[Dixielandjazz] What happened to Jazz?

[pat ladd]

 No more difficult then humming or playing Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" t>>

Theres a thought Steve, when was the last time you heard someone whistling 
in the street?  I always whistle, anything, from DYKWIM to Misty to Miss 
Jenny`s Ball but I must admit I get some strange looks.
This of course maybe because I have a full band playing in my head and I am 
only whistling a part, or maybe because I don`t whistle very well.

What would the modern youngster whistle? There are no tunes which I can 
discern in the stuff I hear on the radio.

Not sure about the timing of the demise of jazz. Perhaps it was different in 
the States. I can never remember OKOM as being a main stream radio genre. 
Here, by the early  Forties when I was 11 or 12 years old,  the main music 
on the radio was `dance music` Henry Hall, Geraldo, Cyril Stapleton etc and 
then the `real` swing bands began to take over,under the influence of the 
American Big Bands,  The Squadronaires, Joe Loss, and so on. Again this was 
music for dancing. Dance Halls were full every night of the week. There were 
plenty of small groups still working and I was attending Sunday afternoon 
concerts listening to, Vic Lewis, Harry Gould, Nat Gonella, Ray Ellington 
Quartet.
Bop emerged and split the ranks and a good slice of the music became to 
clever to whistle or dance to. There was a lot of experimentation, Kenny 
Baker and his AfroCubists and so forth but never really big.
The big jazz revival came along with Acker, Lightfoot, Ball, and then it all 
went to hell.  There was still work playing the `old` dance music but it was 
no longer the main stuff on the radio.
There are still dozens of jazz (OKOM) bands  playing in the UK , more per 
square mile than in the States I suspect, but it is mainly club gigs and 
festivals.  Festivals are well attended but few youngsters appear.

Thats my take on it . Probably way off beam.  Exit stage left. Whistling.../

Cheers

Pat

Pat