[Dixielandjazz] Where are the young people?

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

I have no doubt that you draw great crowds but I think there is a 
fundamental difference in people there and here.  Today the band was 
excellent but the reaction of the young people was HO HUM.

When I was in Frankfort Germany there were two guys dressed up as Indians 
with full head dress and costume.  They drew large crowds.  Their music was 
good and they were fun to watch.  Near them there was a black guy from who 
knows where.  He was dressed in African type cloths and had a bunch of drums 
that the crowd was gleefully playing.  The crowd was having a great time 
banging on those drums.   Both of the street performers were selling CD's 
and getting tips.

Those same guys doing the same things here in St. Louis would be arrested. 
There are anti busking laws here.  Doing what you do there would also get 
you arrested.  The only way you can perform as you describe is with 
permission of a business who may have hired you or if it's a festival of 
some kind but then they don't usually allow bands or performers to open a 
case for tips like they do in New Orleans and other places.

Years ago St. Louis had a real problem with gangs of Gypsies, pan handlers, 
beggars, blind people and with other handicaps begging on the streets.  Some 
had instruments and played.  That's why they passed the anti busking laws. 
I only know of one municipality that tolerates street musicians but again 
it's more or less with permission of the merchants.  There are more than 155 
municipalities in St. Louis county none of which particularly want musicians 
or others hanging around uninvited.

I think that's unfortunate that the cities have taken such a stand but St. 
Louis is an odd entertainment city.

Another thing is that young people here are saturated with music and 
entertainment.  You would think that the novelty of people playing real 
instruments would draw a crowd.

I think it's wonderful to draw crowds of young people I just think it's more 
difficult here.  They do watch at street fests when they happen but at those 
there is so many other things happening that it's fleeting. I could see that 
if there were no other attractions around, the young people would have been 
more attentive.

I still maintain that young people here will not pay for OKOM on any 
meaningful scale and only pay cursory attention to bands playing OKOM.  It's 
still the 50+ people who support bands and OKOM.  The mayor of the city we 
played for today was about 60-65 years old.  He's the one who hired us.  It 
may be true that the audience is aging out and we need to do something but 
I'm aging out too along with everyone that played today.  The leader is 80 
and I'm not so young either.

Even so I think it's worth trying and some young adults do enjoy OKOM.  I 
have noticed that they do like to bring their kids up to see the 
instruments.
Larry
St.L
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Misrad HaJazz" <jazzmin at actcom.net.il>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Where are the young people?


> Shalom Jazz Fans,
>
> My band's experience in Israel over the past 10 years or so has been that 
> young people and all kinds of people are drawn to our music. We got our 
> start by playing on the pedestrian malls of Jerusalem in the center of 
> town. Usually not the whole band, but 2 to 4 members of it, or many times 
> I played solo on my banjo when the other guys couldn't make it. People of 
> all ages and cultural backgrounds stop to listen, smile, dance, and even 
> sing along with a familiar tune. We invite people, especially kids,  to 
> play our washboard. (I removed the bicycle horn from the washboard because 
> it was just too obnoxious when everyone goes for the horn and toots it 
> constantly and not in rhythm with the music.) We give out business cards, 
> and since we made our CD, we sell those on the street too. This is where 
> we get most of our bookings from.
>
> Two examples come to mind that particularly involve young people:
>
> 1. When we were still a young band, we got a call from a teenager from Tel 
> Aviv who had heard us in Jerusalem, asking us to play for his birthday 
> party. He was going to pay us from his own money. We took the job, fully 
> expecting to be made fun of by him and his friends as some kind of novelty 
> act. But it didn't turn out that way. They loved the music and the 
> traditional instruments, and so did their neighbors. These were Israeli 
> high school students who couldn't even spell "Louis Armstrong" or "New 
> Orleans". They just heard the music and liked it.
>
> 2. I got a call a few weeks ago from the mother of a young girl who will 
> celebrate her bat mitzvah in March. They heard us play at a street 
> festival last year. The girl, then 11 years old, took our card, and now 
> she is asking her parents to hire us for her bat mitzvah party. Again, 
> Israeli young girl, no prior connection to trad jazz.
>
> If we only advertise to and play for the people who grew up with OKOM, 
> eventually we will have no more audience because those people will be 
> gone. When I moved to Israel, people told me where to find the old English 
> speakers, and I told them I want to play for Israelis. Often the older 
> Anglos want us to play for free for charity events, while the younger 
> working Israelis will pay our full price (it took time, but we are now 
> getting rates that most bands in America would be happy with!), and they 
> usually treat us better at the event too.
>
> Our music sells itself. Get out and play where new audiences can hear it, 
> and many will like it and pick up the ball. You will also find people who 
> want to learn to play it, and those who teach can get work and help to 
> train a new generation of trad players. I've taught, or am currently 
> teaching, 5 young Israelis, ages 14 to early 20s, to play tenor banjo. One 
> of them is the banjoist in my band, while I play brass and sing. I plan to 
> start a banjo band too. I can already put more banjos on stage than 
> anywhere else in the middle east or Africa.
>
> Fifteen years ago I came to Israel and started playing banjo in downtown 
> Jerusalem by myself. The first day I made 11 shekels, which was then about 
> $3. Now I am leading an 8 piece mardi gras style street band in parades 
> and events all over the country, and I've been making a modest living at 
> it. Persistence and enthusiasm do pay off.
>
> Blessings from Jerusalem,
>
> Elazar
>
> -- 
> Elazar Brandt
> Doctor Jazz Dixieland Band
> Jerusalem, Israel
> www.doctorjazz.co.il
> (02) 679-2537
> (050) 723-3914
>
>
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