[Dixielandjazz] Playing Jazz In High School Auditoriums

[Stephen G Barbone]

>  Marek Boym <marekboym at gmail.com>
>
> Well, in the 1950's it was probably quite common, as the revival was
> at tis height.  Do you still do it NOW?
> Cheers
>
> On 7 December 2010 06:40,  <alevy at alevy.com> wrote:
>> Hi Steve,
>> You wrote:<snipped>
>> Glad to see someone playing OKOM in High School Auditoriums
>> ==========================
>> We, Clem and I started back in 1951.
>> See http://alevy.com/clem.htm
>> Cheers,
>> Al

Dear Marek, Al and List mates:

The revival may have been at its height, but not universally in  
academia in the early 1950s

  I remember being suspended from our High School band for two weeks   
circa 1949 for playing Rosy MacHargue's 12th Street Rag Solo (by ear)  
in one of the band practice rooms. Back then, at least in my High  
School, (Bayside HS) Jazz was still considered illegitimate music and  
jazz musicians were thought of as the dregs of society. The band  
director was horrified that a nice boy like me would want to play  
jazz, the music of cigarette smokers, drunks, drug addicts, gangsters  
and loose women. But then, that life didn't sound so band. <grin>

As a contrast, in 1952 just a few miles away, Kenny Davern  presented  
"A Night of Jazz" at Newtown High School. He was a student there,  
Newtown being one of 2 High Schools in NYC that offered a strong music  
study course curriculum.  It was the first time ever that a jazz  
concert had been held to benefit a NYC High School and he was very  
proud of that fact.

But as Marek says, who among us is playing in High School auditoriums,  
or at Elementary Schools these days? Take heart Marek, Barbone Street  
still does. We have already booked 4 school gigs for 2011 in our local  
area. We'll probably do about 10. No doubt other bands do so also. And  
about 10 years ago I had a long conversation with drummer Johnny  
Blowers who was around 90 then. He was very proud of the fact that his  
band had been doing some 30 school gigs a year in New York City for  
several years. He had a whole program devoted to jazz for school kids.

For us old folks, passing the torch is what it's all about.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband