[Dixielandjazz] When to pack it in

[Don Kirkman]

On Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:00:46 -0600, you wrote:

>I am not about to take sides here with either Steve or Bob, or anyone else
>who has commented thus far on this subject. but there can obviously be no
>set rule as the situation will be considerably different depending upon the
>individual.
>
>As an example, I saw Lionel Hampton perform on either the Leno or Letterman
>show after he was 90 and he appeared perfectly capable.
>
>I know that one of my favorite jazz musicians Benny Carter also performed
>into his 90s but never saw him to form a judgment as to whether he should
>have hung up his instruments earlier.
>
>However, (and this is as big a Sinatra fan as you are ever gonna hear from)
>when I heard Frank's rendition of Kander & Ebb's "Maybe This Time" on an
>album issued commemorating his 80th birthday, I actually felt embarassed for
>him.  He sounded as if he had been chewing razor blades.

Frank Sinatra opened the Cerritos Center for Performing Arts
(California) in 1993, and we were very struck by how out of it he
seemed at times.  Even watching the TelePrompTer his missed words,
either omitting or misreading them, and didn't show much of the
showmanship he had on TV during his career.  It's nice to be able to
say we saw Sinatra, George Burns, the Yerba Buena Jazz Band, and Spike
Jones in our lifetime, but Sinatra was probably the furthest off his
game of any of them.

>I know for a fact that Bob has heard the same album and pretty much agrees
>with me.
>
>As in the old Eddy Howard number "To Each His Own"
>
> But to add to what Bob alluded to earlier, if the entertainer cannot come
>to this realization on his/her own,  I would hope someone close to them
>would step forward and tell them to bow out gracefully
>
>And not that it is at all relevant, but quite coincidentally Earl "Fatha"
>Hines was my favorite jazz pianist.
>
>Tides
>HC
>
>On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 2:24 PM, Robert Ringwald <rsr at ringwald.com> wrote:
>
>> On Monday, January 24, 2011 9:04 AM, Steve Barbone wrote:
>>
>> >I guess I'm in the minority here along with Ginny.  IMO, musos should
>> > keep performing as long as they enjoy it.
>>
>>
>> There are no absolutes.
>>
>> I doubt that Steve would still have the same opinion if he had seen Earl
>> Hines as I did.
>>
>> For clarity sake, here is my post regarding this sad event once again.
>>
>> Quote
>> At a Pianorama at one of the Sacramento Jazz Jubilees, now called
>> Sacramento Jazz
>> Festival and Jubilee, Earl Hines performed.  I don't think he even knew
>> where he
>> was.
>> He would start a song, end up playing another one, do the same old cliche
>> (SP) series
>> of notes over and over.  Then go into an ending and play maybe 30 tags.  It
>> was awful...
>> Unquote
>>
>> Very sad indeed to see this great pianist essentially making a fool of
>> himself.  I know them's strong words.  I know he did not know how badly he
>> was playing.  I doubt if he even realized where he was.
>>
>> I saw Louis Armstrong in 1968.  While he was in ill health and played very
>> little trumpet, he sang, talked, and obviously knew where he was.  Perhaps
>> if he had lived to be 90, he still could have performed and done a good job.
>>
>> However IMO, when a performer is no longer capable of performing in front
>> of an audience on a professional level, he should stop.  Perhaps in the case
>> sighted above, someone, maybe a care giver, should have stopped Hines from
>> continuing to perform.
>>
>>
>> --Bob Ringwald
>> www.ringwald.com
>> Fulton Street Jazz Band
>> 530/ 642-9551 Office
>> 916/ 806-9551 Cell
>> Amateur (Ham) Radio K6YBV
>>
>>
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-- 
Don Kirkman
donsno2 at charter.net