[Dixielandjazz] Trad Jazz -- no argument

[Rick]

I'm not arguing for or against anything.   I just 
shared my viewpoint.

1952.  I'm going to Little Rock High School and 
playing with "The Fourche Bottom Boys."  Two 
ukulele's, a Washboard and a Jug.

Dan Adams, the Jug Player, was a virtuoso -- he 
could play the melody of 12th Street Rag on the 
jug!   I bought a banjo for $40 in a pawn shop.
Dan bought the first GTJ record -- The FireHouse 
Five plus 2.   We thought it was "dixieland."  
Whatever it was, we loved it, and as the years 
rolled on, I bought all of the FH5, Turk, & Bob 
Scobey.   I also bought lots and lots of other 
jazz.   None of it really sounded like this first 
stuff.   I liked it OK, but I didn't get that 
thrill I got out at Disneyland until I moved to 
Denver and discovered the Queen City Jazz Band, 
playing at the Montvu about three miles from my 
house!!

Eventually, I moved to Colorado Springs, and 
started studying this phenomenon --   the West 
Coast jazz revival, they called it.  Ultimately, 
they started calling it "Trad;"   I went to the 
first Adult Trad Jazz band camp in San Diego;  Bob 
Schultz, John Gill, Vince Giordano... taught me 
about Trad Jazz.  About the very structured 
choruses from the front line, and the "dog fight" 
at the end.   I was already a Bix fan ... bought 
just about every record he ever made; it was "gee 
whiz" stuff, but didn't really thrill me like Trad.

Just now, I carefully read the liner notes of the 
Lu Watters reissue CD.   Lu obviously had a 
vision, and he passed on to Turk and Bob Scobey, 
because you can hear that same vision in their 
music.   The notes say that Lu took tunes from 
recordings of Oliver, The NO Rhythm Kings, 
Morton's Red Hot Peppers and Armstrong's small 
groups of the middle 20's.   I just listened to a 
bunch of those recordings, and to Lu.  Lu's 
arrangements are clean and clear -- partially 
recording quality, but he had a very clear idea of 
what he wanted.   He passed that idea on to the 
Firehouse Five.

The music -- like the music that fueled the 
Roaring 20's -- is compelling you to dance!   The 
Firehouse Five started out playing downtown in LA, 
and movie stars were showing up to dance!!   The 
Charleston was back!!   The Black Bottom. the One 
Step.  And I still hear that difference in what I 
call Trad.

Lot's of people want to call their music 
"Traditional."  But if you listen to Jim Cullum's 
band play "Dr. Jazz" you won't get the same 
feeling you get from the FireHouse Five version.

To each his/her own.

Rick

Having said all of that, I wonder what they're 
teaching at the New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp???