[Dixielandjazz] A Bit of Praise

[Stephen G Barbone]

> "Jack Mitchell" <fjmitch at westnet.com.au>
>
> The days are long gone (I hope) when jazz musicians were regarded as  
> less skilled than others, but I think this little snippet is worth  
> relating.
>
> Classical pianist Murray Perahia was interviewed in his London home  
> by Margaret Throsby of Sydney. It was published as an article in  
> LIMELIGHT magazine for April, 2012. Mr. Perahia lamented the fact  
> that music students today don't necessarily learn the fundamentals  
> of music. He went on to say "I think we're shamed as classical  
> musicians by jazz musicians, because they know it much better than  
> we do. They know their harmony in a way that classical musicians  
> don't have any idea about. Some violinists don't even know what key  
> they're playin in!"

Dear Jack:

That reminds me of many gigs we did with Glenn Dodson as our  
trombonist. Often,his classical musician friends from The Philadelphia  
Orchestra would come to hear him (and us) play. They were always very  
complimentary of our jazz band and the musicians in it. We always  
asked them to sit in but they would decline saying they would not be  
able to play what we and Glenn were playing.

When we were part a memorial concert for him at Curtis Institute, they  
and the kids studying at Curtis loved it and again, none would sit in,  
saying they did not hear the music and harmony the way we did.

We, of course, always felt that they were far better musicians than we  
were.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband