[Dixielandjazz] Where are the Young People?

[Ivor Jones]

I live and play in Portugal

Just a few lines from my autobiography. We called ourselves 'The New Orleans 
Jazzband' .....Sorry 8>),     That's not the title of the book.

"We were invited to play in the Andalusian Jazz Festival, just outside 
Seville. When we arrived at the festival the venue was like big bar with 
seating for about seventy people, we rehearsed a couple of tunes to see what 
the acoustics were like and then went out for a meal. When we came back we 
could not believe it, the place was packed, they were sitting in all the 
available space in front of the band, right up to our feet, and there were 
many outside standing, looking at us through the open windows. At least 90% 
were young people, many from the local university When we walked in the 
crowd went very quiet, who were these poor old guys? We started playing and 
someone took a solo, it was great, the place went mad, we had some 
experienced musicians in the band but nobody had ever had a reception like 
that before. It was a major thrill. They didn't want us to leave. 
Unfortunately Dougie, our alleged leader, said we had got paid for a ninety 
minute gig, and that was that, he wouldn't be budged. I would have played 
all night".
 "We played many gigs in Portugal, some in the north, some around Lisbon and 
a lot in the Alentejo, the next 'county', where we played virtually all of 
the major towns and cities. The very first time we played we were astounded 
to find posters all over the town advertising us as coming from New Orleans, 
it must have surprised them to see that we were all white, or a close 
approximation"

I think that the main reason that we usually get older audiences is that you 
never hear classic jazz on the radio or TV, and most 'critics' seem to think 
it's smart to follow the trend. Many times we have young guys approaching us 
after the gig asking us what kind on music we play. It's new to them.

I think that you will find that Kash would have shared the same experience 
in Madrid.

Ivor Jones



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen G Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "iVOR jONES" <BANJONES at sapo.pt>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 3:52 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Where are the Young People?


>
>
>>  <larrys.bands at charter.net> wrote to Elazar (polite snip)
>>
>> 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. . . . .
>>
>> 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.
>
> Dear Larry, Elazar, Listmates:
>
> I respectfully disagree that young people will not pay to hear OKOM in 
> the USA and here's why.
>
> There is a young (25 or so now) man here in the Philadelphia area that 
> plays OKOM on piano and trumpet. Broad repertoire of Fats Waller  songs. 
> He courts the young people his own age. He has regular gigs at  bars, 
> restaurants, with young band mates at lounges filled with young  people. 
> Here are a few venues where he plays continuing gigs with   various sized 
> bands
>
> The Farmer's Cabinet in Philadelphia
>
> Swing Dances at Univ of Pennsylvania
>
> Historic Hotel Bethlehem
>
> The Bookstore in Bethlehem PA
>
> Swing dances in Pottstown PA
>
> Like me, he has so many gigs that he must hire subs in order to cover 
> them all. I get quite a few sub gigs from him. And he's subbed some of 
> the older guys like Dan Levinson, Marty Grosz et al. Like me, he often 
> has multiple gigs on the same night. And guess what? While I pride  myself 
> on the number of gigs I get, he gets more.
>
> The audiences at these venues are mostly YOUNG people. His regular 
> sidemen are mostly YOUNG people. Do you see a pattern here?
>
> Most young people, at least here in the Philadelphia area, do not rush 
> out to see us old fart OKOM bands UNLESS the old fart bands ENTERTAIN 
> them. And among those old fart bands that play OKOM here, mine is the 
> only one that ENTERTAINS young people. Thus I get gigs with young 
> audiences.
>
> Part of it is I tell them stories about what jazz was a century ago.  That 
> is was sex, booze, drugs and freedom that drew the musicians and  the 
> audiences. That their great grandparents who were attracted to  jazz were 
> exactly the same as kids today who are attracted to Rap, or  those a 
> generation ago that were attracted to Rock. Same S***  Different Day
>
> Etc., etc., etc. And we sing the double entendre songs. It's the  message 
> not some old fashioned arrangement that draws them.
>
> Why don't old farts bands get gigs with young audiences? Same reason  old 
> farts don't get jobs in the regular day gig world. They think and  act too 
> old, too ready to accept defeat and become the victim..
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
>
>
>
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