[Dixielandjazz] Quote

[philwilking]

 It's a good joke, because there's so much truth in it.

 However, it opens up a whole new (old but forever young) topic for
 discussion, argument, tirade, flame, etc.: tempo.

 I think it would be useful to use this list to discuss several too often
 neglected tools of performance, tempo and dynamics among them. But let's
 start with tempo.

 Speaking strictly about New Orleans or dixieland type jazz, and thinking of
 the pre-depression tunes, my personal preference is dancing speed unless 
the
 tune obviously is a lament or ballad, and even those frequently have 
foxtrot
 or waltz choruses. Of course, "dancing" in this context doesn't mean just a
simple box step or a shuffle. When those tune were new, the bands which
 played them played for dances and the dancers expected to foxtrot,
 quickstep, waltz - fast and slow, polka, schottisch, peabody, and even
 (gasp!) tango and rhumba, plus novelty dances. If the dancers could move
 easily to the music, the tempo was correct by definition.

 Since bands now often play sitdown concerts, and there are fewer dancers to
 act as metronomes, I think the general tendency is to play TOO FAST. On 
many
 of the record tracks I hear, and in live performance, the result is mushy.
 Subtle synchopations, chord changes, phrasing emphasis, indeed all which
 requires precision to execute (and to hear properly), gets thrown away on 
the
 altar of the great god Loud and Fast.

 Well, I'm a banjo player, and I say "loud and fast" does NOT equal "good."
 (Is that noise the sound of a cold snap in Hell?) Which "High Society"
 clarinet feature sounds better: brisk (a canter not a gallop) and under
 precise control, or runaway fast and blurry? And what about "Puttin' On
The Ritz?" I have never yet heard both  accuracy of execution and a
flat-out run in the same piece.

 I realize that increasing familiarity with a tune allows a musician to
 execute more it rapidly, and thus increasing familiarity with a piece makes
 the same tempo sound slower to the player(s), but I think one should use
 this apparent extra time to improve the precision of execution. What say
 you?

 Remember: no low blows, break a clinch when the referee says to, go to a
 neutral corner on a knockdown, and no punching after the bell.

 Round One. Bong!

 PHIL WILKING

 Those who would exchange freedom for
 security deserve neither freedom nor security.

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Robert S. Ringwald"
>
>> Gabriel Faure was once asked what the ideal tempo for a song should be.
>>
>> "If the singer is bad," he replied, "very fast!"
>>