[Dixielandjazz] Igor's Question

[Chris Tyle]

On last Saturday and Sunday nights I played drums on in a club on 
Bourbon Street in New Orleans with a quartet led by clarinetist Orange 
Kellin. We played mostly pop tunes and some ODJB tunes. The majority of 
the audience were under-50. They didn't ask for any Beatles tunes or 
anything written after WWII. As a matter of fact, the only requests were 
from a women in her 30s that asked for Ray Noble's "I Wished on the 
Moon" and Walter Donaldson's "Did I Remember." She had heard the Billie 
Holiday versions and they were favorites of hers.

My opinion about getting more of a younger audience is simply the venues 
where the music is presented. They are not going to go to festivals 
unless they are swing dancers. Playing "modern" tunes is not going to 
bring them to festivals (and those "modern" Beatles tunes are now 40-45 
years old!) IMO, the 20-30 crowd isn't going to be anymore familiar with 
"Yesterday" than they are "Yesterdays."

Playing bop tunes in trad style, while a nice way to extend the 
repertoire, isn't going to bring in a younger audience, either. Younger 
people are more likely to know "What a Wonderful World" than "Tin Tin Deo."

I think if festivals really wanted to bring younger people in, they need 
to think about bringing in some of the younger bands that Steve Barbone 
has mentioned, and also by doing some other type of event in conjunction 
with the festival. Perhaps a day were local microbrews are featured. 
Seems to me in wouldn't be difficult to get something like that going. 
Festival promoters would be wise to check out events other than music 
that draw a younger crowd.

Regards,
Chris Tyle