs.

(These were not the so called "youth bands" that Sacramento has been  
presenting.)

I can remember comments (positive and negative) on these sort of non- 
traditional bands since I have been on DJML (and that was around 1996.)

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Royal Crown Review,  
Squirrel Nut Zippers, New Morty Show, Lavey Smith, many others...

I don't have a complete list of all bands ever to attend, but it  
seems to me that very few of these bands played Sacramento - I am  
sure for many different reasons. I think the only group that is  
somewhat in this category that has been to Sacramento more than once  
is Swing Session (AKA Stompy Jones.)

Now the "new-swing" fad has settled down a bit.  I don't know how  
well a headline act like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy would do at Sacramento  
- they certainly sold a lot of tickets for a recent  concert in  
Northern California (and it wasn't all young folks in the audience!)  
I do think it was a major flaw in the festival booking to ignore a  
significant segment of pop/OKOM that could have drawn a whole lot of  
younger folks from the Bay Area and even Southern Cal (if it had been  
marketed properly.

Thee is yet another wave of alternative musicians that have taken to  
playing new versions of old jazz and blues, adapting a few modern  
styles and instrumentation. I think some of them would fit in well at  
a festival like Sacramento, given proper scheduling and marketing. It  
might be hard to convince a lot of younger people that the festival  
could actually be interesting to them since it has such a long  
history of being more than a bit "old-fashioned" ;-)

Dave Richoux
(BTW, I have performed about 15 years at Sacramento in 3 different  
bands since 1978 - and I have attended most of the years I didn't  
play. It is great but it could be a lot better!)


On Oct 24, 2006, at 4:45 PM, Edgerton, Paul A wrote:

> Steve Barbone wrote:
>>> What were the rest of us doing for the rest of the 1990's to take
> advantage of the interest or should I say revival of swing dancing?
>
> snip

>>> Seems to me most jazz festivals, including Sacramento, were also
> ignoring the genre and the obvious opportunity swing presented for
> increasing the audience for OKOM.
>
> What?  Steve, I'm not sure you know what you're talking about  
> here.  Did
> you come to the Jubilee -- even once -- during the 90s?  Sacramento  
> had
> swinging bands like Allotria, Jazz Band Ball Orchestra, James Dapogney
> and many others since I first attended in 1982.
>
> I have attended most years since then, and they have always had bands
> that appeal to dancers. Yes, even without been told, intoned,  
> exhorted,
> preached at and harassed to do so.  Most of the people who actually
> deserve credit for this achievement are modest and very quiet about  
> it.
>
> We have been, for the most part, very candid in discussing the
> shortcomings of the festival circuit.  We normally don't spend much  
> time
> congratulating ourselves for the good things we have done.  But there
> have been many more successes than failures.
>
> Come see for yourself.  Even *you* might be impressed.  And we'd
> probably let you sit in.
>
> -- Paul Edgerton
>
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