[Dixielandjazz] Swing Dances at Denver Airport

[Marek Boym]

Gmail has introduced "new look," which involves being able to rely
only to the last email in a batch.  Very annoying.
As is the phenomenon of old fans rejecting the young ones and, byt the
same token, complaining about dwindling audiences.
Sorry, folks, we grow old and die away (except for old soldiers, who
only wither), and if we reject the young, jazz as we know it will die.
 And this - from one to whom Coltrane sounds as musical as a jet
engine!
BTW, tonight I am going to hear a contingent out of the New Orleans
Function, and expect most of the audience to be about one third my
age.  And a good thing it is - they are the future.
Cheers

On 10 January 2012 17:22, Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
> On Jan 10, 2012, at 7:00 AM, Pat Ladd wrote:
>
>> Yes, I can believe it. I once brought about 16 swing dancers to a  concert we did at a jazz club.etc>>
>>
>> Stephen,
>>
>> Go steady on the old guard. The important bit there is that you were doing a CONCERT not a dance.
>>
>> I should stop going to my local jazz club too if they had swing dancers. These days I go to listen to the music. I went to dances when I was younger and everyone danced. People who want to listen to the music do not go to DANCES. You mix the two at your peril.
>>
>> Isn`t there room for both? My jazz club has no dancing and is well attended..
>> The local Council who run Swing Dance sessions seem to be fully booked .
>>
>> Thats great. But keep them separate.
>
>
> Dear Pat
>
> Oops! I was not quite clear. I should have used "event" and not "concert". Dancing was encouraged at this jazz club. The old folks danced there all the time, albeit Fox Trots. VBG.
>
> For one reason or another, the older folks looked upon the infusion of youngsters as an invasion of their turf. Yet their club "turf" keeps shrinking every year as members die off. This club used to have over 250 attendees, now some events, with excellent bands get less that 60. "Angels", who contribute to a fund are the only reason they can have bands there as the attendance fees do not cover the band and venue costs
>
> Why keep swing dancers and jazz events separate? Why not mix the old folks with the young? Put the dancers on the side, if you must, however why should dancing interfere with listening? It is these very young people that we need (at least here in the USA and it may well be different in the UK) in order to perpetuate the clubs.
>
> Jazz was "dancing" music for the first half century. IMO, it started to become less and less popular when the dancing stopped and folks insisted upon silence so they could listen to the "art" music.
>
> For me, if I want to listen intently to "art" music, I turn on my record player, or radio and emulate Greta Garbo (eg: "I want to be alone")
>
> BTW. Now, some 10 years later, this very club is seeking to attract young people and GASP . . . Swing Dancers. Finally, they get it.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
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