[Dixielandjazz] Where Did It Go?

[Stephen G Barbone]

> "Jim Kashishian" <jim at kashprod.com> wrote
>
>
>
> Steve asked:
>> Where did OKOM go?
>
> Steve then answered his own question, without thinking that this is an
> international list:
>> To Festivals where "Art Form" audiences glared at folks who were  
>> too loud,
> discouraged dancing because it was distracting, and in reality,  
> became the
> elitists.
>
> And, I expand on his question by answering:  Where?  To Europe where  
> it is
> alive & well!  There's little dancing in the clubs we play at since  
> there is
> no room to move!  I managed to get off the bandstand last nite and  
> have a
> bit of a swing with a lady that was moving nicely in front of us,  
> but that
> is usually the extent of the dancing.  Very few elitists, as most  
> people are
> in the joints for a drink & discover that they are enjoying  
> themselves.
>
> Our music is to have fun to, not to interpret, disect, and chew.   
> Just taste
> & swallow whole!

Mea Culpa. I did indeed write about the USA in answer to a post about  
Dixieland in the USA. Here is the little I know about the European  
scene.

I do believe Dixieland is also alive and well, relatively speaking  
that is, in the USA as compared with Europe. I also believe Dixieland  
in Europe is nothing like it was in 1955 and 1956 when I spent a year  
traveling around from Greece to Sweden.

One only has to look at the band listings (rather dated) at the below  
site to get a feel for how many Dixieland Bands there are around the  
world.:

http://www.libertyhall.com/jazzbands/jazz.html

This list is very incomplete and doesn't mention the MANY new  
Dixieland Bands that have sprung up in the USA in the past 10 years. 5  
in th Philadelphia area alone.

Be that as it may, in the 1950s Bechet was like a God in France with  
residencies at Vieux Colombier in Paris and on the Riviera. Roy  
Eldridge was at Club St. Germain, Armstrong was touring and filling  
huge venues all over Europe. (as was Bechet). British Trad was booming  
etc. And bands like that of Claude Luter, Dutch Swing College, Andre  
Reweliotty, Moustache Galepides et al were playing OKOM all over  
Europe. France, Germany, England, Italy, Sweden, Denmark all had  
numerous Dixieland Bands working regularly, 5 and 6 nights a week.

The scene at Vieux Colombier in Juan-Les-Pines was like that at  
Condon's as far as notable listeners goes. Folks like Jean-Paul Satre,  
Ali Khan, Simone DeBeauvoir, Maurice Chevalier, Orson Welles, Errol  
Flynn and a host of Hollywood movie stars all came by to pay their  
respects to Bechet during their holiday time on the Riviera. VC was  
the place to go, and he was THE man to hear back then. Todays gigs,  
worldwide, pale by comparison.

Back in 2001 after the Ken Burns Jazz Program I posted on the DJML  
that this was the time to go after the new young audience. I outlined  
how to try a marketing approach to the renewed interest in Jazz. I  
took my own advice while others viewed it with distain saying; What?  
You expect me to market my band?

The result was that over the past decade Barbone Street did over 1700  
well paying gigs to general audiences numbering from the hundreds to  
22,000 at Du Pont Corporation's 200th Anniversary bash on the grounds  
of Winterthur, the huge former DuPont Estate, now a museum. They  
invited all of their employees and families. (The ice bill was $800,000)

We are still playing to young people in many local venues, like at the  
Centennial of the Paoli PA library this Saturday. An Ice Cream  
Festival,  family event with several hundred teens and pre teens  
expected to attend. So Dixieland didn't go anywhere as far as we are  
concerned. But, relatively speaking to the rest of the world, and most  
of the other bands that play Dixieland, and the audience, it sure as  
hell ain't like it used to be.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband