[Dixielandjazz] rehearsing

[pj.ladd]

Hi,

locally there is a `Big Band`. Plays all the good swing stuff , Miller, James etc. Gigs for big bands are few and far between so they hired a large room at a local pub in which to rehearse. Gradually they attracted a following of afficianados.After a while the audience got so large and regular that the landlord provided the room free because of the extyra beer he sold and the band began to charge entrance money.
This has been going on for the last 5 years and still going strong.

Totally different. Re the advice to learn 50 tunes and go and get gigs. I know a guy who lived in Pensford, Acker Bilks home village. He played a few banjo chords and was in Ackers original group. He told me that they knew 2 tunes when Acker entered the band in a local talent competition.  They played one of the tunes and were given such a rapturous reception that they got stuck with playing again. They played their second tune andthe crowd demanded more and they finished up playing the only 2 tunes the knew alternately for the rest of the evening so that the audience could dance

Cheers

Pat