[Dixielandjazz] Speaking about Jazz Myths . . .

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Well there might have been but how could he know anywhere near accurately? 
In that pre union day there were no lists made of the bands (at least I 
don't think so) and if it's anything like today then bands come and go 
pretty rapidly.  In this day and age, at least here, everyone has a band or 
two and we draw on the musician pool.  Today I'm a leader, tomorrow I'm 
working for someone and next week he might be working for me.

I think that it might be just an educated guess at best.

With all the time I have lived and played in StL I haven't a clue as to how 
many bands there are or musicians either.  I can tell you how many big bands 
there are pretty close but combos?  There's just no way.  I realize that 
N.O. at that time was a lot smaller than StL but counting bands is like 
herding frogs.

Closing the district forced jazz out of town and that was a good thing for 
us.  It might have stayed more or less local like Cajun music,  Polka bands 
in Wisconsin or sort of quaint like Appalachian folk music.  I think that 
may be a good illustration.  For many years I toured Wisconsin with the AF 
and it seemed that during festivals there was a polka band on every street 
corner .  I would be hard pressed to find one here.  Without the dispersal 
of jazz musicians it might not have caught on in the same way or went as 
big.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:55 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Speaking about Jazz Myths . . .


> Seems some of the current jazz writers are now saying that "The District"
> (Storyville) was not as important to the development of Jazz as first
> thought.
>
> I am somewhat mystified by that, while readily admitting that I am not
> particularly knowledgeable about the New Orleans Jazz scene from say 1900 
> to
> 1917 when Storyville kicked the working girls out. What I do know is 
> merely
> this quote from Louis Armstrong. It was written by him in 1969, following 
> a
> recollection that there were 126 gig bands in N.O. at the time, booked
> almost every night and may be subject to faulty memory as well as his 
> young
> age (9 to 16).
>
> "If it wasn't for those good musicians and the Entertainers who appeared
> nightly in the Red Light District - Clubs, etc - the District wouldn't 
> have
> been anything. Music lovers from all parts of the city came to hear them
> play Genuine Jazz. Speaking of some of the Musicians during those real
> beautiful days in different places in the District way back from 1910 to
> 1917 when they closed it down. One could hear real good jazz telling it -
> like it was. Any place you should go in the District, whether it was a 
> Cafe
> - Cabaret or Saloon - or if you should just stop in some place for a few
> drinks and listen - you heard the best in Jazz."
>
> My question is:  Was Louis wrong, or exagerating?
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
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