[Dixielandjazz] Article To Appear In American Rag

[Robert S. Ringwald]

This article was written by Barbara Glenn and is scheduled to appear in an 
upcoming
issue of the American Rag.

If you receive this from me more than once, it means that you are on more
than one of my e-mailing lists and are twice loved.

Begin article:

 In 2006 the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee was a smaller, thinner version of its
former
self.
Gone was the California State Fairgrounds (Cal Expo) with its city of
RVers and its crowded venues.
Streets in Old Town often seemed deserted.
Badge sales clearly were lagging, and there was talk of a jazz funeral for
this queen
of the festival circuit.

Memorial Day weekend of 2007 saw the jazz lady reborn!
By Saturday afternoon, it was clear that the new format offering several
festivals
rolled into one was going to be a huge success.
Venues were nearly full - by Saturday night, most were full to overflowing.
Sunday saw even-larger (and mostly younger) crowds, and Monday appeared
successful
as well.

The addition of the New Orleans
 "Rebirth Brass Band" sparked interest and badge sales among a whole new
group of
young enthusiasts.

For the first time a "mosh pit" was observed at a jazz festival: their fans
crowded
the stage at the Firehouse Lot, dancing to the hip-hop and funk beat of this
robust
band with 2 trombones and 2 drummers.

The younger audience did not limit itself to attendance at "Rebirth"
performances,
but spread out to enjoy other bands as well: La Candela (offering a Cuban
beat) and
the youthful "Mighty Aphrodite" girls' band also were popular with this
crowd.

Older fans of Traditional Jazz, always the backbone of the festival, were
not ignored.
They settled in happily at the "Trad Only" venues in the Embassy Suites
Hotel, found
more of their favorite music at the Convention Center sites, and followed
All-Star
Bob Draga to each of his appearances with various bands.

The specialty programs including the Western Swing series on Saturday, the
"Celebration
of Faith" on Sunday, and a tribute to the Armed Forces on Monday all drew
"SRO" crowds.

Fans of all ages partied heartily at the
Freeway Gardens
 venue each night where mighty decibels of sound drowned out the freeway
noise above
and Cajun, Blues, plus Rock & Roll bands held forth.

The only sour note heard was from the failure of the two venues located in
the Raley
Field ballpark.
Despite a sterling line-up of bands at both sites, fans ignored Raley field
to stay
at the tried-and-true venues.

At Raley field, ballpark rules and prices were enforced:
those entering the area had bags and baggage searched.
A bottle of water cost $3.75 and a bottle of beer was $6.25.
A hot dog was available for about $8.00. Awards should go to the festival
volunteers
who manned these nearly-empty sites, explaining again and gain that the
pricing was
not Jubilee policy!

The Sacramento Jazz Jubilee continues to advertise "Over 100 Bands".
It should be noted that 17 of the bands are youth bands (12 from
California).  The adult bands include 65 California
 groups, and a few familiar faces were noted wearing more than one band's
costume.

The Jazz Jubilee's motto is "Sounds Like Fun".
Perhaps it should be changed to "Something for Everyone".

The only persons who might have been disappointed in the Jubilee line-up
would be
those preferring only Classical music, or die-hard fans of Rap.

-30