[Dixielandjazz] Song Request

[Robert Ringwald]

Steve Barbone wrote:
 
> Last Saturday she named "Isn't It A Lovely Day" in F,  a song none of
> us had played together before and we did it as if we had been playing
> it for years. Not many bands can do that kind of thing and one of the
> reasons we get so much outside work (wedding/private party etc) is
> that we can usually fulfill just about any Great American Songbook or
> Dixieland request from the guests. (except those from artsy jazz fans
> who request songs like "Here Comes The Hot Tamale Man" which nobody in
> the band knows other than me. <grin>)
Exception was taken to that statement, commenting that it was "a
generalization with little founding". And that because there are so
many good. musicians out there, they can "in effect" play just about
any American Songbook requests.
Well, I certainly disagree with that. Sure, there are lots of great
musicians out there, but damn few can play more than a few American
Songbook requests off the cuff. Yes, if a pianist is using a fake book
that includes them, he can do it, but a Dixieland Band? Who out there,
except for the few very top tier players and you know who you are,
would venture to say they could play MOST of the Great American
Songbook without written arrangements?



We can do that.  


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
530/ 642-9551 Office
916/ 806-9551 Cell
Amateur (Ham) Radio K6YBV

"All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened
immigration policy on the part of the American Indian."  Pat Paulsen