[Dixielandjazz] Where Did It Go?

[Marek Boym]

>>
>>
>> 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,
>>

>>
>> 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.

For one - I must agree with Jim, since I used the same expression in
The Mississippi Rag some yars ago (do I miss that mag!).
More seriously, Steve is right, of course, that Dixieland is by far
not as popular in Europe aas in the nid-'50's, or in the '60's, before
the advent of the Beatles.  It is nevertheless more widespread there
(and probably in Australia and Japan as well) than in the US, even if
only because it is often played in places attended by young people
rather than costly jazz festivals that, because of the costs involved,
exclude all but the ardent fans (although I've often wondered why
people were prepared to spend all that money in order NOT to listen to
jazz, and not let others to listen).

Adding dance floors at jazz places seems like a good thing - most
young people who went to hear the West Coast revivalists, as well as
the later university bands all over the US, went there to dance; some
have remained fans and are on this list.
Cheers
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
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