[Dixielandjazz] Jazz for Kids

[Dave Stoddard]

Dear Listers:

I got married last summer, and my wedding reception featured some of the 
finest traditional jazz players in Austin.  The reception guests, including 
my nephew Noel and his wife Jessica, loved the music.  Noel and Jessica 
asked me afterward what jazz CDs I could recommend.  I sent them the 
following list:

1.   Connie Jones and his Crescent City Jazz Band
      Sweet Hot and Blue, Jazzology JCB-306

2.   Ed Polcer All-Stars
      Some Sunny Day, Jazzology JCB-208

3.   Randy Sandke Meets Bix Beiderbecke
      This is a remastering of a 1993 CD called The Bix Beiderbecke Era. 
It's on Nagel-Heyer.

4.   Allan Vache's Florida Jazz Allstars, Nagel-Heyer 032

5.   Bill Allred's Classic Jazz Band
      Live N Kickin'

Not long after that I sent them the Allred, a different Polcer and the 
Sandke/Beiderbecke.  Noel and Jessica were delighted, but the CDs were 
largely taken over by their six-year old daughter Julia, who absolutely 
loves the music.  You can therefore accept this list as kid-tested.

There a many great jazz CDs, but consider the following when reaching out to 
children:

 1.  You want modern high-fidelity.  Children are used to it, and may not 
have the patience to wade through the hiss, scratch and limited frequency 
response of early recordings.  Once they like jazz as a genre, they can get 
historical.

2.  You want really good musicians.  The above list gives you very high 
caliber sidemen: John Allred, Ken Peplowski, Bob Leary, Bob Havens, Johnny 
Varro, Dan Barrett, Bob Haggart and Scott Robinson.  It's practically a 
who's who in traditional jazz.

The adults in the family will really like this stuff, too.  What is there 
not to like?  These are terrific recordings for all ages.  There are many 
more, but you can't go wrong starting here.

Regards,
Dave Stoddard
Round Rock, TX