[Dixielandjazz] July 4th Gigs

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Jul 6, 2008, at 3:49 AM,Gordon of Northridge wrote:

> GWW174 at aol.com
>
> Nothing more patriotic than America's musical herietage..... aka  
> dixieland,
> jazz,swing, ragtime,  etc....
>
> Did anyone out there in DLML land try and capitalize on this and  
> play any
> gigs at parades... carnivals... fire works events... Would seem that  
> there were
> lot's of opportunities out there on this very civic patiotic day.

Hi Gordon:

Here in the Philadelphia area, just about every Dixieland band I know  
of played at least one gig on July 4. Many did parades, some, like  
mine did private party celebrations, some did pre-fireworks concerts.  
Very jazzy day here, perhaps because Philly is often thought of as the  
cradle of liberty and there are lots of opportunities for bands that  
play "America's Music".

We don't do parades anymore as it is usually too damn hot and humid in  
this area and as we age, we try not to overdo it.

We have a long standing annual private gig for the date. We used to do  
a couple more, but because of our ages, and following day schedule  
this year, we cut back.

The next day,  July 5th, we did 2 OKOM weddings for a total of 10  
hours playing time. Damn near killed us.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.barbonestreet.com
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband