[Dixielandjazz] Red Sea Jazz festival

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hi Folks:

Still fighting off the Jet lag, from a very long trip, but a wonderful 
experience nonetheless.

Steve has already given a very good description of the Journey and no 
matter what anyone might think of him being arrogant and bragging in 
his story, I pretty much concur with it.   There were eight of us on 
this venture and I can assure you we are all going to say much the same 
thing with little if any difference.  Steve got home earlier than I did 
so he has a few hours up on me to recover, :))

We were indeed greeted and taken care of with class and style not 
unlike many other world class festivals I have had the honor of playing 
outside the USA.  You see although I have preached it until I am Blue 
in the Face, Outside the USA Jazz, Blues and Black Gospel Music is 
considered to be the USA's  ONLY CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CULTURE.   
Therefore running an organization called Ambassadors of American 
Culture is a privilege and honor for me, and one which I take very 
seriously.

when Preservation Hall Jazz Band cancelled their appearance at this 
festival because of the conflict situation, it simply closed a door for 
them and opened one for me.   This Festival has had my promotional 
materials for St. Gabriel's for at least a year, and I had received a 
note form the festival director that he would contact me in the future 
when he saw an opportunity to invite us.

Here was his opportunity, and he did so with one exception, he wanted 
me to alter the music of our normal show to try and replace the 
Preservation Hall Jazz Band Show.    Why?  because his understanding of 
Traditional Jazz is only Preservation Hall Jazz Band,  because they 
enjoy the best Worldwide Name recognition in Traditional jazz.    Now I 
had the same problems with some of my regular players as PHJB had, they 
were afraid to go because of the war, and a couple more of them have 
teaching careers that required them to be back in the class rooms and 
prohibited them form going on such short notice.

Many of you have read my personal opinions about the PHJB in the past 
on this list, and they are exactly that, "My personal Opinions"
and some of those guys are friends of mine, and I never ever meant any 
disrespect to any one of them personally.   That being said, for me to 
get a call to replace them on short notice and have to bypass my own 
personal highly opinionated show of Traditional New Orleans music as 
presented by Saint Gabriel's and agree to present a Show closer to PHJB 
was still viewed by me as a unique opportunity to get a hip modern 
Traditional Jazz Show on the map in a new market.

Now I know that the producer of this Festival is a staunch hard core 
BeBop Jazz player and lover of that style of music, so I knew I would 
have a hard sell to convince him that Saint Gabriel's regular show was 
exactly what his festival needed for a shot in the arm and to turn his 
bored audience upside down.   ( not unlike my words to many USA 
Traditional & Dixieland Jazz Festivals for the past fifteen years who 
did not buy it either).   Therefore being a businessman, I agreed to 
deliver him what he thought he really wanted, and at the same time 
convincing him that he need not worry about the music, because I would 
deliver him a much better show than he had just lost, and that his 
audience would certainly not ask for their money back because they did 
not get to see PHJB again.

He was of course worried because I was bringing players from all over 
the USA and we were not gong to rehearse the show before arriving.   
What did I tell him to relieve his fears ?   simply that I had chosen 
players who have been playing this music for at least forty years and 
that if we did not know it by now we never would know it, and that we 
were all professionals and could play better than PHJB on their best 
days.

Yes, Guys Like Me and Steve Barbone talk a lot of  ( S**t,  as was even 
stated by one of my new Trombone players, but who quickly added, "but 
you back it all up too."   That being said,  I do not recall any one 
single person even mentioning the name PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND 
after our sound check, which was the first time we had ever all been 
together on one stage or even in one state together:

Every musician on that bandstand was there for a reason, are there 
Dixieland players on this list better than the lineup I chose, sure, 
but could they do what we did collectively, probably not in "100 years 
 from today "  I invited and chose guys who I on instinct knew would 
arise to the occasion and deliver a high energy fire in the belly show. 
   And I am very happy to say that they did not disappoint me in the 
least.   Everyone of them came thru like true professionals and 
troopers with one goal in mind, "Be the surprise Hit of this Festival" 
and take no prisoners.

The first note I received this morning from the Festival was simply:

Dear Tom:  "Thank you for your AMAZING PERFORMANCES at the RED SEA JAZZ 
FESTIVAL"

Pretty much sums it up, and we all had a wonderful time enjoyed their 
wonderful hospitality and genuine friendship, food and appreciation for 
great music which we were blessed to provide.   Did we open doors for 
future OKOM artists and bands to appear there, you bet we did.   We 
were in the right place at the right time with  the right show to 
advance OKOM for all of us.  But be forewarned, Saint Gabriel's 
Celestial Brass Band and now "Ambassadors of New Orleans Jazz Band is 
going to be a very hard act to follow, so don't try it unless you 
really have your act together.

As I always have stated:  There are always GOOD Gigs for Good Bands, 
and I won't deliver anything that is not GOOD, this aggregation is as 
good as it gets, S**t talking and all, we definitely backed it up.

So please guys do not take this as crowing and beating my own drum, I 
do not get these kinds of gigs because I do not deliver a great show 
every time,  I have a staunch rule in my band business,  I don't EVER 
GIVE THE MONEY BACK !  and so far in forty + years NOBODY has ever 
asked for it back :))   So I must be doing something right.

I would like to take a minute and publicly thank, Steve Barbone, Paul 
Grant, Bob Romans,. Johnny Wilder, Buddy Apfel, Marc Bolin, and James 
Levi for making this trip under extenuating circumstances and assisting 
me in delivering the back up for the S**T I talked to get the gig.  :)) 
   we broke two legs each :))   P.S. it also paid a lot more than the 
typical $40.00 a set Dixieland players are offered here at home.   You 
see folks where I go to play they appreciate great music and are 
willing to pay for it.   And I have earned a reputation for delivering 
great entertainment and shows.   Does that make me special?  no not to 
me, it is simply the way I have always viewed this business and I 
learned a long time ago the Customer is always right :))   This 
festival proved it again as the Audience who paid to see and hear us 
got much more than their money's worth and they paid a lot to get it 
too.

And these performance certainly would have put to rest any notions 
about American Jazz Bands not being the best in the World, and I am not 
saying that to get a rise or insult any of our wonderful European and 
Australian bands and list mates,  Guys it was simply Magic, raw and the 
REAL DEAL just like it was in the beginning.  No rehearsal, no charts, 
no arrangements, just great cats doing Jazz like they felt and the 
audiences responded accordingly.

I have said it before and I will humbly say it again,  We are all 
blessed individuals who have this gift to be able to do this and even 
more blessed to make a living doing it.   This troupe traveled across 
the world to do it having never done it together before and did it 
first take, now it just does not ever get any better than that,  We 
probably could not have done it much if any better if we had tried.

We combined three different styles of OKOM players together in one band 
and made it happen, how by listening to each other and feeding off of 
one another's music and energy and the audience's energy and 
receptiveness.  This was one of those times when it was really all 
about the MUSIC, and we played some Great Music too.   None of us 
wanted to stop, even though we were wringing wet and drinking water as 
fast as they could get it to the stage in the 90 degree heat at 11:00 
at night.

Now as for old Silverhaired sexpot Barbone,  After the first concert I 
was trying desperately to get to the porta potties to relieve myself of 
all that water and the three beers I had before the set because the 
water was warm and not too tasty, and could not progress in the long 
line because young ladies and middle aged ladies and even some  guys 
kept asking me to step out of line to make a picture with them, 
thanking me for a great show, and telling me how very very grateful 
they were that we came to play for them, and how we were the best Band 
at the festival, and were we coming to the Jam session  ??

Having played many of these major Jazz festivals, James Levi and I have 
sort of been there and done that, and know that they are primarily gong 
to end up as long modern or latin flavored stretched out jams which 
will beat a drummer to death, so being  the sly old dogs that we are we 
almost always lay back in the cut and tell the youngsters to go on up 
and get their jollies by playing with all the heavy names.   Being two 
guys who have always made our living as professional musicians we value 
our  off stage time as much as we do our on stage time, and since wee 
do not get paid any extra to play all night in a Jam session, we very 
rarely do so, nbot ego at all just a time for us to mellow out at the 
bar and dig the other cats gettin' off.

You see when guys our age have done that we can then sit back and 
appreciate the energy of the younger guys coming up and making a name 
for themselves on the circuit, we did our show had a great time and 
enjoyed sitting back and watching the other guys play.

Watching Steve and Paul blow with the Latin and bebop guys was 
entertainment for us, as was enjoying the African artist Mory Conti's 
show after ours, Our old friend Steve Lacy and Mingus Dynasty, and the 
Cuban band with a great drummer who had already said everything there 
was to say for that genre of music with his own band, and then went up 
thirty minutes later and jammed with half of his energy for another 
hour or more.   I never work that hard for the money :))  I long ago 
lost my Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich syndrome sickness. :))   Let a young 
fella come up to me and tell me he can play faster and hotter than I 
can, no problem, I just look at him and say yep your right sonny, you 
probably can and that's ever soooo cool for you, but I bet I MAKE A LOT 
MORE MONEY FOR DOING HALF AS MUCH WORK AS YOU WILL DO trying it so here 
is five bucks go get em kid.

   It was amusing to watch Steve and PAUL try to get those beboppers and 
latin guys to play some OKOM when they got to the stage :))  they 
called about three tunes and the other players all looked at them with 
the old Deer in the headlights look, and had no clue what they tune  
was :))   This folks is a direct reflection of not teaching the younger 
generations about this great music no matter what our friends  in the 
IAJE say, they have failed miserably in teaching the basic fundamentals 
of American  Jazz in the never ending pursuit of being HIP!

Well on this festival "The Ambassadors of New Orleans"  proved What is 
Hip :))  Job well done fellas, and I would take all of you anywhere to 
do it again.

Thanks again guys, for a job well done,  Mission Accomplished !!   Hope 
we can do it again soon and maybe in America :))

Now as for what my good buddy Steve said about Saint Gabriel's not 
being  the right act to replace Preservation Hall Jazz Band, but rather 
giving them a Dixieland Band I would have to disagree slightly, Saint 
Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band is absolutely the Perfect Act to replace 
them, but just like most American Jazz Societies opinions about 
Traditional Jazz music of New Orleans.  I knew early on that I was not 
gong to convince the director of this festival of that fact either, 
because his exposure to real New Orleans Jazz was obviously limited to 
PHJB and Saint Gabriel's Never plays that laid back, we go out to move 
an audience and always do so.   Therefore I elected to give him what he 
wanted but ten times better and a whole lot more modern and full of 
energy.   After gong there and enjoying the great success that we did I 
still realized that what they really need is a show that has Saint 
Gabriel's on it, and Barbone Street Jazz band, and Cell Block Seven, to 
give them an education about what else is available in America in OKOM. 
   We would all compliment each other on a festival and all deliver a 
great audience pleasing show in our own styles.

Tom Wiggins












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