[Dixielandjazz] Showmanship

[Marek Boym]

I suggest that you re-read all my  messages on the subject.  In the
original mail I stated that I was put off and would not listen to
Young for years. In a nessage of Srptember 10 I wrote " Now I know
musicians must appeal not only to fans, but to the general public.  I
did not then.

As to Armstrong, his clowning was not as blatant.  By the way, the
shows I attended in Tel-Aviv were not good: Armstrong was not on form
and played no solos, and the best came from Peanuts Hucko, even though
"the crowd" loved Trummy's clowning and Danny Barcelona's drum solos.
The auditorium itself was half-empty: jazz was not popular in Israel
in those days.  Oscar Peterson visited Israel at about that time, and
I did not even know - it was not advertised.  No wonder he played to
empty rooms!
And yes, I even mentioned that at 70 I understood things I did not
understand at 18.

> Or perhaps at 70, you now realize that musicians do not perform specifically
> for YOU, or any other individual,

It may come as a surprise to YOU, but even then I realized musicians
did not "not perform specifically for me, or any other individual;"
what I did not realize was that not everybody in the audience was a
jazz fan.

>> Wasn't it just what I said?  Which does not mean I must LIKE it (I
>> still don't).  But things I understand at 70 were not things I could
>> understand at 18!
>

>
> Then you avoid discussing why, on the other hand, you enjoyed listening to
> Louis Armstrong even though he was twice the showman Young was.

Was not relevant at the time.
>
> You might be better off sitting in a room by yourself and listening to
> records if you are going to be so inconsistently judgmental about what you
> see in live performance.

Not my fault that you cannot see consistency.  Different perception, perhaps?


Cheers
>