[Dixielandjazz] Sweet & quiet

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Jazz Fans,

One of the trade-marks of Doctor Jazz is that we don't play loud. Along with
this, we generally use no amplification, except for a portable battery
operated amp for vocals and announcements. We have gotten jobs because of
this, including a large wedding gig last year. People are pleasantly
surprised that we can play in a living room and not be too loud for the
space.

While training the band several years ago, they kept arguing with me that we
need to buy a sound system, that the quieter instruments, or the vocals,
can't be heard, yada, yada, yada. When a player complained to me that he
couldn't hear another player, my answer to him was that he is playing too
loud. Once I convinced everyone to reduce their volume until they could hear
all the other players/singers, guess what -- we had balance, and you could
hear the music and not just the noise, and customers could talk to one
another if they wanted too, while still enjoying the music.

Sure, if we get an outdoor parade or circus gig, we can play loud when it's
appropriate. But we don't do loud just to make noise.

Elazar "Momma don't allow no loud music playin' 'round here" Brandt
Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Kashishian [mailto:jim at kashprod.com]
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 7:06 PM
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Sweet & quiet



Ted wrote that he prefers his Dixie loud, rather than "sweet & quiet".  That
came as a response to my mentioning a fancy hotel gig that we had for a few
years.