[Dixielandjazz] help for tunes

Thu Dec 3 10:43:35 PST 2009

Beth and Jim,

I have read your messages. I really feel the need to make a remark.

I have seen Kustbandet several times live, and as far as I have seen, usually their visual aspect is taken care of pretty well. They do have lots of fun and are nice to watch. Sometimes however you simply have a bad audience, but there are also other things going on here in Europe.

I'm making my living now since 1992 fulltime playing music and have noticed that the respect for someone who actually is capable of playing a musical instrument is rapidly declining on this continent. That is not only in the classic jazz style, but also goes for symphony orchestras.

We live in a computer time, so somebody who generates sounds out of a machine is much more interesting to the general taste. ( I mean DJs) It is sad but true. Our kind of music gets no single second of radio or TV airplay anymore, so the general audience simply have no idea what is this music all about. In school the music history book tells, New Orleans jazz = black music = good. Dixieland is a bad imitation stemming from white people = wrong. And a lot of people over here think, well I learned that at school, so it must be true. Not knowing Beiderbecke, Rollini, Goodman, to name a few people. A lot of nice jazz festivals simply dissapeared. Did a concert in this country last month, the average age was 80. The only people younger were musicians.

I have been in the USA several times, there you could hear good jazz in public places like hotels, restaurants and so on. Over here it has become so rare.

That, in combination with bad economic situations make that it is harder and harder to find places to play. 

Concerts are really a problem and the company parties as well, since most companies are scared to pay anything in these times.

I hope for kustbandet that adding these musical pieces will help. I have played in a band called Fifty-six (Winner Breda Jazz contest 1991) it had Hyena Stomp in the Book, so I guess I should be able to find it.

Billy Goat is arranged once for saxophone quartet, I must have that one as well, so will try to find both pieces.

Just hope that situations will get better, since I love music stemming from human beings. Not computer sounds.

Kind regards,

Bert Brandma

> From: beth at portafortuna.com
> Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 10:33:11 -0700
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] help for tunes
> CC: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> To: dixieorkest at hotmail.com
> 
> 
> Very well said, Jim. I was thinking along the same lines but didn't know
> how to say it. As a listener, I appreciate good music, but the whole
> experience is so much more enjoyable when it looks like the band is
> having a good time. Whether it be that the musicians are simply
> appreciating each others talents, or are cutting up on the stage and
> having fun, it shows through and adds a spark that makes an otherwise
> good experience into something great and memorable.
> 
> Titan Hot 7 is an example of a band that really has fun on stage and it
> rubs off on the audience. I hope they can continue this without Bob
> Draga. The Boondockers were an extreme example of this and I sure do
> miss them!
> 
> Red Lehr's bands always seem to be enjoying themselves and playing with
> each other, and that electrifies the performances too, even without the
> comedy.
> 
> Both examples are ways to enliven the performance over and above the
> virtuosity of the musicians, but having said that, the musical talent
> has to be there underlying it all in order for the spark to happen.
> 
> Cheers,
> Beth
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> 
> From: "Jim Kashishian" <jim at kashprod.com>
> 
> 
> Tito wrote:
> >Anyway, my band is going strong but some people say "you are very good, but
> seem too serious at stage..." and I agree.
> 
> Then Tito asked for the chords for various songs, saying:
> >This will make the people laugh... and the Band also...
> 
> 
> Tito, I don't wish to come off as some kind of know-it-all, but I think
> the
> happiness (or less seriousness) has to come from within, not from
> special,
> funny tunes, funny stories, or special tricks. 
> 
> As trained musicians, it is hard for us not to think that people should
> recognize our talents, and react to them. In most cases, however, it
> will
> only be other musicians who appreciate that. 
> 
> The general audience will react to what they see first, then what they
> hear
> second. If they just see a happy group on stage, then...ok, it's a happy
> group. If they see a happy group, and hear a close-knit music coming
> from
> them, then they will realize something is going on that is good. If they
> see everyone being extremely serious, then they may not get past that to
> realize that the music is very good.
> 
> I would suggest firstly, that any group take themselves less seriously.
> Inside you're having the time of your life, so why not let that shine
> out?
> 
> As the song says "When You're Smiling....., the Whole World Will Smile
> With
> You".
> 
> Jim
> 
> 
> 
> 
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