[Dixielandjazz] Tempo

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Point well taken - casino's are a different animal than a concert or other 
venue.  It's been awhile since I did one but even then it wasn't always fast 
and loud.

Here in Missouri for a long time they pretended to cruise even though the 
casino was concreted to the bank and only pretended to be a boat.  Casinos 
here have to touch water.  So you got a boarding pass for the "cruise" (to 
nowhere).  You had to buy a ticket to get on.  The stationary "Cruises" 
lasted two hours.  During that time people were not allowed to "get off" or 
"get on".  After all we were out in the pretend river.  The band's job was 
to entertain the people standing in lines for the next "cruise"  Every so 
often the band would magically board the boat and parade through the casino 
playing "happy days are here again" and "I'm in the money" and other such 
ditties.  This happened when someone hit a big jackpot.  We didn't even get 
our feet yet.

All this charade was because the voters only allowed River Boat Cruise 
gambling.  Boy were they sold a bill of goods.  One of them is situated in a 
large bathtub and extended to the river via a canal so that it would be in 
water.  The only boat with an engine in it is in Alton Il and it no longer 
moves from the dock and is only a part of a mega complex that extends up and 
down the bank.

They changed the law since the "cruise" concept was silly and since they 
didn't need to entertain people any more they let the band go.  Now that's 
progress.
Larry
Almost Crusin' down the river ---
In St. Louis

----- 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: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 1:04 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Tempo


> Phil Wilking wrote about tempo and his preferences. Makes a lot of sense.
>
> There is however, I submit, another take on speed. That of the audience 
> and
> the venue. For example, when playing at The Showboat Casino, as background
> noise for the slot machines, the bands play fast & loud.
>
> The audience, not particularly jazz knowledgeable, seems to prefer it that
> way. So, away we go, high speed, high volume, which they equate with good.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
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