[Dixielandjazz] By Ned, we invented the genre:

[john petters]

Marek Boym wrote:

> Plus, some of the top American musicians are expat Europeans: Tiony
> Pringle, Keith Ingham, Derek Smith and, if my memory is not playing
> tricks on me, Sonny Leyland.

In fact if you include the white musicians, pretty well all the early 
performers were Europeans and many of them were Jewish. Art Hodes, Benny 
Goodman, Artie Shaw - or Italians, Nick LaRocca, Louis Prima. Perhaps 
the true jazz musicians were the African Americans who owed more to 
Africa than to Uncle Sam (grin grin)

> 
> Saying that jazz was invented by Americans and hence Americans play it
> better is tantamount with saying that, since classical music and opera
> originated in Europe, Europeans must play it better than americans or
> Asians; yet a big proportion of the new classical stars does not come
> from Europe.
> 

Seriously though, I can normally tell a European band from an American 
band by the looseness of rhythm, although  here in Blighty, we produced 
the Ken Colyer Band with Colin Bowden and the Acker Bilk band with Ron 
McKay and both bands swung hard and sounded as though they meant it.
Cheers
John Petters
Amateur Raduio Station G3YPZ
www.traditional-jazz.com