[Dixielandjazz] Why the ORIGINAL POST on the Chicken Dance IS IMPORTANT

[Steve Barbone]

Perhaps I was too subtle in the original post?

The point was that when you get a request for "The Chicken Dance", if you
have any sense of adventure at all, you can substitute a Dixieland Tune for
that arcane piece of music. And you should do so. And the people will
Chicken dance to it, flapping their arms like a mummer or a Chicken. And
they will love you for it.

Man, how many times have you seen some old farts hopping around the floor
flapping their arms like chickens when you play an old time 2 beat number at
a jazz society event? Or how many times have you yourself seen Jackie
Gleason on TV between skits, bounce around the stage flapping his arms like
a chicken while the band, at his request, played some "Travelin Music"?
(That's A Plenty) Have you forgotten?

Where have our imaginations gone? In short, a request for the Chicken Dance
is a golden opportunity to play some good old good ones for those general
audiences. In the case of the original post, WE USED DIXIELAND AS THE MUSIC
FOR THE CHICKEN DANCE for 5 to 10 year old kids and it was a huge success.
What a great way to get them excited about OKOM.

All the talk about entertainers and/or artists, and/or the client pays the
bills etc., as nauseum, has nothing to do with the very important point that
you can introduce DIXIELAND in the above manner, to people who are totally
ignorant of OKOM. And just maybe, if you do it enough, you'll win a few
young converts instead of just existing and playing to a shrinking group of
people whose average age is dead.

If you don't understand this, then by all means Gerald Biederman is right.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone