[Dixielandjazz] Jubilee reinvents itself.

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

Hi all:

Unfortunately I only had one day available to be there, but I made good use of it and got to as many shows as I could, ran into a lot of traffic driving up there from the Bay area which took three hours out of my listening time and kept me from getting everywhere I wanted to get.  Consequently I missed seeing some good friends, and when my cell phone would not get a signal I could not even call them to find out where they were headed next.

I had three young Japanese students and one Spanish boy  with me that had never been to a Jazz festival before ages 18- 23,  they were astonished and delighted with seeing and hearing, Tom Rigney's Cajun Music, Ophir Prison Band, Bria & Mighty Aphrodites, Sister Swing, Swing City, Paco Gatsby and blown away by Rebirth where they danced for two sets nonstop alongside an excellent group of young swing dancers.   And we also caught an excellent set of Fulton Street who sounded better than I have ever heard them before, heard a couple of non OKOM Trad songs from them too :))   ahem  ahem !   whas up wit dat fellas ?   Mercy Mercy by a Trad Jazz Band.  Shame on ya'll, your liable to lose your audience playing stuff like that :))

Unfortunately the wind came up at the Firehouse lot during the first set and many of the older folks in the packed show got up and left because it was cold,  at least I hope that is why they left and not because the music was too hot for them, or the fact that the other younger folks  ( and certainly not all of them young)  could not resist that beat and jumped up in front of the stage and danced all during the set.

Personally I thought it was fantastic, and so did REBIRTH, who encouraged it and were quite startled in the beginning of the set that not many folks came up and danced for the first three numbers or so,  they thought the crowd did not like them because they did not get up and dance.   They said so in a way like continuing to ask if the audience was having a good time and enjoying the music.   

When the initial shock of their sound sunk in about 1/2 the audience died indeed move up and dance nonstop for the rest of the show, and the interaction between the audience and the band became obvious.   Girls kept jumping up on stage to dance with the band and at them, much to the dismay of the volunteer stage managers, they kept trying to make them get off but the band finally got the message to them to leave them alone as it added to the excitement of the show.    Those guys in Rebirth are Pros and know how to handle an audience and anybody on the stage with them, if they were to get out of line the band would take them off in a hurry.

Old Sacramento was Jumpin like a New Orleans festival finally :))  I had a wonderful time and so did my guests and pretty much everyone I saw at every show.  They obviously found and enjoyed TKOM  and the Traddie Crowd probably did the same downtown.

The additional free admissions to the museums was a sensational idea too folks, my guest really enjoyed a tour thru the Railroad museum between a set, and I had never been there either and found it wonderful.   I only wish I had three days to be there.

We also heard an excellent youth band from Santa Clara who show real promise if they can keep motivated to play the music, with fire and energy which unfortunately many of the old timers simply do not do any more if they indeed ever did.   Okom comes in all kinds of shapes and styles, and Sacramento had some for every taste. good on ya folks.

Congratulations on all the improvements, and I hope it was a financial success too.

Tom Wiggins
Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band