[Dixielandjazz] Music Programs in the schools

[Steve Barbone]

Mike <mike at railroadstjazzwest.com>
 
> I think the situation in New Jersey and in Colorado is pretty
> representative of what is happening all over the country. I
> think it falls to us as musicians to pick up the slack and
> mentor these younger kids who want to do music but don't have
> programs who will teach it.

Yep, right on. Get involved with your local schools. The most interesting
part of the original speech by Dana Gioia, Chairman of the NEA.  IMO, is:

start snip--"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." -- end snip

IMO we talk mostly among ourselves and bemoan the sad state of affairs. I
think need to talk to the rest of society, to the schools, via our own
programs. And yes, I agree with Mr. Gioia we "artists" are partly to blame
for the sad state of jazz in the USA, because we don't communicate
effectively to the audiences. Mostly we try to ram the music down their
throats and then rant at "them" because "they" don't get it.

Out of the many Dixieland Bands in my territory, as far as I know Barbone
Street is the only one that reaches out to the schools and turns the kids on
to the music. I suspect also that damn few Dixieland bands, out of the
total, around the USA perform at the elementary, middle, high school and
college levels as we do.

Government Funding? Virtually non-existent, but in my experience, the PTOs
(Parent Teacher Organizations) in many schools will foot the bill. Or split
it with the school as in the case of last Friday evening's 3 hour gig that
spawned the dreaded Chicken Dance. And yes, even NEA gets involved
sometimes. Plus the University Swing Dance Clubs self fund.

How do we do it? Well, thank goodness for my business career which taught me
how to talk to all sorts of people from kids to 100 year olds. And thank
goodness I am able to converse with the general audience using both words
and my axe at a gig. Partly luck and partly the desire to get something else
out of life besides an occasional gig with audiences older than me.

It isn't that difficult to do . . . just improvise.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone