[Dixielandjazz] Is Jazz dying

[Raymond Dillon]

The death of Dixieland will definitely come if its players continue to play
only the songs written in the 1920's. Those tunes are dinosaurs to anyone
under the age of about 50, and have absolutely no connection to today's
youth.

The Dixieland style is exciting and timeless, and can be used to play many
of the more modern tunes of our culture. Practically any song can be done in
Dixieland style. Rock And Roll tunes, C&W tunes, Folk tunes, and even
Children's tunes ("I Wanna Be Like You", for example) MUST be imbedded into
our set lists if we are to maintain a fan base.

It's my belief that Dixieland won't die due to its style, but due to the
boredom of playing only the 1920's Dixieland tunes. If we add to our gigs
plenty of newer tunes that are not traditional Dixieland tunes, we'll have
more audience appeal and even the old dinosaur tunes will sound more
exciting.

Ray Dillon ( Johnny-come-lately tenor banjo)