[Dixielandjazz] Jazz for kids

[Bill Haesler]

Dear friends,
What happened?
I sent the following genuine question to the DJML on Saturday 9th June 
and it didn't elicit one reply!
Kind regards,
Bill.

> Subject: Jazz for kids
>
> Dear friends,
> 'Jazz for kids' is a perennial hot topic on our list, but is generally 
> aimed at teaching them to play it.
> Over dinner at our local Malaysian/Chines restaurant last night, our 
> wonderful next-door neighbour (a primary school teacher) asked what 
> records she should play to her 2-year-old grand-daughter to introduce 
> her, subliminally, to good jazz. Something that our young grand-mother 
> mate can also enjoy.
> We all know that most young kids have natural timing and the ability 
> to 'swing and sway' to jazz music.
> Watch 'em in front of a live trad jazz band anytime.
> But this gift disappears by the time they are five or six from 
> exposure to the current pop 'music' (I use the word advisedly), their 
> peers and well-meaning teachers.
> I can recall, when our kids were growing up, that Sesame Street and 
> Play School often used 'dixieland' jazz for some segments in their 
> programs, but I've lost touch with the current trend.
> So what to put on the player while the younger kids are playing with 
> blocks, colouring books and cuddly toys?
> The ODJB, Louis' Hot Five, Jelly Roll Morton, Lu Watters, Turk Murphy, 
> Bunk Johnson, George Lewis, the Benny Goodman small groups, Graeme 
> Bell?
> Or maybe Bob Crosby's Bobcats and Muggsy Spanier's Ragtime Band, who 
> lured me into jazz when I was about 14.
> Unfortunately, I'm too deeply into the the old stuff to be helpfully 
> objective.
> OK you jazz educators out there. Gimme your thoughts.
> Kind regards,
> Bill.