[Dixielandjazz] List Policemen etc.

[Hal Vickery]

Larry,

Your response to my post and this one are much appreciated.  I never have
figured out why anyone would be upset with any category of posts except for
those that are wildly off topic.  

Take my perspective, for instance.  I'm a fan.  My only contributions to
this list can be from that perspective.  I never have made a dime playing
music.  I never did learn to improvise well, and once I needed bifocals, I
never could focus on the spots.  So an incredibly bad amateur player became
strictly a listener.

My interest here is mainly in the discussions of the music and musicians.
Sitting here in Joliet, IL, I'm not all that interested, though, in who is
playing in what festival in San Diego because I can't afford to go there.
I'm really am interested, though, in posts like those by you, Steve, and Tom
that involve how to spread the music to a new generation.

Let's put it this way, folks.  I'm 57 years old, and when I go to venues
where OKOM is played, I'm usually the youngest person in the audience,
except when I'm with my 28-year-old son.

My musical tastes go way beyond OKOM, and his go way beyond mine, but he
fell in love with OKOM as a result of my taking him to a performance of the
Jim Cullum Jazz Band in Madison, WI (for which I'm eternally grateful to Don
Mopsick).  

The key was my getting him to hear the music when the time was right for him
to hear it.  And that's what guys like Steve are trying to point out.  I
don't get this move to silence him at all.  It takes me about one second to
delete a post on guitar frets.  It shouldn't take anyone here any longer to
delete this or any other post if you're not interested in this topic.

One last thought:  I act as a moderator on a web site.  We have people there
who also try to tell people what and what not to post.  We have a standard
phrase that we use to stop that:  "Let the moderators do the moderating."  I
think Bob does a terrific job moderating this list (despite the fact that I
still can't hear Joe Venuti saying anything other than "Barnacle Bill the
Sailor").  Please let him do that without trying to tell him how.

Hal Vickery

-----Original Message-----
From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com
[mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com] On Behalf Of Larry Walton
Entertainment - St. Louis
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 7:38 PM
To: Hal Vickery
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] List Policemen etc.

Ross said > ...............You don`t have to read them !!!!
> I for one thank Steve and Tom Wiggins and others on the list that spend a 
> lot of their time
> "Helping" other Members.
______________________________

I would like to second and expand on that.

Not every idea is practical for everyone and some ideas seem just like pie 
in the sky.  Not every formula that one person has worked out will work for 
someone else and not everyone is interested in changing what they are doing 
very much.

But! While everything won't work for everyone usually some variation of an 
idea will if you have the flexibility to change what you are doing and try 
something else.

I have talked about " Plan B" a lot of times.  Do you have one?  I'm just 
asking that rhetorically.  Should yours be the same as mine?  Maybe yes and 
maybe no.  The important thing isn't so much my solution but that you have 
one for you.

I think about and reject dozens of ideas sometimes before I come up with a 
plan.  No one's ideas are bad and sometimes I work out a plan for me based 
on several ideas.  A lot of those rejected ideas are mine.  I will also dump

a plan the second it quits working for me.

I'm gonna tell you right now this is the only place where one band leader 
will try to help another.  No one in his right mind would sit and feed ideas

to a rival, competiting band leader.  But it happens here because many of us

recognize the value of trading ideas in a non competitive atmosphere.

Ask yourself when the last time another band leader who had a band like 
yours sat down and told you all his secrets, traded charts with you, told 
you where to find stuff,  instantly gave you the background on pieces you 
were doing and sometimes pass on gigs.  I'll tell you right now NOWHERE!

This is a forum that just doesn't happen anywhere else.  I would have given 
a lot if someone had given me this kind of food for thought years ago. 
Everything I know I learned at great cost not only monetarily but 
personally.  A list like this would have made me even more successful and 
saved me a bunch of bucks too.

By some standards I'm not setting the world on fire but for this town and at

this time I'm doing OK I think and hope to do better in the future.  Some of

that I owe to this list.

I suggest that some of you get over this contest that you seem to be having 
with Steve and others.  Simply because another man has a bigger house or car

does not make me or you unsuccessful or somehow inferior unless we let it.

If I tell you that I worked 12 gigs in December that could be bragging but 
if I tell you how I got those 12 gigs then I am helping you.  If you played 
20 and I aspire to have 20 and you are willing to give me a tip on how to 
get them or somehow inspire me, don't you think I should thank you?

Blindness isn't only a condition of the eyes but of the mind.

For those who wish to suppress what Steve, Tom or others has to say prevents

me from picking out those things that may work for me.  It may also cause me

to not pass on something to the list that may help others in their quest for

more OKOM venues or outlets.  An example is the business cards I am carrying

right now were obtained free from a source that Tom sent me.  I wouldn't 
have known about it if Tom hadn't told me.

Some of you enjoy talking about some great player of the past.  How many 
times has Louis Armstrong been the topic.  Other than Louis was a jazz great

he has never made me a dime or got me a gig nor will he make you one either.

Simply because I'm not all that interested in the endless posts about Louis 
doesn't mean that you aren't.  It would be very rude of me to harp on the 
number of posts that Louis (or others) generates and threaten to drop out of

the list or try to generate or collect posts that supports my side.

A lot of that is happening here.  I quit choosing up teams years ago and I 
suggest everyone think about what you are doing.  This list is, I think, a 
valuable resource to everyone.  If you don't think it's valuable then 
dropping off would be a reasonable thing but don't use Steve, Tom or me as 
an excuse.
Larry
St. Louis



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