[Dixielandjazz] Sacramento Festival

[Jim O'Briant]

Marek Boym wrote:

> Oh, the difference in perception!

And in terminology.

> After all this time on the list, I did not realize that to 
> Americans "trad" meant banjo and tuba bands!  To 
> me, "trad" was British trad, which often sounded like 
> banjo with instrumentsl accompaniment.  

I don't think all Americans agree on just what "trad" or "traditional jazz"
is. To me it means a 5-8 member group, usually (but not always) with tuba &
banjo rather than string bass & guitar, playing mostly music written before
1930, and with improvised solos played in a 1920's style, not 1930's or
later style.

>  To say the truth (perish the thought), I did not know "trad" 
> was used in the States at all!

I'm told that Turk Murphy once said that he called his band a "Traditional
Jazz" band rather than a "Dixieland Band" because it paid better.

> For me, any traditional band will do if it is good, but I prefer string
basses and guitars to tubas and banjos.  

I prefer the opposite, but there are many good trad bands in the US using
string bass rather than tuba. Some use guitar, and in some the player
doubles banjo & guitar, depending on the tune.

> And I love swing.

I can listen to swing, but prefer the 1920's style to the 1930's and later
swing style. (And this preference, coupled with the reduction in the
proportion of "trad" bands and the festival's lumping trad & swing together
as if everyone loved both, is the root of my earlier comments on the
Sacramento Festival. Yes, a lot of people do love both, but my preferences
are my own & I think I'm entitled to them.)

Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA