[Dixielandjazz] Get out there where the young audiences are

[Stephen G Barbone]

> Marek Boym <marekboym at gmail.com>
>
> To sum up - instead of wailing, get out there where young audiences
> are.  Play for them - if you're good, they will like you, and at least
> some will come for more!

Right on Marek. Too few of us Dixieland Bands do that. Last night I  
played for a street festival. Crowded with people of all ages. They  
loved at and danced to it. IN THEiR OWN FREE DANCE STYLES.

Here is a copy of a letter to the editor I wrote to the American Rag  
in response to someone's assertion that Dixieland was dying:

****To the Editor - American Rag - July 10, 2009

Like Don Jones, I am stunned, but not left speechless, by the comments  
of Roger Paterick, letters, AR, July 2009,  that Trad Jazz (Dixieland)  
"is slipping away into oblivion" that "It seems that the preservation  
of this art form is solely lacking the dedication it once enjoyed" and  
that one of the factors in its decline is evident in the average youth  
band."v

He then narrowly defines what Dixieland is, what instruments should  
play it and what songs they should play. None of which is happening  
among the young today, it seems.

Wow!!!

First of all, I would remind everyone of what Max Kaminsky said over  
60 years ago about "art form" jazz.

"The kind of jazz we all played had a functional base. We played to  
provide the music for dancing . . . But now, things seemed to be  
changing. Jazz, like Dr. Frankenstein had created a monster in its own  
image - the jazz addict - who in becoming all hopped up about . . .  
its significance as an art form, very nearly snuffed the life out of  
it. Jazz no longer belonged to the musicians and dancers. It was taken  
over lock stock and barrel by the fans, the addicts, the record  
collectors, the amateur critics . . . These were the people who  
decided what was jazz and what wasn't, who dictated how it should be  
played and on what instruments and specified who could and who could  
not play 'real' jazz."

Is Dixieland slipping into oblivion? Hardly. If we older folks get out  
there among the public, and away from the narrow confines of the  
festivals, we will find all kinds of Dixieland being performed. By  
young bands and by old bands. In public venues all over the USA. This  
music is enjoyed by young and old everywhere. And the young bands are  
actively playing it. Is it all banjo-tuba? Dixieland? No, of course  
not, but then it never was either.

For a treat, google search the following bands: Loose Marbles; Baby  
Soda; Primate Fiasco, Cangelosi Cards, Asylum Street Spankers, or  
google Jonathan Russell. This young people are playing Dixieland all  
over the place. They even Busk in the parks, on street corners, and in  
subway stations. But don't feel sorry for them, they make more per  
hour busking than they would make per hour at an OKOM festival.

Point is simple. It is not Dixieland that is slipping into oblivion.  
It is us old folks, fans and musicians alike who are. The festivals  
will also fade away unless they get wise to bringing the young into  
their venues, rather than insisting upon "art form" jazz. The art form  
is already preserved in museums and on websites like Red Hot Jazz.  
Leave the music to those who play it and it will take care of itself.

Musicians like those young bands mentioned above, and my own, and Jim  
Fryer's and Ed Polcer's, and others are already aware of the power of  
Dixieland among the young. We do hundreds of gigs a year in front of  
them and recognize that the times, as well as the audiences, are  
changing.

As an aside to Festival promoters who are seeking young audiences,  
start hiring these young bands to perform, both regular sets and as  
buskers on the streets. The results will amaze you.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband