[Dixielandjazz] Stirring the pot

[Joe Carbery]

Rick,

I am not English, or indeed British. I'm writing from New Zealand. I lived
for a while in the Southern States of the US and have a vague idea of where
"Dixie" is.
Incidentally I'm all for having fun playing music. That's why I do it. But I
don't trouble myself wondering what subdivision of jazz it falls into!
To say anyone but an American is "imitating" jazz is but a small step to
saying that non-African Americans are imitating jazz.  Can only Italians
sing genuine opera? Or only Germans play Wagner?

Regards,

Joe Carbery.

On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 a 12:25 PM, Rick <rickz at usermail.com> wrote:

> Well, gee.   A voice from over the sea!!
>
> I think you guys do a good job of imitating jazz.
>
> Sorry, Joe.  Stay over there and have your illusions.
>
> We know what Jazz is, we know what (where) Dixie is, and we don't need some
> Limey to explain it to us.
>
> I'm not saying you guys CAN'T play our music... you do a pretty good job.
> But don't pretend it's anything but Yankee music, OK?
>
> I already gave some examples of Frogs and Beaners playing this music and
> they do a good job.  I love it!!!
>
> AND THEY HAVE A GOOD TIME DOING IT!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Cant we just have fun?
>
> Rick
>
>
>
>
> On 1/16/2011 4:51 PM, Joe Carbery wrote:
>
> Re definitions and other things:
>
> "Dixieland" (as applied to music) conjures up for me a group of portly
> grey-haired men in straw boaters (I forget what the appropriate US term is),
> striped waistcoats and sleeve-gartered shirts playing multi themed tunes too
> fast and with absolutely no feeling. I know Condon's music was described as
> dixieland but he loathed the term.
>
> "Trad Jazz" was a term coined by publicists in Britain to describe a very
> commercial type of "traditional" jazz, typified by strident banjos and an
> attempt to bend all sorts of tunes ( e.g."March of the Siamese Children") to
> its idiom in an effort to have a pop-chart hit. Like all such attempts to
> popularize jazz (boogie-woogie, the later ragtime revival fuelled by "The
> Sting"), it quickly ran out of momentum because the impetus for growth came
> not from within the music itself but from the publicists and ad-men.
> The term "Trad" was misappropriated and misapplied in the US as a shorthand
> for Traditional Jazz and leads to confusion. It's like the anatomical term
> "fanny" as used to mean different things in the US and the rest of the
> English speaking world.
>
> With regard to Steve Barbone saying certain tunes are jazz tunes by
> definition: A tune is not jazz until it's played. On the paper it's not a
> jazz tune. "It ain't what you do.........." Or, as Bill Evans said, "Jazz is
> a how, not a what."
> Re "Jazz Instruments" the same criterion applies. Any instrument can
> be used to play jazz if the instrumentalist is skilled enough.
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Joe Carbery.
> On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 11:19 AM, Rick <rickz at usermail.com> wrote:
>
>> Dixie?   OKOM??
>>
>> Here's Jimmie Rodgers, doing "Any Old Time" in 1929.
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXBWoaRWHrM
>>
>>  It starts with the typical guitar that we associate with JR and then...
>>
>> Holy Smoke!!   Here's a ?Dixieland Band??   I think It's dixie!
>>
>> One of my favorites.   I had an arrangement of "Waiting for a Train" for
>> the Colorado Nighthawks, but we never did it.
>>
>> Rick .
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz
>> Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>>
>> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>>
>>
>>
>> Dixielandjazz mailing list
>> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>>
>
>
>