[Dixielandjazz] Srtudents in Jazz Schools - Was Jazz is Alive & Well - In The Classroom Anyway

[Steve Barbone]

Mike at mike at railroadstjazzwest.com asked: (polite snip)

> What happened to jazz? How did it go from being the top style
> of music America to barely making record sales?

That's a long story with lots of twists and turns. Short version in the
style of Professor Irwin Corey?

1) Trad Jazz was originally music for dancing, booze and hooking up.

2) Trad Jazz then got taken over by old folks who wanted to preserve it in
   the exact form as the MUSIC they grew up with. (forgetting about the
   dancing, booze and hooking up part as old folks are wont to do.)

3) The trad musicians saw this niche market and gravitated to it in an
   effort to keep from starving. They too then ignored the kids because that
   kind of music was beneath them.

4) So Trad Jazz as a genre now ignored the kids.

5) Trad Jazz was now "art" as opposed to its original raison d'etre.

6) So the kids went to other music for dancing, booze, and hooking up.

7) Meanwhile the old folks who championed "art trad" died.

Ergo, Trad jazz has a very small niche barely making it. Meanwhile dancing,
booze and hooking up are going strong with other genres.

> I would much rather learn to play jazz in a club with good players versus
> learning theories and textbook approaches from instructors who's
> horns are dusty or in the attic and don't have the experience.

Yep, me too. The biggest challenge is finding a venue where this occurs.
When I was your age, I sat in all over the place in NYC, with some of the
great players of the 20th century in various jazz genres. The old guys were
very helpful. In terms of Trad Jazz today, it is not only difficult to find
in a club venue, but also difficult to find an old fart player that will let
you sit in and learn.

Come East and sit in with us. My band champions both kids and reformed
classical players, from jazz violinists like Jonathan Russell from age 8 on
to classical violinists like modern drummer Ari Hoenig's Mother, with a
whole bunch of others in between.

There is nothing like playing gigs to hone your skills. Paying your dues is
the clearest pathway.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone