[Dixielandjazz] New Songs & Audiences

[Stephen G Barbone]

 >Bob Ringwald wrote: (polite snip)

 >But I don't play the crap that has come out in the past 10  
years. . . . and

 >Steve, I have never bitched about the songs that have been written  
in the
 >last 10 years.  I simply said "No thanks, I don't want to take my time
 >listening and learning that crap."  Just because the young people like
 >it, don't make it good. . .


Gee Wiz Bob, didn't meant to piss you off. I am well aware of your  
success. However, if you don't want to listen to new songs that can be  
adapted (and are) to Dixieland, then why did you specifically ask for  
examples of some that were written within the last 10 years?

Bob also wrote about my comment that IMO the hardest audience to  
please was 50 to 60 year olds.

 > I have to respectfully disagree with you.
 >Perhaps if you are playing songs such as "Ode To Bitches" for them...

Nah, "Ode To Bitches" is for the 20-30 year olds. <grin> Regarding  
which audiences are the hardest to please . . . Below from a Swing  
Dancer Blog, see next to last paragraph. I put the entire article in  
because I think others may be interested in it. This is how we are  
perceived by some of our audience.

Cheers,
Steve


TRADITIONAL JAZZ AND LINDY HOP: A DISCUSSION

It was about 10 years ago that Rudy and I got plugged into traditional  
Jazz. We have attended many traditional jazz fests, the following  
events more than once, Sweet and Hot Music Fest in L.A., The San Diego  
Thanksgiving Jazz Fest, The Suncoast Dixieland Jazz Fest in Clearwater  
FL, The Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Fest in Davenport IA, and The Great River  
Jazz Fest in La Crosse WI. We have attended others in Madison WI,  
Monterey CA, Chicago, New Orleans, and Phoenix. We like Trad Jazz  
fests because they always have generous sized floors for dancing, and  
the floors are almost invariably situated to one side or both sides of  
the bandstand. As well, we love the energy found in traditional jazz.  
Trad jazz bands almost always delight and entertain. They use humor to  
great effect—this is not a serious music; it is a fun music, and trad  
jazz is happy music. The tempos are usually peppy, and we like to  
dance fast—to a point--but, when you attend 20 or more sets of music  
played by 10 or more bands over the several days of a fest, it is  
impossible to dance to every tune played by every band at every set.

When we started attending trad jazz fests, the average age of the  
musicians and attendee was in the 70s. Since then the average age of  
the musicians has gone down due to the influx of young musician  
replacements for the older ones who have died or stopped playing. The  
trad jazz powers have done an able job of enticing young musicians  
into trad jazz, with playing opportunities and scholarships. However,  
they have been unsuccessful at stemming the falling tide of attendees.  
The average age of attendees has gone up relentlessly. And at some  
fests we have recently attended, the average age of attendees is  
obviously in the 80s. As you might expect, attendance has dropped—this  
the result of an actuarial inevitability.

The Trad jazz scene is now looking for ways to entice a younger  
audience, with “the under 50 years of age group” as a phrase often  
found in their laments for new trad jazz fans. I think this is a  
mistake, as the 44-62 year old age cohort (today’s Baby Boomers), have  
proven remarkably refractory to accept any forms of music other than  
those they grew up with—notably Folk and original forms of Rock and  
Roll. For some reason, people under the age of 44 now seem more open  
to music which is older but yet, new to them. This can be  
understandable if you remember the popular American music forms of the  
70s thru the 90’s. Strident rock music, plus disco and hip-hop are not  
likely to be musical forms to take to your bosom for life, even though  
they were strongly imprinted on the young. Many of the forms of  
popular music prevalent toward the end of the 20th century were “throw- 
away”; musical forms constantly replenished by new “throw-away”  
musical forms. Remember “Ska”? Where is it now? This churning of  
popular music forms is a fact, and it is a tribute to the remarkably  
adept advertising and salesmanship of the American music recording  
industry.

I think the Trad jazz fests would be better served by reaching down to  
the 20s and 30s for new audience. How to do this? I have no earthly  
idea, but I do know special pricing for students is a way to get them  
in, and attracting Lindy Hoppers has been partially effective. The  
largest Trad Jazz Fest in America, The Sacramento Jazz Jubilee has,  
for several years, had a dedicated dance venue, the “Swing Dance  
Emporium”, and they have given a vote to the dancers to choose those  
bands to play at the Swing Dance Emporium. The Arizona Classic Jazz  
Society had been experimenting for several years in trying to marry  
their annual jazz fest to the local Lindy Hop community. The marriage  
is still shaky, but still no divorce. For several years, The Sweet and  
Hot Music Fest has been holding two hour Fri. and Sat. evening dances  
with bands preferred by Lindy Hoppers. Will these Lindy Hoppers become  
seat-holders of the future? Beats me, but like a Casino, you can’t get  
them to gamble if you don’t get them in the door, and Trad jazz will  
either sells itself, or not. Only time will tell.