[Dixielandjazz] Blanket Statements?

[Steve Barbone]

"Robert S. Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com> wrote:
 
> Steve,
> 
> I am very sorry for my (I guess you could call it an outburst).
> 
> It was very rude of me and I should not have sent such a message out on
> DJML.  For that, I apologize.
> 
> Let me say that it was not sent, as you say below, because of a dislike of
> you or jealousy of you.  I really do not know you.  We have never met in
> person and as far as I know, there is nothing about you that I should be
> jealous of.
> 
> Your blanket statements irritate me.  Often  they make me angry.
> 
> We have a great mentoring program out here in Sacramento.  Personally, if
> a good youth player comes in, I would ask him/her to sit in.
> 
> So, what I should have said was "Do not speak for everyone."  Perhaps in
> your area what you say is true.  But it is not true everywhere else.
> 
> If you would have qualified your statement by saying, "In my area," then
> your comments would have been valid.  But to do a blanket statement, is
> incorrect.
> 
> Yes, you said "Damn few."  In my opinion, speaking from my experience out
> here on the left coast, this is not true.
> 
> Again, let me apologize to you and to our fellow listmates for my rude
> comments.
> 
> Best wishes,

Dear Bob:

I accept your apology. And agree wholeheartedly with what you say in your
post above except that you still characterize my post as a blanket statement
and speaking for everyone. That is not what I said in any way shape or form.

My post is repeated below. Please note that the context of it is from
personal experience.

>Amen Don:

>I was mentored by almost every jazz player I got to know in the 40s-50s. Hank
>D'Amico, Thelonious Monk, Yank Lawson, Chuck Traeger, Sal Pace, Pee Wee Erwin
>and a whole bunch of other guys OKOMers wouldn't recognize.

>Yessir, they all helped young kids. Today? Damn few take the time to personally
>get involved with kids. And when you do, many of your fans and fellow musicians
>ask you why you do it. Like they resent it. Go figure?

>Shoot, when I started seeking out open mic nights, and/or places to sit in in
>1990 when I picked up the horn again after a 30 year layoff, the most unhelpful
>cats were the Dixielanders. So I ended up playing with the young kids of modern
>jazz on open mike nights. The modern jazzers were much more helpful and
>encouraging to this old moldy fig who wanted to play again.

>Different times indeed.

The entire post refers specifically to what happened to me. It certainly
"Do(es) not speak for everyone." as you insisted a second time above. And
they certainly do not speak for YOU personally which seems to be how you
took it. I don't think I've ever tried to speak for everyone in any post,
and in fact, chide those who do.

As far as my posts go, some are meant to make people think. If that annoys
some folks, well, that's unfortunate and frankly, their problem.

Regarding the "damn few take the time to get personally involved with kids",
I stand by that statement. Letting a young player who happens to come by,
sit in from time to time, while laudable, does not come close to personal
involvement.

Jazz camp teaching, helping the kids progress in jazz through tutoring,
boosting their confidence, imparting musical knowledge and common sense gig
knowledge to them, on a one to one basis, etc., is what I would say is
getting personally involved. And oh yes, GETTING THEM PAYING GIGS is perhaps
the most important personal involvement we can accomplish.

We all know musicians who do get personally involved with helping kids.
Folks like Dave Robinson, but how many are there like Dave?

If anyone thinks that we have a plethora of Dixieland Musicians who really
get personally involved with mentoring kids, lets start a list. I would
think that given the vast universe of Dixieland Musicians out there, that
list is going to be VERY SMALL by comparison.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone