[Dixielandjazz] OKOM Bands Out There - was - Club 7 Jazz Band

[Stephen G Barbone]

> Gluetje1 at aol.com.  wrote (about Club 7 Jazz Band being a great young  
> band
> "
>
> That they are!  Seems you are finding lots of evidence that the  
> young  are
> plenty capable with the OKUM repertoire, don't need to show up at  
> the old  folks
> shows to hear it. :?)

There are lots of OKOM bands out there. Many young, and many old.  
Since BSJB ventures  into the world of music outside of the DJML and  
OKOM Festivals, we find can't help but find them.

There are also many young OKOM bands/players within the Festival  
world. Guys like Dave Bennett, Jonathan Russell, gals like Bria, Club  
7, etc. Wonderful players.

We've heard a lot  about the OKOM audience dying off, and that is  
surely true. Many Festivals face declining audiences etc. Perhaps  
because they all bring the same old bands, whose fan bases are also  
dying off.

These young bands have young fan bases. Not too different from the  
swing dance fan base. Five years ago, most Festivals were ignoring  
swing dancers. Now most court them. Same should be true of hiring  
young bands.

The pity of it is that some "Old Guard" fans get very selfish.  They  
bitch and moan when a Trad Festival is forced to include other genres  
in order to survive. They write nasty letters to American Rag and say  
they will no longer attend Sacramento because it wasn't like it used  
to be, not enough trad jazz, etc.

What? A couple of years ago Sacramento almost folded. The new managing  
team there rescued the Jubilee from the abyss. Sure they added other  
bands, like Rebirth Brass, that were huge hits. And they cut some dead  
wood bands. And there was still more trad there than in any other  
festival that I know of.

I feel for Bob Ringwald, et al. who did such a magnificent job  
rescuing this festival, only to now face the slings and arrows of a  
few, selfish, so called, fans. The festival world will be better off  
if they don't attend.

I think it all points to the fact that some old folks, fans and  
musicians alike, ought to get out into the real world, where the real  
audience is.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband