[Dixielandjazz] FW: Da foot......

[Marek Boym]

In 1959, when I was still very young, I saw Trummy Young doing that
with Armstrong's All Stars.  I immediately discarded him as a clown
rather that a musician, and only "Satchmo Plays W.C. Handy" changed
that and made me realize what a great musician he was (OK, it was not
THAT many years later).
Cheers

On 30/07/07, Jim Kashishian <jim at kashprod.com> wrote:
>
> I have received various private messages about my posting of a video where I
> play the trombone with my foot. I realize I am not the first, and follow a
> long line of respected trombonists.
>
> I started doing it after hearing that Bob Havens did it when he was with Al
> Hirt.  I figured if a guy like that could "lower himself" to such tricks
> that was good enough for me.  Now, it's become a bit of a demand at our
> concerts by our fans.
>
> I had a lady stop me on the beach in the North of Spain.  She said "you
> didn't take your shoe off".  I looked at my feet, and she said..."no, last
> night at the concert...and I told my grandson to wait for the last number &
> you would do something he would really enjoy". I had actually disappointed
> her by not doing "the thing".  One should always remember, it's just another
> nite for the band, but may be a magic night for a listener.
>
> I recall listening to Teddy Buckner in the 1950's & telling friends..."wait
> til he starts this laughter bit while counting off a tune"!  He would often
> start laughing while counting 1-2, 1-2-3, and after many tries the whole
> audience would be roaring, also.  A great trick.  I was terribly
> disappointed if he didn't do it...just like the lady at the beach.  Those of
> us in a band may become tired of a trick, but the audience thrives on it.
>
> There is always that fine line with "entertainment"  So called "serious
> musicians" like to point out that any type of entertainment is "clowning".
> I like to point out that if you listen to what I play when doing the foot
> thing is a rather demanding solo, and couldn't be done even with the hand if
> one wasn't a pretty darn good trombonist!
>
> If you listen to that video closely you will hear a huge audience
> participation (even if they do resort to "on the beat" clapping when a tune
> is very fast).  We draw a basically uneducated (in Jazz), young audience (20
> to 40 yr olds), and it is fun to "pull them into" our style of music.  Some
> visual tricks are necessary to pull that off.
>
> You can't get much closer to your audience than when you start taking your
> clothes off!
>
> Jim
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>
>
>
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>