[Dixielandjazz] Great CA Festival

[Marek Boym]

Hello folks,


>.  Attendance was good, which shows that if you  build
> a good festival, and run it well, they will come.  We especially  enjoyed
> the St. Louis Stompers and the Yerba Buena Stompers and Le Jazz Hot, the
> Django outfit from San Francisco, but there were many other very good  bands.
> There weren't many young folks and a lot of white hair, but I don't  think
> playing to a few youngsters is going to save OKOM.  I believe the  audience
> will never be large, but when today's youngsters get to middle age
> (fifties, sixties) some of them will hear it, like it and go to festivals and  join
> clubs, and their hair will become white.


If today's kids are not exposed to jazz, they will not go to jazz
festivals when their hair turns to silver.  The need to get acquainted
with the music first!

 When we were young  (thirties,
> forties) Swing was king, and we didn't know there was traditional,  dixieland
> or whatever you'd like to call it but after we grew older, and the  kids left
> the nest, we were free to do as we chose, we found this music, and now
> we're devotees.


Sure, but, as you've said, "Swing was king."  So you were exposed to
it - a lot.  Some of the people exposed to swing, and later - to the
reemerging traditional jazz have become devotees; most did not.

As to kids having left the nest, that has very little to do with it,
other than leave one more free time and free income.  I've been a jazz
fan almost all my life, kids or no kids.  True, when I had to support
them, I could not afford many festivals, but started attending one a
year when they were teenagers (that meant going abroad - there was
very little jazz here).

>
> For our benevolent dictator:  We don't like cardboard CD cases,   We have
> bought a few because we liked the performers, but not the package.   Jewel
> boxes are great.

I beg to disagree!  Jewl boxes are fragile and take too much room.  I
have some European CDs in cardboard boxes (with ALL the relevant
information), and love it!
>
Cheers,

Marek