[Dixielandjazz] It was nevere easy - was -Why American's Don't LikeJazz

[Russ Guarino]

The other thing about Condon is that he favored the seven piece band over all
others.   His bands were cornet/trumpet, T-bone, clarinet, bass, piano,
guitar/banjo, drums.

As Steve says, Eddie wanted talented players to have lots of room to solo, as many
as one, two, or three full choruses.  No 8 bar solos in his bands.

He did not use the word Dixieland until the very last two chapters in the book, and
then he only used it  twice, as I recall.  He preferred the term Jazz Band.

The title of the book is  "We Called it Jazz".  Published by New York: Henry Holt &
Company.  The book is dedicated to "Bix".  We found the book in the local college
library.

Russ

Steve Barbone wrote:

>  Russ Guarino <russg at redshift.com>
> >
> > My wife & I are just finishing Eddie Condon's autobiography.  He repeats over
> > and over how difficult it was to get jazz gigs back in the 20s & 30s. It was
> > never easy, gentlemen.
>
> I'm hip Russ. Glad to see you reading Condon and his "expose" on the "Jazz
> Age". Gives you a different perspective doesn't it?
>
> There was no Jazz Age. When Whiteman was crowned "King of Jazz" in 1924 by
> an over zealous press agent, most Americans didn't have the vaguest idea
> what jazz was, according to not only Condon, but almost all credible jazz
> writers/historians like say, Dan Morgenstern.
>
> What passed for jazz was peppy dance music with an 8 bar solo in the middle
> of an arrangement. Yeah, I know, Whiteman had all these jazz soloists, but
> they were buried in a 60 piece Orchestra, and had limited solo space. Kind
> of like Lawrence Welk who had Pete Fountain, then Peanuts Hucko, and, of
> course, Bob Havens (for a lot of years) in his band. Anybody think Welk's
> big band was a jazz band because of them?
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
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