[Dixielandjazz] Al Hirt Describing His Music

[Steve Barbone]

Fra Mike asked if Hirt would agree with his "Instrumental Pop player" tag on
the liner notes of a CD. Hal Vickery says he remembers Hirt saying he was
indeed, a player of "instrumental pop", not jazz.

Here's what Al Hirt himself said about it according to one bio:

---start snip

Although Hirt came out of New Orleans leading a Dixieland band, he never let
himself get stereotyped in that narrow genre. He was honest about his choice
of style, never calling what he played "jazz":

"I'm a pop commercial musician," he once said. "and I've got a successful
format. I'm not a jazz trumpet and never was a jazz trumpet."

---end snip

In that vein, Anne Davison once said to me: "Many people think of Bill as a
'Dixielander'. They are ignorant, He is so much more than that."

One never knows, do one?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone