[Dixielandjazz] Further thoughts on riff bands.

[Kent Murdick]

I  live about 2 1/2 hours from New Orleans and my daughter attends 
Loyola, so I get over there quite often.  The typical  brass bands (that 
I hear) play hymns and music from 1900-1930. The union pays various 
brass bands to play by the market and I have never heard a riff band (my 
term) perform there, although there may have been some.  Riff bands like 
Dirty Dozen and Rebirth are quite good and have certainly modernized the 
genre. Many of the members can play in the old style.  Having said that, 
I find the riff bands rather boring and am kind of  sad that they chose 
this direction.  I think this riff style is too simple to rise to the 
level of art.  What is the difference between a riff player and a 
jazzer?  10,000 hours of thoughtful study.