[Dixielandjazz] When to pack it in

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

Personally I will keep performing until one of two things happens.  One - I 
fall over and or two no one pays me any more.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Kirkman" <donsno2 at charter.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 5:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] When to pack it in


> 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
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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
>>>
> -- 
> Don Kirkman
> donsno2 at charter.net
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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
>