[Dixielandjazz] Sacramento Name Change - Was How to Succeed etc.

[Stephen G Barbone]

Here is the letter to the editor of the American Rag that started the  
thread: (written by an old guy in Washington State)

START:

"SACRAMENTO NAME CHANGE"

"Well, I'll say this for those folks in Sacramento: At least they're  
HONEST in admitting that the 'three ring circus' they put on every  
Memorial Day weekend is no longer a JAZZ festival! Though , honestly,  
I have a problem regarding rock 'n roll as being 'music'. I thought it  
was nothing but NOISE when I first heard it 50 years-plus years ago  
and I STILL regard it as nothing but noise. (Country-western isn't  
much better, especially when set to a rock beat!)"

"At one time, back when I lived and worked in Sacramento, I used to  
look forward to attending that festival, back when the emphasis was on  
REAL JAZZ, instead of zydeco, Western swing, salsa, and other types of  
so-called musical forms which have infiltrated and now dominate that  
event.The musical quality of that festival has steadily deteriorated  
over the years to the point where I, and am sure many other die-hard  
traditionalists, no longer find enough bands who specialize in Our  
Kind Of Music  to justify being in attendance."

"The nadir of band musical taste occurred this past year when the  
powers-that-be in SUCKramento selected Tom Rigney as 'Emperor.' Give  
me a break! The man has contributed ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to jazz.  
Furthermore, I have heard better Cajun music played in the background  
in certain restaurants in Seattle!"

"The idea that by bringing in even more TOTALLY IRRELEVANT musical  
forms to their 'circus' will draw a new audience to OKOM may be good  
in theory, but I SERIOUSLY doubt that it will work in practice!"

"All that will happen is that they will exchange one type of audience  
for another, a new audience that knows nothing and cares nothing about  
our grand old art form! As a result we 'figs' will stay away in DROVES!

"Artistic integrity means nothing to those people in the capital of  
the once-Golden State. Only the almighty dollar does. Shame, shame, on  
the Sacramento so-called 'Jazz' Society for this latest example of  
commercial prostitution."

END.

Well, what a rant from an old guy who is obviously uninformed about a  
lot of what is going on in the world of OKOM jazz festivals. Just a  
couple of points:

PP 2. What is real jazz?. Do these other genres "dominate" the event?  
I counted a plethora of OKOM bands at Sacto. More than at most other  
festivals in the USA. Musical quality? Heck 15 years ago there were  
some really band bands at Sacto.  IMO they cut out some of the dead  
wood during the past 5 years or so.

PP3. Wow, here's a guy who hates zydeco trashing Tom Rigney. What?  
Apparently he is not aware that Rigney's band, Flambeau appeared at  
the Ocean Shores Jazz Festival in Washington State earlier this month  
and is appearing at Suncoast Jazz Festival in Florida next week.  
SUCKramento? Now that just plain insulting with no basis in fact.  
Flambeau draws full houses in their venues at jazz festivals while  
other 'trad' bands do not. What does that contribute to jazz? The  
MONEY that festivals get which pays those not such great draw 'trad'  
bands.

PP4. Apparently the writer forgets that if something is good in theory  
it will be, by definition, good in practice.

PP5. Has anyone seen a drove of moldy figs lately? Get real, most of  
them have passed away.

PP6. Artistic integrity doesn't pay the cost of a festival. Those of  
us who work in the music business also realize that it does not pay  
the rent. So give us commercial prostitutes a break. We working  
musicians work for a living just like everyone else.

By the way, you can judge Tom Rigney for yourself at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWpxDX-7y60

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocxR2TS0ijw&feature=related

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue2chgC62mA&feature=related

I sincerely hope that most OKOM jazz fans realize how much hard work  
the folks in the Sacramento Jazz Society have done to save this  
festival. Without them, it would be long gone.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband