[Dixielandjazz] We've Got Everything Except?

[Steve Barbone]

Steve Barbone wrote:
> Why not an OKOM revival along the same path? We've got youth bands, we've
> got jazz camps, we've got everything it takes to bring the music into
> today's scene, in place . . . except?


Andrew R. Cooper <andy_cooper at chatter.com> answered (polite snip)

> Everything except... Steve asks:
> 
> Everything except the YOUTH... maybe in your corner of the world OKOM is
> hot with youth. Over here, only us old folks know how to play it, and
> are interested in hearing it.
 

And Steve Hoog "eupher dude" <eupher61 at hotmail.com> added (polite snip)
 
> Except it wouldn't sound anything like WE think it should.  Even if it used
> tuba or bass fiddle, it would have to be so amplified and compressed that it
> would have no flavor.  Bass drum?  It would overpower the banjo totally, and
> sound like a sledgehammer hitting a concrete slab.
> 
> So, the question comes to, would that be such a bad thing?  Would it really
> add to the preservation of OKOM?
> 
> How much did the Swing Dance craze of a few years ago add to the legacies of
> Miller, Dorsey, Noble, Elgar, Morgan, Brown, et al?  What's Brian Setzer
> doing these days?


Interesting responses.

Andrew, Where are you writing from? Sounds like you have the same market
dynamics. Playing music that is tolerated (not wildly popular) among old
folks and ignored by most young folks.

I am in the Philadelphia area of the USA. OKOM is generally not hot in this
area with anyone. Yet my band has a following among both, and plays with
kids like Jonathan Russell and other talent under 18 years of age. Our band
does more work in this area than most bands of any music genre.

And in areas close by, there are youth bands who can play this music, as
well as in other areas of the USA. There are jazz camps for kids all over
the country.

So my question still stands. We have the musicians, what don't we have?


And Steve. Who defines what OKOM should sound like? There many different
styles extant today. Like I just read a letter in American Rag from a guy
who was bitching because Sacramento Jubilee listed Mighty Aphrodite as a
"trad" band and how could they do that because everybody knows a trad band
must have a banjo. Who possesses that kind of ego that would let him define
what a trad band (or music) should or should not be? Who is this "WE" that
may not like what OKOM might sound like if it appeals to kids?  Are they not
a shrinking audience, some jazz knowledgeable and some not, with less and
less input into the music.

The kids love my band, especially the amplified guitar in lieu of banjo or
keyboard. Does that mean the old folks don't? Not if our jazz society
concerts are any indication. They rebook us every year. And at retirement
homes where we play to audiences that are older than our average age of 72,
likewise. 

Preserve the music? It is already preserved in libraries, museums and other
places, on record, by the players who created it. What can today's OKOM
bands add? Certainly not a straight reproduction for that is bound to be
lesser than the original. Should we present day musos not seek to expand it?
By speaking with our own voices? Shouldn't we be bringing something new to
the party while staying within the overall style? Did new styles of
Dixieland die off with Lu, Bob and Turk, or with Eddie Condon's groups?
They were certainly not copies of earlier styles.

Is the present day OKOM jazz musician's anointed task to add to the legacy
of Miller, Dorsey, Noble et al? Lordy, as a Jazz musician, I sure hope not.
Swing? Heck, it is alive and well here in the NYC - Philadelphia -
Washington DC corridor. Numerous Dixieland Bands are playing for swing
dances at club dates, Colleges and parties. Same thing is true in California
and Arizona that I know of. That is a huge market. Brian Setzer? Didn't he
have a killer TV spot at a party New Year's Eve? And aren't many OKOM jazz
Festivals now advertising "Dancing", "Swing" and "hardwood dance floors" in
an effort to get more audience? Must be some swing dancers out there.

So my question still remains unanswered. What is it that we do not have?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone