[Dixielandjazz] Jon Erik Kellso & Friends

[Stephen G Barbone]

> "Thad McArthur" <wthadmc at whidbey.com>
>
> These very fine musicians indulged themselves on I'll See You in My  
> Dreams
> for 8+ minutes, but did very little to find anything in that great  
> tune to
> evoke the magic that has made it the classic that it is.  If they  
> played
> like that at the Landing in San Antonio, the place would have closed  
> 25
> years ago.   I particularly like Howard Alden and Evan Christopher.  I
> plugged into an adjacent cut on U-Tube to check whether my soul was  
> asleep,
> Howard and George Van Eps doing Night and Day,  they made more   
> MUSIC  in
> one chorus than  your cited cut delivered in the 8+ minutes.  When  
> we bemoan
> the possible future of OKOM this may be something that should be  
> looked at.
> The tune itself enables the LISTENER to bring something to the  
> performance.
> This coupled with fine, creative, appropriate musicianship makes the
> occasion soar,  for the listener who pays the bills.      Thad  
> McArthur

Ouch. I'm glad you are not a professional critic, Thad.

The cut you cite, as well as the Landing performances are indeed  
wonderful. But they are very different in spirit from what happens at  
The Ear Inn. They are also much better recorded and not through the  
pitiful mike of a camcorder. And they are not a jam session with some  
folks casually sitting in. No doubt you and the audience at the Ear  
Inn hear a little bit differently and so their applause and  
appreciation is just as valid as your "art" ears. There is also a  
three generation gap between you and those Ear Inn listeners who pay  
the bills. Perhaps you are both right?

In my opinion, it is folks like Jon Erik Kellso, with Jim Fryer, Dan  
Block, Chuck Redd, Evan Christopher and Howard Alden, his friends on  
the cut, that are keeping OKOM alive and viable with YOUNG audiences  
everywhere they play. Basically old folks like you and I rarely go out  
to hear live music at clubs anymore so we certainly are not paying the  
bills to keep OKOM alive.To diss the music publicly as you did  
demeans, not only the players, but yourself.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone