[Dixielandjazz] Almost Good Players

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

As Bob said "I could write a book."

The number of players that can Improvise, construct an arrangement on the fly, play harmony to the melody and counterpoint are dwindling rapidly.  In addition that person must know hundreds of tunes and maybe extend into the thousands.  Then to top it off be able to play them in most keys, in tune and with good sound.

Just being able to improvise is just the beginning of the requirements of a musician it seems to me to be considered "good".  They have to have all the other ducks in a row too like reasonable technique and be able to play in tune.  Reading well is also reasonable to ask too.

I think you will find almost everyone who can get a good grade in all of the above are above 60 years old.

When I came on board in the 50's the requirement to play with the "society" bands was to be able to play from memory about 200 tunes as well as take jazz choruses on those tunes.  The ability to sight read wasn't as important but was a big plus.  The other things like reasonable technique, tone and intonation were a given.  Also, a knowledge of styles was important too.  

While this sounds like a tall order for a musician wanting to break in it was the norm and at that time I knew dozens of guys that could do it.  Of course some were better than others but if you couldn't do those things pretty well you didn't get call backs from the leaders.

I played Saturday night with an exceptionally fine musician.  This guy retired from the Air Force Band a couple of years ago and has great range, tone and technique.  This man is considered to be one of the better trumpet players in the city.  What more can you want?  He reads the spots pretty much exactly as written, improvises badly, can't arrange on the fly and can't play harmony or counterpoint to the melody.   Yet in legit circles he is a fine player.

We were playing a freebee Scottish Rite Christmas party so I couldn't hire who I wanted but here is a by most accounts a fine musician who hasn't a clue how to do what I do. 

What I am saying is that this man is the norm today.   Today if you can stand up and scream out a really fast solo you will get all the back pats and never mind all those other things that I mentioned.

I guess the point is that musicians that are versatile, play well and has generally all the tools are becoming fewer and fewer.  I am very hard pressed to find anyone below 60 that can fill the bill.

There is another thing too.  I talked to a very fine tenor player over the weekend at an AF retirement ceremony.  I asked him if he was still playing gigs and he said no.  He took a teaching job in Peoria IL. and didn't have much time but that there were no gigs either.  Gigs are becoming harder and harder to come by and it is sad to see a fine player just go away.
Larry
StL