[Dixielandjazz] FW: showmanship

[Marek Boym]

>> Marek wrote:
>>>
>>> was put off by Trummy Young's operating his slide with his foot.  After
>>
>> that, I wouldn't listen to Young for years, as I considered him a showman
>> rather than a musician.

Hey, in 1959 (by 1969, Young had not been with the All Stars for many
years) I was 18 - a completely different perspective!

In 1977, a few friends (one from the UK, two from Israel)  and I went
to the Nice Jazz Festival.  A friend (9 years my senior) asked George
Wein why he did not bring a jazz festival to Israel.  He was very
disappointed by Wein's answer: "your Government has no money," and
refused to accept the fact that a festival like that, with great stars
(such as Dizzy Gillespie or the Modern Jazz Quartet - great stars
whether we like them or not) was an expensive affair.  And he was 45
at the time!  But to him, even then, jazz as ART was the most
important consideration.  So what do you expect from a teenager?
>
> George Brunis used to do the same thing, and I believe he once did an act
> for Ripley playing his horn whilst somebody stood on his chest. I can't
> think of anything George  would do (on stage anyway) that would stop me
> listening to his records.

Sure.  But to me young was quite new.  It's different if you know the
musician and then see him doing tricks.
>
> Others have done the foot in slide act (Bob Havens??) and I think it's all
> good fun. When with Graeme Bell's All Stars trombonist Ken Herron would
> extend the slide out to its full length and suddenly swivel in a complete
> circle, making the trumpeter and clarinettist duck for safety. And the first
> time he did it it was completely impromptu, taking the others by complete
> surprise. The crowd loved it.

The crowd loved it.  Don't you remember that Paul Gonsalves' solo on
"Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue" was referred to as "rabble
rouser" by critics?  As a fan, I did not care what "the crowd" loved
(it loved the Young trick); I cared for music, and that was clowning.
Full stop.
>
Best wishes
Marek
>
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