[Dixielandjazz] Fan Disinterest - Was Sacramento Music Festival

[Jim O'Briant]

Stephen G Barbone wrote:

> By all means spend your festival budget as you see fit. But 
> don't classify yourself as a Dixieland, or OMOM fan if 
> you only like a very small portion of it. 

There are very few traditional jazz bands that I won't go to hear at a
festival. For that matter, there are very few trad-sized ensembles playing
swing era music that I won't go to hear at a festival.

> I'm not sure of the exact Dixieland Band count at Sacto in 
> 2011 but I think it probably was among the top counts, if 
> not THE top count of all the Dixieland festivals in the USA 
>as far as the number of Dixieland bands performing goes.

You may be right. But if the band isn't based in or very close to
Sacramento, then all their sets are scheduled on one day, so the festival
doesn't have to pay hotel expenses for the band. Thus, one band may be there
on Saturday only, another may be there on Sunday only, and another may be
there on Monday only. So while the overall "count" of trad bands may be
high, the count on a given day may well be lower. To hear several favorite
bands will require buying a multi-day ticket to the festival , PLUS 1 or 2
or 3 nights in a hotel. We'd prefer to stay in our motorhome, but Sacramento
did away with their RV accommodations a few years back.

> Yet I hear folks bitch and moan  because "their" favorite band 
> was not there. 

You didn't hear me say that. You heard me say that a lot of NON-TRAD music
was presented at the festival, and I'm not willing to pay to hear THAT.

>> I choose to spend my "festival attendance" budget, such as it is, at 
>> festivals that offer more trad jazz, not less. Travel & lodging costs 
>> are a factor also, and the elimination of RV parking at Sacramento 
>> plays into this decision as well. Last year we also attended one 
>> festival for one day rather than three due to a steep increase in the 
>> admission fees.

By all means spend your festival budget as you see fit. 

You're darned right we will.

> But don't classify yourself as a Dixieland, or OMOM fan if you 
> only like a very small portion of it. 

Again, I didn't say I like only a small portion of the trad or OKOM bands at
the festival. I said that there was a large portion of the festival that's
NOT trad or OKOM, and I'm not willing to pay to hear non-OKOM music. I can
get that for free on radio or TV, and I don't listen to it there, either.

By saying "we have to have all kinds of music to draw a crowd," a festival
is saying, in effect, "We've tried to promote trad jazz as a viable musical
style, and we've failed."

I'd rather attend a small festival that's focused on traditional jazz (such
as Jazzaffair in Three Rivers, CA, or the Cline Cellars festival in Sonoma,
CA) than a large festival that is trying to be all things to all people.
That's why we go to Three Rivers and Cline instead of Sacramento.

Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA