[Dixielandjazz] IAJE and Trad Jazz

[Steve Barbone]

LeslieMRag at aol.com wrote:
 
> As the moderator for the "Still Swinging: Trad Jazz is Alive and Well" panel,
> I'll take issue with any easy dismissal of IAJE's treatment of trad jazz.
> First of all, the session wasn't a "little" one. It was booked into a big,
> beautiful ballroom and drew a substantial crowd, even though it was at 9 a.m.

> The 
> session itself went extremely well, with excellent comments from the panelists
> (Mat Domber, Jim Cullum, Wycliffe Gordon, and John Shoup, manager of the Dukes
> of Dixieland). Many attendees crowded the stage afterwards, asking questions
> of the panelists and introducing themselves. Dan Morgenstern was there, as was
> John Hasse from the Smithsonian, and there were representatives from radio and
> TV. Quite a few musicians and journalists were there, as well as educators.
> The panel participants acquitted themselves well, and we covered so much
> ground 
> that we ran out of time and weren't even able to take questions. We had much
> more we wanted to cover, but I believe we'll have a chance in the future,
> because this year's success bodes well for inclusion of another trad jazz
> panel next year.
 
> In terms of getting the message across: Wycliffe Gordon, a musician who is
> well regarded in the modern jazz world, was adamant in his support for
> teaching 
> the fundamentals of classic jazz, and I believe his comments were especially
> effective. He made the point that jazz educators need to be educated about
> early jazz, a comment I agree with completely.
 
> Dave Robinson made a wonderful presentation of the Traditional Jazz
> Curriculum -- there was great interest on the part of the listeners and quite
> a few 
> questions were asked during his presentation. Also, the online RAG had been
> delivered to subscribers a few days prior to the panel, and there was a lot of
> excitement over that, too, since some of the attendees had downloaded it and
> loved 
> it. I was treated with respect at the conference, am receiving an award from
> the Jazz Journalists Association for my trad jazz advocacy, and did a
> videotaped interview for the Jazz Archives of Hamilton College, the first
> publisher so 
> honored. I've since been contacted by others for cable interviews. On the
> plane coming back to Minnesota, my husband and I sat among jazz educators who
> asked for information about The Mississippi Rag, and who expressed interest in
> learning more about trad jazz. So, trad jazz wasn't kissed off this year. It's
> true that there weren't many trad jazz clinics, but that's because trad jazz
> people didn't submit proposals to be included.  Contact IAJE (www.iaje.org)
> for 
> forms and guidelines. There's a good chance that trad jazz can play a bigger
> role in the lineup for 2008, but we need to be proactive in order for that to
> happen.
> 
> Leslie Johnson
> editor at mississippirag.com OR
> lesliemrag at aol.com
> www.mississippirag.com

Glad to hear that the ball has started to gain momentum. Thank you for your
efforts on behalf of OKOM, Leslie and Best wishes for success with the new
"on line" version of "Mississippi Rag".

One problem many of us have with being pro active with IAJE is that they
demand membership in order to participate. Also, they turned down some trad
participation this year from folks who became members, in order to
participate. That leaves a lot of pro active folks out, to say nothing about
the students and young people who are playing trad jazz.

Glad to see Dave Robinson was there. He is perhaps the primary catalyst
given his work with Trad Jazz Educator's Network, and probably responsible
for the attendance of Mr. Hasse of the Smithsonian Institute at the
function. They have been working together on TJEN projects

In addition to being a fine modern jazz player Wycliffe Gordon is a monster
New Orleans Jazz Trombonist and well regarded by Dixieland Jazz musicians,
It is good to have his support.

Still, in the overall picture, OKOM has a long way to go with IAJE in order
to come any where near it's rightful place in the jazz curriculum in the
schools and among the teachers.

And that will remain a big problem as many of the teachers in IAJE are
ignorant and/or dismissive of OKOM. As Wycliffe says, they need to be
educated about Trad Jazz. Could be a generational problem.

But then, that's just one more challenge to overcome and I'm glad to see
that some progress is being made. Hopefully, there is a lot more to come.
Thanks again for your support there.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone