[Dixielandjazz] Dixieland tunes

[Graham Martin]

On Tue, 13 May 2008 Bert Joss, back in Montreal wrote:

["Listmates, there are NO 'Dixieland' tunes, only Dixieland bands!  What
they PLAY is Dixieland!  Ever listen to "Kenny Ball Plays British"?
British folk songs, pops, marches, etc. i.e. Men of Harlech,
Lincolnshire Poacher, Scotland the Brave, British Grenadiers, etc.  Most
of them swing, particularly British Grenadiers.  And they are delightful
to hear! None of them are remotely close to the American Dixieland
oeuvre (sp).  My opinion."]

You know, I really don't agree with that comment. I can see where Bert Joss is trying to go with it, and that it is probably true that many tunes can be played in a Dixieland style. But to say "there are no 'Dixieland tunes" is not correct. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band had a profound influence on the young white musicians who went on to play Dixieland jazz, and the tunes they played on those first jazz recordings are at the centre of the evolution of 'hot' jazz. Who can say that 'Livery Stable Blues', 'Tiger Rag', 'Ostrich Walk', 'Fidgety Feet', 'Sensation Rag, 'At The Jazz Band Ball', 'Clarinet Marmalade' etc. are not Dixieland tunes. Nonsense! They were picked up by Bix, the NORK., the Chicagoans, Condon, the New York brigade, the West Coast revivalists, the British revivalists and just about every so-called 'Dixieland' band thereafter.

Hey, try going out on a Dixieland gig with an ordinary Real Book. You won't get very far, I can assure you.

I have purposely avoided saying anything about where those tunes played by the ODJB. may have originated, or indeed whether the ODJB. were very 'original'. It does not change the impact of that set of Dixieland tunes.

And, just a bit off topic, I am just wondering if Kenny Ball has ever called himself a 'Dixieland' band. He usually refers to his band as 'the Jazzmen'. Eddie Condon did not like the description 'Dixieland' and said, "We called it jazz!"  I dislike the terms 'Dixieland', and even 'Traditional' jazz. OKOM is better, on this list anyway, and generally avoids the fisticuffs. But can't we just play JAZZ?  'Hot' Jazz, even better!. 

Coincidentally, we are just about to rename our band 'The Southern Bay Stompers' by dropping the West Coast sounding, and therefore misleading, 'Stompers' and replacing it with 'Jazzband'. 

What's in a name? You may very well ask! (Wink)

Best.

Grah

Graham Martin
REDLAND BAY
Queensland, AUSTRALIA

E-mail: grahmartin at bigpond.com