[Dixielandjazz] Emailing: Red Sea Jazz Festival...8-26-31 028.jpg

Tue Sep 5 22:00:38 PDT 2006

Hi Tim And All:

We indeed had a lot of fun on and off stage, and Johnny Wilder is 
indeed a cool cat and a guy that I had fun with, his attitude and piano 
playing are excellent and he would be a compliment to ANY OKOM band 
that asked him to play hands down.

We asked Johnny if there was any tune he did not know, he replied yes, 
we asked him what the tune was and he replied "I don't Know"

We courteously omitted that tune from our repertoire for our shows. :)) 
  And he played all the others as if he had written them:))   Even the 
ones we did not even tell him we were playing until 8 bars into them.   
:))

I have not met his gorgeous wife yet, but will make a note to keep her 
away from Misur (Sic)  Barbone old Mr.; Sex Pot himself should she ever 
venture on to a gig :))    Honestly folks  Steve is really having all 
the fun he purports to have and is a perfect gentleman at all times, 
who carries off this act very well on stage and off.   He does not 
personally do anything romantic for me but  he does have a way to charm 
the ladies into coming closer to the band stand.   Us younger guys will 
continue to use him for Bait :))

Quite honestly guys,  it really does not get much better than this show 
turned out to be, truly magical music made by some very great cats at 
the right place at the right time with the right attitude and the right 
audience to receive it.   This folks is Real American Jazz at it's 
finest.

Could we have been technically better with rehearsals, yes probably so, 
could we have been technically tighter with charts on stage, probably,  
could we have been better at improvisation, probably not, did we 
communicate musically you bet, did we let each other breath, and 
express themselves  yes we did and the outcome was truly magical for 
all of us as well as the audience.  So far not one member has stated 
otherwise.   Not a bad outcome for Pulling together Two guys with Eddie 
Condon Chicago style influences, two guys with Lu Waters, Turk Murphy 
style influences, and three guys with Traditional New Orleans/Rock/Soul 
influences for a magical sound that turned on a great multi 
generational audience to OKOM.   And Did Paul Grant come thru with 
Satchamo as promised by Steve Barbone, you bet, he did, and in grand 
style, he walks softly but carries a Mean Horn. :))    Now who was that 
that said on this list that Black Guys don't Play Dixieland Music ?   
Well Paul Grant does and with the best that ever was.  Thanks Paul.   I 
could swear I saw flames shooting out of his trumpet on a couple of 
numbers, and if they did not they will next time, cause I have a 
magician friend who knows how to make it happen :))   We will give new 
meaning to the words "Hot Brass".

And as for Buddy Apfel, well I have said for several years that bands 
that used Buddy need to just turn him loose and let him play, because 
he has a loot more to say musically than anybody has ever let him say 
that I have heard him with,  Well we did just that and he is now a Tuba 
rock Star, :))    And soon to be a Legend in his own mind :))   Thanks 
Buddy  ( P.S. did you give them back the microphone out of your Bell 
where we taped it in  ?  or do we now have an additional one for the 
band P.A. ??

I could not be prouder of the contributions of each and every member of 
the new Super OKOM group known as "The Ambassadors of New Orleans"   We 
ain't cheap but we can be had :))   Catch us down the Road if you Can.  

P.S. I t will be a lot cheaper to book us for a Festival State Side 
than waiting till next year to fly to Israel and hear our repeat 
performance at Red Sea Jazz Fest .  :))    If they can sell 5-6000 
seats for us in Israel at $40.00 a seat  that should tell you Jazz 
Society folks that you have a Headline Act even if you don't know it.   
Do the math.  And those were ticket sales to folks who had never heard 
of us,  it's all about Promotion and marketing .   One Dixieland Band 
folks,  but a damned good one that replaced the worlds most well 
established and recognized Name in Traditional New Orleans Jazz.   
Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Please do not relegate this great music to 80 to 90 year old audiences 
folks, and continue to think that nobody outside of that age bracket 
will like or pay to hear this music, take it out to the younger 
generations who have never been exposed to it and simply watch what
happens.

It was also a shame that the guy running the Festival Jam session would 
not let our esteemed friend list mate and colleague Elazar Brandt sit 
in at the Jam session, I was not aware of this situation or I would 
have made it happen, so very sorry Elazar, and it was a pleasure to 
finally meet you and hang out.   Had I known the circumstances of you 
being denied, to that jam session bandstand  I could and certainly 
would have corrected it to make it happen, you could have had my Badge 
if that is what the co-ordinator wanted to see.   I personally hate to 
see the local guys who work hard every day of the year to make music be 
denied a chance to participate with the strangers from afar.  It just 
ain't right.   If I am invited back next year I will alter that 
situation I assure you, and all indications are that we will be invited 
back.

LET'S HOPE THAT ALL US OLD MEN LIVE THAT LONG :))

Cheers,

Looking forward to taking these guys to other wonderful events around 
the world to let their fabulous talents be seen and heard, please, 
please do not suppress this kind of energy and talent, but unleash it 
and share it with the world they are indeed waiting and starved for 
great Entertainment and Music like this.

Tom Wiggins

-----Original Message-----
From: julepjerk at surewest.net
To: cellblk7 at comcast.net; dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 8:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Emailing: Red Sea Jazz Festival...8-26-31 
028.jpg

    As one who used to sit in on gutbucket with the (absolutely OKOM) 
Beez Keez -
John was the keyboardist for that band, and was one of the best 
keyboardists I
have ever heard.  Has a gorgeous wife, plays with high energy, has fun, 
and is
tolerant of an amateur like me (thanks, John, for all the help and 
encouragement
to show that gutbucket can be more than a  "plunk, plunk" instrument), 
his
opinion is significantly important to me.

The comments from the Red Sea Festival should be taken very seriously 
in regards
to keeping OKOM alive.  Youth responds to energy and spirit.

At some future date, I would love to serve as a "marshal" to bring in 
an OKOM
band at such an event, as Tom allowed me to do in Sacramento at an 
event St.
Gabriel's performed.  (And they were marvelous, with Bob Romans
participating...)

Tim Eldred
Roseville, CA

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