[Dixielandjazz] Chicken Dance Revisited

[Denny Schreffler]

In the album notes for “Q’s Juke Joint” by Quincy Jones, he tells about
being on a polka gig in Seattle with Ray Charles – Yes! a polka gig with
Ray Charles and Quincy Jones – when they were teenagers, and Ray giving
him a bit of advice that he has kept since then – whatever gig you’re on,
do your best; be true to the music.

Since we’re all way hipper than our audiences anyway ;-) why draw any
lines? In the context of most gigs, we’re entertainers, not artists.

A man walks into a bar and sits down beside a gorgeous young woman.

“I’ll give you two dollars to have sex with me,” he says.

“What do you think I am?” she replies, “There’s no way that I’ll have sex
with you.”

He asks again, “Will you have sex with me for a thousand dollars?”

Her reply was the same, “What do you think I am? I will not have sex with
you for any amount of money.”

He goes further. “Listen. I’m a very wealthy man. Money means absolutely
nothing to me. Will you have sex with me for five hundred thousand
dollars?”

“Well,” she stammers, “for five hundred thousand dollars, I will have sex
with you.”

“Good!” says the man. “Now that we both know what you are, let’s start
over and talk about price.”

“He who pays the piper calls the tune,” has become an idiom in business
and other relationships throughout western culture, but it certainly
retains relevancy in its original context.

I once got a $300 (three hundred dollar) tip on a single to play the
theme from the Flintstones!!

Denny Schreffler

Tucson


  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "Mike Woitowicz"
  To: "Denny Schreffler"
  Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Chicken Dance Revisited
  Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:23:01 -0500


  Listmates,

  I can't let the Chicken Dance discussion die without a comment. I
  find it more stimulating then endless posts about Albert system
  clarinets and sarousaphones.

  I'm in Wisconsin (that's near Chicago for the non-USA members) and
  get requests for the Chicken Dance ("Dance Little Bird")
  periodically. Do we play it? Sure -- the customer is always right.

  Do I LIKE to play The Chicken Dance (or Bill Bailey, Basin Street
  Blues, Way Down Yonder in New Orleans, Bourbon Street Parade,
  Washington and Lee March, the Beer Barrel Polka, etc., etc.)? No,
  in the sense that these tunes are way overdone. But Yes in the
  sense that I am indeed performing music and at the same time
  realizing the customer has heard these tunes less times then I have
  and has asked me to play them.

  One of the reasons my Banjo Barons Ragtime Band has been able to
  work fairly steady for the last 20 years is that we take requests
  on strolling gigs. If someone requests "Dueling Banjos" or "Hello
  Dolly" for the fourth time in the evening, we say "sure" and let
  'er rip (smiling all the time). Quite often, it means a $20 bill
  stuffed in my pocket as I'm playing. Even if it doesn't, the
  customer is happy and so is the person writing my check for the
  evening.

  As a matter of fact, I have a list of tunes on my practice list
  that I expect to be requested and I rehearse before certain gigs.
  These are tunes that I don't do too often, but I find that in
  certain venues there is a high probability the will be requested.
  Besides the "Chicken Dance", this includes tunes like "Rocky Top"
  (try that on a four string banjo), "Tennessee Waltz, San Antonio
  Rose, The Anniversary Waltz" and a bunch more. This time of year,
  we get a lot of mileage out of a tune called: "I Love My Green Bay
  Packers." Hokey -- you bet. But it sure gets a lot of people paying
  attention to our music.

  When are the jazz purists going to learn that we perform
  (entertain) for the audience -- not the other band members? The
  audience is our de facto employer.

  Standing back with my flack jacket on.....


  Mike Woitowicz
  The Banjo Barons Ragtime Band
  The Dixie Barons Dixieland Band
  www.banjomusic.biz
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