[Dixielandjazz] Jazz for Cows

[Daniel Augustine]

DJML Folks and others--
    Newsflash!  It turns out that the video with the guy playing tuba for cows 
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXKDu6cdXLI) is a friend of mine, Steve Call, who teaches tuba and dixieland jazz at BYU in Utah.  

    He's not only a fine human being, but (more importantly) a wonderful tuba player and improviser who actually teaches kids about dixieland jazz.  In fact, the other players in the band in the video are (except for the banjo player) all his former students, now scattered around the country.  In an email to me he added that "I’m taking my student band out to Sacramento for the “Youth Band Festival” in February and hope to take the New Hot 5 back to the French Alps in July and August. Some other festivals in Europe have express some interest in presenting the band this Summer, one in the Netherlands, and a second festival in the South of France. I love playing for European audiences. They love the music and are quite knowledgeable about it, even the young people learn about Armstrong, Morton, Bix, and Ellington as part of their general music curriculum in school. I’ve two festivals in Italy and two festival in France in the last few years."

    He just sent me the band's new CD called "Introducing the New Hot 5 and Jazz for Cows", which is available at the band's website at http://www.newhot5.com/ and on iTunes, Amazon.com, and at CD Baby (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thenewhot5).  Good stuff, highly recommended.

    On the video he's playing the new DEG Caravelle "commuter tuba", but on the CD he's playing his 4/4 Besson.  

    Dan (playing for armadillos in Texas) Augustine

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**  Dan Augustine  --  Austin, Texas  --  ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu
**    "We believe in musical evolution, not revolution.  There are    
**     enough revolutionary musicians playing revolting music."       
**                   -- Turk Murphy (1915-1987)                       
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