[Dixielandjazz] Overamplification

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

You might as well have the Gil Evans story, 
of how the electronics were hard to set up and the concert
started about an hour late and only people at the back
could hear. Other than the spectacle of John Surman 
(a big man) plainly blowing hard and swaying but inaudible 
(the band sounded as if it was inside Ray Russell's guitar)
people who had to leave before the end 
(because of the delays) on opening the door introduced 
to the mix(-up) the delightful rhythms of Scottish dance 
music being played on a squeezebox etc. in the other hall 
in the building  --   spontaneous Charles Ives?????  

but to our OKOM tale:
A friend of mine went up to the bandstand and shouted 
at the local hero Dixieland trumpeter (later proprietor of
a deli, at that time newly equipped with electrical gear) 
whom he'd just watched apparently soloing, 
"I can't hear you for the rhythm section,"
and the trumpeter shouted back, 
"I can't hear you for the rhythm section," 
which of course became an inaudible riff. 
Actually a melody line is just forming for the phrase, 
which would equally fit 
"I can't hear you for the electronics." Perhaps "100 Pipers" would do?







       
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