[Dixielandjazz] Early Jazz Bands and musicians who read

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Those are some excellent comments Mike.  How big is the group?  Small 
college town or big city?

If you have the opportunity to play together often that's exactly what 
happens if the musicians are good.

When I was in college I was sort of thrust into the real world because I had 
to make bucks to support myself and family so I didn't have the luxury of 
doing a lot of playing with a not for profit or fun group.  While Trad was 
hitting big in some parts of the country it wasn't where I went to school. 
It was a lot more R&R / Country.  The town was too small to support many 
bands so we were on the road every weekend

The gigging scene in St. Louis was a whole lot of Society stuff.  Trad and 
Dixie were available in clubs but I was working all the time so I just 
didn't get to go hear it.

The important thing no matter what the tunes are is that musicians learn to 
improvise on a chord line in a style.  Those skills will last you a 
lifetime.
Good Luck
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike" <mike at railroadstjazzwest.com>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Early Jazz Bands and musicians who read


> The only arrangements my college group does is Panama, New Orleans Stomp, 
> Black Bottom Stomp, Gatemouth & Drop That Sack. We've found that it takes 
> a balance of good ears and decent reading skills to get through the 
> arrangements. Most of us were classically trained initially so the reading 
> part isn't so much of an issue. With us it's style and improv that gets 
> the most attention.
>
>  Of course, once you practice something long enough you'll be able to hear 
> it and won't need the chart. We even find ourselves building on 
> arrangements.
>
>
>
> Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis wrote:
> Small groups tend to be more free wheeling as well as groups that have
>> been together for a long time.  My big Dixie band reads charts which is 
>> heresy to many in the local jazz club.  Actually most of our charts 
>> require both skills since they are made up of major stretches of chord 
>> symbols in all parts.
>>
>> If your band is an ensemble based band, then today, you need readers that 
>> can do arrangements.  On the other hand if you are doing the standard 
>> play the Dixie head, everyone takes solos then the Dixie out chorus with 
>> someone doing the intros and hope to end together then you don't need 
>> charts.
>>
>> The division comes when you have a fairly large pool of players that can 
>> play together at least a standard number of tunes.  This requires 
>> musicians that have a good knowledge of the style, soloing and tunes.
>>
>> The ensemble based groups can draw from a much larger pool of musicians 
>> whose improv skills aren't on as high an order or are even beginners in 
>> the idiom as long as they can read and play fairly well.  The high 
>> knowledge of Dixie as a style isn't as needed either.  Don't take that as 
>> I think you can be devoid of knowledge of Dixie either.  A satisfactory 
>> performance can be achieved with less time spent.
>
>
>
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