[Dixielandjazz] IAJE and Trad Jazz

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hi Leslie:

Thanks for your participation in this event that has been FAR TOO LONG 
OVERDUE as has been stated by myself and others on this list not  only 
on this list where we immediately received hate mail for such blasphemy 
against our Sacred Cow Educators.


Well now you have been there and heard it directly from a bigger and 
perhaps better respected  "Professional Musician" Gordon Wycliffe, who 
you report stated that :

"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."


That is exactly what some of us on this fine list have been preaching 
for several years now not only to this list but to the IAJE as well.   
Usually falling upon deaf ears or at best indifferent ones.

Of course we are HAPPY TO SEE PROGRESS, but time will tell if it is 
going to last long enough to get Traditional Jazz more than a token 
presence in their association or being recognized as the new step child 
because a few of them might see a chance to get a gig from OKOM.

Now if you want to start the ball rolling to educate or re-educate the 
educators might I suggest that you encourage all of them that you met 
and will meet to join this list where they will learn more about it 
than they ever thought existed.

We do not want this music put away in the archives of the Smithsonian 
Museum, we want it back as a viable vehicle of employment and 
entertainment for working musicians all over the world with respectable 
pay for respectable players.

Perhaps if more of the educators would actually learn and like to play 
this music we might get off to a pretty good start.

Thank God Louis didn't do it their way:))


Cheers, and thanks for your report and participation.   Now get back to 
work with the Miss. Rag and Give  'em Hell Kid.
The Trojan Horse got into the compound, now lets attack and take no 
Prisoners.

Tom Wiggins




-----Original Message-----
From: LeslieMRag at aol.com
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 5:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] IAJE and Trad Jazz

    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.



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
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