[Dixielandjazz] Why the Chicken Dance is Important

[Mike Woitowicz]

The excerpt from the 2007 commencement address at Stanford University 
provided by Steve Barbone supplements the comments I made earlier (as well 
as several others on the list) regarding performing (entertaining) such 
tunes as "Chicken Dance" with the audience in mind.

In case you didn't read the excerpt, here's part of it:

"Most [artists and intellectuals] . . . have lost their ability to converse 
with the rest of society. We have
become wonderfully expert in talking to one another, but have become almost
invisible and inaudible in the general culture. . . If we could reopen the
conversation . . ., the results would not only transform society but also
artistic and intellectual life."

Translation: whether it's "West End Blues", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "the 
Chicken Dance", or "La Bomba", play it with gusto, smile, and connect with 
the audience.

(This last sentence was to appease those who think the Chicken Dance 
discussion was frivolous.)

Mike Woitowicz
The Banjo Barons Ragtime Band
The Dixie Barons Dixieland Band
www.banjomusic.biz
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Michael Woitowicz" <banjomusic at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 3:17 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The Lack of Music Programs in the Schools.


> Following is excerpted from the 2007 Commencement address at Stanford
> University, given by Dana Gioia, the Chairman of the NEA. (National
> Endowment for the Arts). Interesting viewpoint which many of us have
> rejected over the past several decades. Others among us have become
> pro-active and maybe they will make a difference.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
> "I remember a time when every public high school in this country had a
> musical program . . . usually a jazz band too. . . These p[rograms are no
> longer widely available to the new generation. This once visionary and
> democratic system has been almost entirely dismantled by well-meaning but
> myopic school boards, county and state officials, with the Federal
> Government largely indifferent to the issue. 50 million students have paid
> the price. . ."
>
> "Why have we experienced this colossal cultural and political decline? 
> There
> are several reasons, but I must risk offending many friends and colleagues
> by saying that surely artists and intellectuals are partly to blame. Most 
> .
> . . have lost their ability to converse with the rest of society. We have
> become wonderfully expert in talking to one another, but have become 
> almost
> invisible and inaudible in the general culture. . . If we could reopen the
> conversation . . ., the results would not only transform society but also
> artistic and intellectual life."
>
>
>
>
>
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