[Dixielandjazz] Support live jazz

[Marek Boym]

Last Wednesday two friends and I attended a New Orleans Function
concert at the Felicja Blumental Music Center in Tel-Aviv.
Unfortunately, the hall was almost empty!  There were some 20 people
altogether, but id did not seem to have affected the band.  Or perhaps
it did, and the band decided to just have a good time regardless of
the size of the audience.
The lights were on, prople were talking, the stage was empty, and
then, suddenly, there was music: Arnon de Bouton started playing ata
side entrance and marched, unaccompnied, up the stage, sliding his
trombone.  And swinging, folks, really swinging, all by himself.  Then
the drummer joined him, and the others, for a rousing version of "Bill
Bailey."  No new material this time, just old and true standards, well
played.  Two songes were devotedto streets of New Orleans:  "Basin St.
Blues" and "Cana St. Blues."  this was referred to by Eli Preminger
(trumpet and leader) as the  "street section"  of the concert.
I am always impressed with the minimalistic drum set of Yair: one bass
drum (modern, not big like the ODJB's), one snare, one cymbal, a
cowbell and a (plastic) woodblock.  Who needs a big battery of drums
and cymbals to swing a band!
A wonderful thing about the performance was the amplification, or
rather the absence thereof.  The accousitics there are great, and the
bnad could be heard very well everywhere in that small hall.
The young contingent failed to show up this time, even though there
were afew young faces.  And, as is often the case, I seemed to be the
oldest in the audience (there was one person who looked older, but he
was one year my junior).
Whoever came, had wonderful time, audience and musicians alike.
Cheers