[Dixielandjazz] Plunger Mutes

[Tony Pringle]

Hi Listmates,

TAlking about plunger mutes, I picked up from various readings that a 
variety of of items have been used as mutes or plunger mutes. Some of 
which spring to mind -

I believe that Mutt Carey was an early user of various devices to alter 
his tone. Joe Oliver was also another early user of mutes. I sort of 
remember that early attempts used things like Coconut shells or tin cans 
or even glasses (Beer or soda type).

I had, once upon a time, a mute which was in two parts - a small mute 
that fitted into my cornet bell and a metal cup for doing the Wa Wa bit. 
I was not happy with the sound produced and eventually got a "Plumber's 
Helper" (aka Plunger) and have used one ever since. BTW - I have always 
filled the hole in a plunger because, to my ear, it sounds better.

I also read somewhere that Oliver was known to use the part of the mute 
that goes into the bell but moved it to get a Wa Wa effect. I have tried 
this on occasion and it can sound OK, if acoustics are good and the 
rhythm section is quiet, but other wise it seems to be a lot of effort 
for not much return.

I also use a Derby mute. I have seen these used as stationary items on a 
stand and the player pushes the bell of the horn into it for effect. I 
have done this, but more usually move it around for that old Wa Wa 
effect (as was seen with Big Band brass sections). The master at this 
was, of course, Sidney DeParis.

I have, on occasions, when I have forgotten my mute bag (it happens!), 
used beer and wine glasses, ramekins (As used for Creme Brulé), beer 
bottles and even my hand as a Wa Wa mute, but the old Plumber's Helper 
still does the best job.

I have probably diverged from the theme a bit, but had to throw in my 
two cents worth.

Happy Easter,

Tony Pringle



On 4/5/12 11:07 AM, dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
>     1. Re: Plunger [and plumbers] (Rick Campbell)
>     2. "Satchmo at The National Press Club: Red Beans and	Rice-ly
>        Yours" (Bob Romans)
>     3. Plunger, Al Grey, etc (ROBERT R. CALDER)
>     4. review of In a Mellow Tone CD in L.A. Jazz Scene	paper
>        (Melissa Collard)
>     5. Re: Low List Activity (Phil Wilking)
>     6. Al Grey, Last of the Big Time Plungers? (Stephen G Barbone)
>     7. Plunger / Al Grey (JT)
>     8. Re: Plunger (Jack Mitchell)
>     9. Re: Plunger -- Muggsy (ROBERT R. CALDER)
>    10. The Nazi Rules for Dance Orchestras (Stephen G Barbone)
>    11. Re: Plunger and Al Grey (Marek Boym)
>    12. query re jazz on the tube and 20s jazz-- Bill	Haesler
>        responds (Norman Vickers)
>    13. Electronic Dance Concerts. . . The new rage?? (Stephen G Barbone)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 12:25:27 -0700
> From: Rick Campbell<ricksax at comcast.net>
> To: DJML<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Plunger [and plumbers]
> Message-ID:<6A133D43-8FEA-4BB5-B668-48C2F232AB9F at comcast.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=US-ASCII;	format=flowed;	delsp=yes
>
> I remember this comparison to plumbers, not new, but perhaps useful
> when marketing live music:
>
> Music buyer: "Isn't that expensive for a six-piece band performance?"
>
> Band leader: "We're trained professionals with our own instruments,
> uniforms, arrangements, sound system and band van. Why don't you
> compare by calling your local plumbing shop and ask for six plumbers
> to show up with tools, power equipment, clothing, shop towels, and van
> on a Saturday night for three hours. We'll play the gig for whatever
> they quote."
>
> Rick Campbell
> Milneburg Social Aid and Pleasure Society Jazz Band
> Portland, Oregon USA
> 503-701-7356
> ricksax at comcast.net
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 13:05:13 -0700
> From: "Bob Romans"<cellblk7 at comcast.net>
> To:<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] "Satchmo at The National Press Club: Red
> 	Beans and	Rice-ly Yours"
> Message-ID:<9887931CFE7F4E01A6095EB334B6204D at bob3000>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Available for pre-release sale on Amazon...$19.95 Ordered mine yeasterday!
> "Satchmo at The National Press Club: Red Beans and Rice-ly
> Yours", was recorded 5 months before Armstrong's death in 1971
> Warm regards,
> Bob Romans,
> 209-747-1148
> 1617 Lakeshore Dr.
> Lodi, CA, 95242
> A woman drove me to drink...
> and I didn't even have the decency
> to thank her!
> W.C.Fields
> www.cellblock7.biz
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 22:06:10 +0100 (BST)
> From: "ROBERT R. CALDER"<serapion at btinternet.com>
> To: "dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com"<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Plunger, Al Grey, etc
> Message-ID:
> 	<1333573570.96373.YahooMailNeo at web87702.mail.ir2.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> I would have thought the item generally referred to as a plunger was the opposite of a friend to many the plumber whose services were not required following a judicious amateur performance with the item?
>
>
> I got on very well with Al Grey, who in terms of style and chronology was decidedly pre-bop, and like Buster Cooper, another convivial trombonist, a Lionel Hampton alumnus.? As I recall, Al was drafted in to a Mercer Ellington ensemble which used guests to avoid being too ghostly a Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of....?
>
> Now and then he relaxed from the demands of seriously creative soloing in the direction of extravert fun.
>
> Very much Lionel Hampton. OKOMist weakness I suppose less damning than the opposite. And when Al was good he was very very good.
>
> I suppose Joe Nanton was the leader in the sort of plunger use developed by Cootie. The sort of two handed mute and valves playing notable from King Oliver and various too nearly entirely legendary St. Louis players -- and George Orendorff with the Paul Howard band which Lionel Hampton joined, was rather phased out by the 1930s, and as I might already have said Cootie was very different in that he used the mute to modernise his playing, as Rex Stewart did too. The boppers tended to take a more European approach to matters of expression, and only with the bluesier and funkier incursions was there space for anything resembling plunger work of the Cootie sort. Or Jimmy Knepper.
>
> Before his conversion Wynton Marsalis talked with some approval of a reprimand he received from Art Blakey for using some ideas he'd taken from a Cootie Williams recording. Blakey had a rather elderly view of a need to keep on modernising. As I recall there was a tendency to be defensive among younger players who liked to jam with older men -- there was an anecdote about Eric Dolphy at a time when his recordings were not such as to please a lot of listmates, as if he had somehow been caught out the night he was heard (around 1960) jamming with veterans in Harlem.?
> Guys born well after 1960 should be immune to that -- as was the young Bobby Watson, whom I remember from one fantastic gig in Edinburgh with the pianist Alex Shaw and front line partners in John Barnes and Roy Williams.? No worries about being unmodern.
>
> I also remember an Edinburgh Jazz Festival gala concert where Warren Vache filled in for an indisposed Doc Cheatham and wound up trading fours with Humphrey Lyttelton. And Humph used a plunger technique not to growl but to attain a compatibility with Warren. Two-handed trumpet-playing to modify the line, which is of course what St. Louis trumpeters were noted for in the different way of the? 1920s.
>
>
> Robert R. Calder
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:06:55 -0700
> From: Melissa Collard<melissa at melissacollard.com>
> To: Melissa Collard<melissa at melissacollard.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] review of In a Mellow Tone CD in L.A. Jazz
> 	Scene	paper
> Message-ID:<BC9EB7AD-0EF1-446F-8B5F-DFBAE7538ABF at melissacollard.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=us-ascii
>
> Hi,
> Hope you all are well and don't mind this little bit of blowing-one's-own-trumpet-musical-news from yours truly. Anyway it gives me an excuse to say hi, and extend my love and best wishes to you. I rarely do it, so I hope you don't mind me poking you in the inbox. (If you do please forgive me!)
>
> Richard Simon recently let me know that Scott Yanow had reviewed our CD "In a Mellow Tone" in the March issue of L.A. Jazz Scene, a local Los Angeles rag. Attached is a scan he made for me so you can see this short but pithy review. (If any of you live in L.A. and have an extra copy I'd love a hard copy for the archives. It's nice to hear from my old hometown.) My heartfelt gratitude to Richard and the other musicians, Chris Dawson, Hal Smith, and Bryan Shaw, for their fine playing.
>
> Mr. Yanow has also written several authoritative guides to different eras of jazz music, and is working on a book, "The Guitarists", which should be out soon. Incidentally, I am also included in Scott's book "The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide. "
> Amazon.com: The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide: Scott Yanow: Books
>
> Meanwhile, I continue to plow the frets at my weekly solo guitar/vocal restaurant gig, and will soon break ground on a new CD project with my husband, pianist Scott Collard (finally after 20 years!)
>
> Best wishes,
> Melissa Collard
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:23:06 -0500
> From: "Phil Wilking"<arnold.wilking at earthlink.net>
> To:<Gluetje1 at aol.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Low List Activity
> Message-ID:<F15CC4F81DF54E45A2958B7FF01DC2C1 at DroolingIdiot>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=original
>
> Yes, but don't you find it inconvenient to keep the string taut between the
> cans?
>
> Phil Wilking - K5MZF
> www.nolabanjo.com
>
> Those who would exchange freedom for
> security deserve neither freedom nor security.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gluetje1 at aol.com
>     I'm so resistant to change that I still prefer
> land line phones.
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 17:18:21 -0400
> From: Stephen G Barbone<barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Al Grey, Last of the Big Time Plungers?
> Message-ID:<2ED5F1A6-81C6-4E0D-933C-ED8F6C2994EF at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=US-ASCII;	format=flowed;	delsp=yes
>
>
> On Apr 4, 2012, at 3:00 PM, dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com
> wrote:
>
>> Marek Boym<marekboym at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>
>> Al Grey continued playing with various Statesmen and Giants, etc.,
>> for many
>> years, almost always with plunger.  He also appeared with European
>> bands,
>> Benko's, for example.  But, although younger than Miley of Nanton,
>> he is
>> "old school," not a contemporary musician.
>
> Dear Marek:
>
> Yes, Al passed away 12 years ago. However, he did teach his plunger
> technique to both Wynton and Delfeayo Marsalis. For an interesting
> article about Al and his passing of the plunger torch, see:
>
> http://www.npr.org/2008/10/21/95931539/al-grey-the-last-big-time-plunger
>
> To hear a short clip of Delfeayo on  plunger with a wah wah sound go
> to the below link; (Once there, scroll down and click on "Sonnet for
> Sister Kate", the second song on the album)
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Thunder-Duke-Delfeayo-Marsalis/dp/B003VBLMMA
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2012 15:40:52 -0700
> From: JT<jack.teagarden at comcast.net>
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Plunger / Al Grey
> Message-ID:<51B92AA1-84A6-4F4F-9357-43D588809F8D at comcast.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
>     I went to hear Al Grey play one night and he autographed my plunger.
>
>     Then he gave me a hard time about drilling out the hole and cutting
> out the inside flap / rim.
>
>      He was wearing a little solid gold trombone around his neck.
> He said Sinatra had it made for him for playing Makin' Whoopee
> every night with Basie when they backed Frank at the Sands.
> Great recording, by the way. Band conducted by Quincy Jones.
>
>    j-
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 17:10:01 +1000
> From: "Jack Mitchell"<fjmitch at westnet.com.au>
> To: "ROBERT R. CALDER"<serapion at btinternet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Plunger
> Message-ID:<7A79B4D426744D70A0CD06FB3B34F22A at jackm>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=original
>
> All those emails about plunger mutes and not a mention of Muggsy Spanier. If
> he doesn't get a mention on a DIXIELAND site,where will he?
>
> Best wishes
> Jack Mitchell
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 14:29:40 +0100 (BST)
> From: "ROBERT R. CALDER"<serapion at btinternet.com>
> To: Jack Mitchell<fjmitch at westnet.com.au>
> Cc: DixielandJazz Mailing List<Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Plunger -- Muggsy
> Message-ID:
> 	<1333632580.89978.YahooMailNeo at web87704.mail.ir2.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Actually I woke up in the middle of the night thinking the same thing Jack did --
> Muggsy was a very considerable player indeed.? On one of the first two jazz records I bought, I remember decades later buying a Muggsy LP for a friend who still reminisces about visiting Nick's as a teenaged deckhand drafted to serve in a wartime naval convoy dodging U-Boats.
> He did get the LP, but after listening a little I added to my own Muggsy collection.
> very good wishes!
> Robert R. Calder
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Jack Mitchell<fjmitch at westnet.com.au>
> ?>  All those emails about plunger mutes and not a mention of Muggsy Spanier. If he
>> doesn't get a mention on a DIXIELAND site,where will he?
>>
>> Best wishes
>> Jack Mitchell
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 10
> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 10:36:19 -0400
> From: Stephen G Barbone<barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> To: DJML<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The Nazi Rules for Dance Orchestras
> Message-ID:<66B72C8A-0E14-44FA-A3BA-EE3C21BF4EB8 at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=US-ASCII;	format=flowed;	delsp=yes
>
> Joseph Skvorecky was a writer, as well as a Czech dissident peer of
> Vaclav Havel when that country was ruled by Russia after WW 2. In a
> novella, "The Bass Saxophone, he describes the Nazi rules for dance
> bands as posted in Czechoslovakia after the German occupation during
> that war. We've seen variations of these rules before, however the
> below may be the most accurate. (From The Atlantic entertainment
> archive)
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
> Skvorecky ever relayed was here in the intro to The Bass Saxophone,
> where he recalls -- faithfully, he assures us ("they had engraved
> themselves deeply on my mind") -- a set of regulations, issued by a
> Gauleiter -- a regional official for the Reich -- as binding on all
> local dance orchestras during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.
> Get this:
>
> Pieces in foxtrot rhythm (so-called swing) are not to exceed 20% of
> the repertoires of light orchestras and dance bands;
> in this so-called jazz type repertoire, preference is to be given to
> compositions in a major key and to lyrics expressing joy in life
> rather than Jewishly gloomy lyrics;
> As to tempo, preference is also to be given to brisk compositions over
> slow ones so-called blues); however, the pace must not exceed a
> certain degree of allegro, commensurate with the Aryan sense of
> discipline and moderation. On no account will Negroid excesses in
> tempo (so-called hot jazz) or in solo performances (so-called breaks)
> be tolerated;
> so-called jazz compositions may contain at most 10% syncopation; the
> remainder must consist of a natural legato movement devoid of the
> hysterical rhythmic reverses characteristic of the barbarian races and
> conductive to dark instincts alien to the German people (so-called
> riffs);
> strictly prohibited is the use of instruments alien to the German
> spirit (so-called cowbells, flexatone, brushes, etc.) as well as all
> mutes which turn the noble sound of wind and brass instruments into a
> Jewish-Freemasonic yowl (so-called wa-wa, hat, etc.);
> also prohibited are so-called drum breaks longer than half a bar in
> four-quarter beat (except in stylized military marches);
> the double bass must be played solely with the bow in so-called jazz
> compositions;
> plucking of the strings is prohibited, since it is damaging to the
> instrument and detrimental to Aryan musicality; if a so-called
> pizzicato effect is absolutely desirable for the character of the
> composition, strict care must be taken lest the string be allowed to
> patter on the sordine, which is henceforth forbidden;
> musicians are likewise forbidden to make vocal improvisations (so-
> called scat);
> all light orchestras and dance bands are advised to restrict the use
> of saxophones of all keys and to substitute for them the violin-cello,
> the viola or possibly a suitable folk instrument.
>
> Being a Nazi, this public servant obviously didn't miss an opportunity
> to couch as many of these regulations as he could in racist or anti-
> Semitic terms. Such, after all, are the National Socialist equivalent
> of soothing conventional wisdom. But that's just it: If you're a Nazi,
> and you can pass something you don't like off as a "Negroid excess,"
> or a manifestation of "Jewish Fremason-ry," it helps you with the kind
> of Nazi cred you need insulate yourself from having to justify what's
> wrong with the music as music. More than that, it helps you hide your
> fear of the deeper resonance the music has with people as people. In
> an interview given in Prague in 1968, relayed in Talkin' Moscow Blues,
> Skvorecky noted that "jazz is, above all, a kind of fraternity."
> That's not an entirely obvious thought if you come from the same part
> of the world jazz itself does.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 11
> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 17:38:43 +0300
> From: Marek Boym<marekboym at gmail.com>
> To: Stephen G Barbone<barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Plunger and Al Grey
> Message-ID:
> 	<CABGvO8D7MPUGCM=-pdcSkadTyLMbXBWLVfzuMOD9C_LjTa715A at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I have watched the one with Bernardo Sassetti - " I can't get started."
> I've also looked up Sassetti.  To my surprise, he became interested in jazz
> after hearing Bill Evans!  Anyway, at least as an accompanyinst, he sounds
> quite good!
> Cheers
>
> On 3 April 2012 23:46, Stephen G Barbone<barbonestreet at earthlink.net>wrote:
>
>> Another trombonist who used the plunger to good effect was Al Grey. I met
>> him when I was in Law School and he had some trouble with the IRS. He'd
>> hired a friend of mine, an accountant, to help him with some income tax
>> problems.  Hear some of his plunger work on "I Can't Get Started" at:
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=QQf-frmphqA&feature=related<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQf-frmphqA&feature=related>
>>
>> or with Count Basie on "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" at:
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?**v=5nya84ox7g8<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nya84ox7g8>
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Steve Barbone
>> www.myspace.com/**barbonestreetjazzband<http://www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ______________________________**_________________
>> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz
>> Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>>
>> http://ml.islandnet.com/**mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz<http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dixielandjazz mailing list
>> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 12
> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 09:38:50 -0500
> From: "Norman Vickers"<nvickers1 at cox.net>
> To:<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] query re jazz on the tube and 20s jazz-- Bill
> 	Haesler responds
> Message-ID:<008c01cd1339$d36975a0$7a3c60e0$@cox.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> To:  Musicians and Jazzfans list;  DJML
> From: Norman Vickers, Jazz Society of Pensacola
>
> I wrote a note to Bill Haesler-- jazz writer, broadcaster, historian,
> discographer, washboard player-- asking about his listening habits,
> especially if he found the JazzOnTheTube and 20s jazz postings  personally
> valuable to him.  Bill is a longtime contributor to Dixieland Jazz Mailing
> List  and  is frequently the authoritative word settling discographical
> arguments.  In fact, some years ago, he kindly and gently clarified my
> thinking about Atlanta blues guitarists.  During my medical school days in
> Atlanta, I regularly  heard 12 string guitarist Blind Willie McTell who
> played at a drive-in tavern in my neighborhood.  I had wrongly assumed that
> he had also gone by an alias as Barbeque Bob.
>
> Bill also kindly contributes to this list as well.  He's a native of
> Melbourne but has lived in Sydney over half his life.  He writes articles,
> liner notes, and is considered, as mentioned above, an expert  in
> discographical matters.
>     On Australia Day, 26th January 2005, Bill Haesler was awarded the Medal
> of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to jazz music as an
> administrator, historian, writer, radio presenter and performer.
>
>
>
>
> _Bill Haesler wrote ( slightly edited with deletion of some personal
> material)
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> _________________
>
> Dear Norman,
> Forgive my delay in replying.
> Currently, I am "flat out like a lizard drinking" (an old Australian
> expression).
> Jazz activities and the usual family bits and interruptions took up at least
> half, or more, of every day the last week and I still have several busy days
> to go. Including an all day trip (by train) to Newcastle tomorrow to discuss
> the possibility of the 2013 Australian Jazz Convention being held there.
> Newcastle is 100 miles north and I am a longtime AJC Trustee.
>
> Yes, I was invited to subscribe to the 20s Jazz site run by Matt Chauvin and
> receive his daily posts.
> However, much of the material, especially the 20s recordings has been in my
> collection from my 78rpm days, although now on CD.
> I enjoy the film clips and, using the application 'YouTube To MP3',
> occasionally add the soundtracks and rarer 78s to my iTunes library.
>
> It is providing a valuable service to many jazz people who do not know some
> things exist.
> Like JRM's "Burning The Iceberg" the other day.
>
> I have never considered myself a jazz critic and purposely over the years
> have avoided reviewing jazz records.
> My cover notes are always intended to provide information, not tell the
> purchaser that "the plunger solo is wonderful."
> Something that is obvious from listening.
> Very kind regards,
> Bill.
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 13
> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2012 11:07:28 -0400
> From: Stephen G Barbone<barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> To: DJML<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Electronic Dance Concerts. . . The new rage??
> Message-ID:<ED19D162-74C3-4825-BF43-FFD1FB61E6AD at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=WINDOWS-1252;	format=flowed;
> 	delsp=yes
>
> Flash!!!!!  Top DJs for these events earn $ 1 million for these
> events. Here's an idea, lets start producing Electronic OKOM Dance
> Concerts!  That's where the young audience is going.<grin>
>
>
> Cheers
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
> Electronic Dance Concerts Turn Up Volume, Tempting Investors
>
>
> by Ben Sisaro - NY Times - Apr 4
>
> One Friday afternoon last month, 60,000 tickets at $100 and up went on
> sale for a major music festival at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford,
> N.J., before the headliners had even been announced.
>
> It sold out in three hours.
>
> The festival with the fervent following was the Electric Daisy
> Carnival, a two-day event next month dedicated to the concert
> industry?s new favorite genre: electronic dance music. Long considered
> a marginal part of the music business that subsisted in clubs and semi-
> legal warehouse raves, dance has now moved squarely into the
> mainstream, with a growing circuit of festivals and profit margins
> that are attracting Wall Street.
>
> For an industry increasingly reliant on aging headliners ? like Bruce
> Springsteen, Madonna and the Rolling Stones ? the appeal of a genre
> with fresh stars and a huge young audience is undeniable.
>
> ?If you?re 15 to 25 years old now, this is your rock ?n? roll,? said
> Michael Rapino, the chief executive of Live Nation Entertainment, the
> world?s largest concert promoter.
>
> Two weeks ago, 165,000 fans went to the Ultra Music Festival in Miami
> to revel in the pulsating bass and wave glow sticks in the dark.
> Similar numbers have turned out for events in Los Angeles, Las Vegas
> and Dallas. With the boom, artist fees have exploded. Top D.J.?s like
> Deadmau5, Ti?sto and Afrojack can earn well over $1 million for a
> festival appearance and $10 million for a Las Vegas nightclub
> residency, talent agents say.
>
> Having developed on the margins, electronic dance music ? high-energy
> waves of mechanized sound that, at its best, creates a communal
> experience for a sea of strangers ? is dominated by a network of
> independent promoters.
>
> They include Insomniac, which presents Electric Daisy Carnival; Hard
> Events, another nationwide promoter; Ultra, whose namesake festival in
> Miami has expanded to Brazil, Argentina and Poland; and Made Event,
> behind the Electric Zoo festival in New York.
>
> Their success has attracted a clutch of potential investors from
> inside and outside the music world. The insiders include Live Nation
> and A.E.G. Live, the two biggest corporate promoters.
>
> The outsiders include Ron Burkle, the supermarket magnate who made an
> unsuccessful bid last year for the Warner Music Group, and the media
> mogul Robert F. X. Sillerman, according to people involved in
> investment talks who declined to be identified discussing private
> agreements.
>
> Mr. Sillerman ? who transformed the concert industry in the 1990s by
> consolidating regional rock promoters into what is now Live Nation ?
> declined to comment for this article, as did a representative of Mr.
> Burkle.
>
> For new investors, getting into the dance business may not all be a
> party. Determining the value of the promoting companies is difficult,
> and there are particular risks whenever putting on a musical bacchanal
> for tens of thousands.
>
> At the Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles two years ago, a 15-year-
> old girl died of a drug overdose; at the same event in Dallas the next
> year, a 19-year-old man died and more than two dozen were hospitalized
> for drugs, alcohol and heat-related illnesses.
>
> Pasquale Rotella, the chief executive of Insomniac, the company behind
> those raves, has also been implicated in a corruption scandal in Los
> Angeles. Last month, he and five others were indicted on charges
> related to the embezzlement of $2.5 million from the Los Angeles
> Memorial Coliseum. In a statement, his company maintained that the
> charges against him were ?completely baseless and flat-out wrong, both
> on the law and on the facts.?
>
> The investment talks may be only in the exploratory phase. But for a
> musical genre that not long ago was mostly associated with secret
> locations and drugs, it is a startling development, as are the amounts
> of money involved. According to the people involved in the talks,
> offers to buy the biggest promoters have ranged from about $20 million
> to $60 million.
>
> ?It feels like the dot-com era,? said Joel Zimmerman, an agent at
> William Morris Endeavor who books many of the top dance acts. ?There?s
> a little bit of a gold rush going on, with outsiders looking in.?
>
> Electronic dance music, or E.D.M. for short, has been common in one
> form or other for decades, but only in recent years has its audience
> become big enough to sustain large-scale touring. Last December,
> Swedish House Mafia became the first D.J. act to headline Madison
> Square Garden. (D.J.?s do not spin records so much as command
> computerized sound systems, playing snippets of songs and using them
> to create their own protracted rhythms.)
>
> This summer acts like Avicii and Kaskade are touring in some of the
> same arenas and theaters where fans can see Coldplay and James Taylor.
>
> While record sales for dance music are relatively low ? even the
> biggest recent albums, like David Guetta?s ?Nothing But the Beat,?
> rarely sell more than 300,000 copies ? the sound has infiltrated pop
> radio through acts like Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry. At the
> Grammy Awards in February, Skrillex won three prizes and Mr. Guetta
> and Deadmau5 (pronounced like ?deadmouse?) jammed with the Foo
> Fighters, L?il Wayne and Chris Brown.
>
> The big dance festivals have built themselves into valuable brands,
> able to sell tickets on their name alone and the immersive audio-
> visual spectacle they present. One big company could bring together a
> handful of promoters and find economies of scale.
>
> ?I have been approached by all the big boys you can imagine,? said
> Gary Richards, the founder of Hard Events. ?I?ve been working in this
> for 20 years and nobody cared. Now it?s so massive that everybody
> wants a piece of it.?
>
> Yet a marriage between D.J.?s and billionaire investors may be
> difficult. Live music is a risky and low-margin business for
> promoters. Pricing tickets too high or too low, for example, can sink
> an otherwise successful venture. Dance music also faces the perennial
> fad question: will its popularity stick this time or blow over as it
> did in the 1990s, when it was called electronica?
>
> How much the promoters need, or even want, outside money is also
> unclear. Some say outside capital is necessary to expand to new
> markets, but others have built powerful organizations on their own.
> Adam Russakoff, Ultra?s director of business affairs, said his company
> was profitable, debt-free and has no outside investment. The company
> handles its own ticketing and makes licensing deals for its events
> overseas.
>
> And then there is simple culture clash. Many dance music promoters and
> managers are suspicious of big money and the corporate ways of the
> mainstream concert business. In an interview, Mr. Rotella said he has
> been approached by many potential investors but was worried of what
> might become of immersive, multifaceted events like Electric Daisy.
>
> ?You don?t want this to turn into what the concert business is today,?
> he said, ?where you just sell people tickets and they come to the show
> and sit in their seat. There?s not a lot of soul behind that. What we
> do is more of an experience.?
>
> Mr. Richards agreed, saying that the big investors he spoke with did
> not understand the market.
>
> ?You can?t just franchise this like McDonald?s,? he said.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 112, Issue 6
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