[Dixielandjazz] Can you give me any hope?

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Jul 14, 2010, at 3:00 PM, dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com  
wrote:

>  "Roy (Bud) Taylor" <budtuba at gmail.com>
>
> There seems to be a resurgence in swing dancing (Lindy) here in the
> Northeast.  We have played a few times for a couple of local clubs  
> including
> a college dance at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  These  
> kids are
> non-stop dancers...reminds me of some Polish wedding gigs.  Look  
> around for
> swing band clubs or teachers in your part of the country and invite  
> them to
> attend a concert or two for free.  Once they are hooked...they will  
> join
> your club.  To them OKOM is brand new stuff and they will appreciate  
> it and
> its history.  --

Amen Bud.

The swing dance scene here in Philly is strong and they love OKOM. One  
of the bands that is VERY successful with them, from the Mid-West to  
the East is the Boilermaker Jazz Band. They used to be a New Orleans  
Band in the George Lewis mold, but discovered the dancers over a  
decade ago. Another successful band on that scene here is Drew Lewis  
and the Midnight Society Jazz Band. He is about 24 years old, has a  
young band and attracts young followers.

Barbone Street does about 6 swing dances a year. In fact, we just did  
a wedding last weekend where a swing dancer couple got married and are  
doing another one on August 7. The happy couple has invited 400 swing  
dancers to their wedding and it is in an old ballroom in Chestnut  
Hill, PA. A four hour gig for us and I hope we old folks can last.  
<grin>

The kids here know the tunes, dance to them, and will mouth the words  
to tunes like Ain't Misbehavin, Sweet Georgia Brown, Honeysuckle Rose  
etc.

And I'm sure list mate Joe Hopkins can cite chapter and verse about  
the VERY STRONG swing dance scene in his territory around Phoenix  
Arizona.

So while the Festival and/or Jazz Society scene might be fading  
because our contemporaries age wise are dying off, there are plenty of  
opportunities to play for appreciative young audiences if a band wants  
to play where the kids are. Best of all, the kids at swing dances and  
college fraternity parties call us sir, carry the sound equipment,  
drums, double bass etc., and act as roadies for us, fully realizing  
that at our ages, that stuff is heavy. We love them and they love us.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband