[Dixielandjazz] keeping "live" alive

[Jim Kashishian]

I mentioned the "dreaded Saints" in an earlier post.  I never worry about
playing it, but many on the list have expressed an "Oh, no" attitude towards
repeating certain songs.  Here's a suggestion:
 
Keep the song alive by trying different arrangements, or keys, tempos, etc.
I always remember an excellent arrangement used by Al Hirt's Pier 600 band
(a recording on Audio Fidelity) with Bob Havens on trombone.  
 
(There you go...now we have 2 controversery subjects in one email...The
Saints AND Al Hirt!)
 
Anyway, on this recording each of the 3 man front line plays one note of the
melody.  Sounds easy?  It is certainly not, as the melody line has 4 notes
(the 3 pickup notes & the downbeat), so in a three man front line, the note
you have to play keeps changing!  Do that at a quick tempo, and it is very,
very difficult to pull off.  Even on the recording, they had a few hairy
moments where one note or the other is played with a bit of hesitation.  If
they did that one live, and I don't doubt that they did, there must have
been some hilarious moments, 'cause accidents would have to have happened!
 
That's what makes live alive, and staves off the "zombie" effect mentioned
by someone else.
 
Jim