[Dixielandjazz] Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 117, Issue 21

Fri Sep 21 16:52:16 PDT 2012

someone should make mention that Mat Domber passed away this week, September 19th...............the funeral was today in Largo, Fla.  Mat has been on our Board of Directors for what seems like forever.  He changed the lives of so many musicians by giving them opportunities to record and play.  There will be someone out there who has much more pertinent bio info than I have off the top of my head.  

Joan Dragon, Director
Suncoast Jazz Classic
P.O. Box 1945
Largo FL 33779-1945

-----Original Message-----
From: dixielandjazz-request <dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com>
To: jazzclassic <jazzclassic at aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 21, 2012 5:57 pm
Subject: Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 117, Issue 21

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Today's Topics:

   1. Catherine Russell interviewed  --  LA Times (Robert Ringwald)
   2. Re: was New Age Stride paino in NYC/ now getting	new
      audiences. (Dixiejazzdata)
   3. New Jelly Roll Morton programs (Dave Radlauer)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:35:34 -0700
From: "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Catherine Russell interviewed  --  LA Times
Message-ID: <9455BA2D17304DAFAB0DB226BC93E68D at BobPC>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

In the Swing, Out Front or Behind
by Andy Gilbert
Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2012
OAKLAND -- As a young singer making her way on the New York scene in the 
mid-1980s,
Catherine Russell saw herself walking in Tina Turner's thigh-high boots, belting
out rock and soul.
Decades later, she hasn't exactly given up the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, but 
she's
made a name for herself interpreting sassy, vintage pop and blues tunes from the
era that ended with the advent of Elvis.
"I like anything that swings, generally the sound of music between the 1920s and
'50s," says Russell, 55, while relaxing backstage before an Oakland performance 
with
the Dukes of September Rhythm Revue, a tour on which she's singing backup for 
Donald
Fagen, Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald.
"I like good storytelling, and I like the blues. I like humor and unpredictable 
lyrics,
a good melody and interesting harmonies. That's really what motivates me."
Now recognized as one of the most savvy and sophisticated interpreters of 
classic
jazz and blues, Russell has found an avid audience with a series of albums, 
high-profile
gigs and appearances on the public radio showcase "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. 
Her
biggest West Coast tour includes a gig Wednesday at the Catalina Bar and Grill 
followed
by her Monterey Jazz Festival debut Saturday.
For more than two decades Russell largely supported herself as a first-call 
backup
singer, touring with artists such as David Bowie, Paul Simon, Levon Helm, 
Rosanne
Cash, Jackson Browne, and, more recently, Steely Dan. When she released her 
first
album under her own name, 2006's critically hailed "Cat" (World Village), 
Russell
wasn't so much making a midcareer swerve into vintage jazz as claiming her 
birthright.
The daughter of Luis Russell, the Panamanian-born pianist, composer and 
bandleader
best remembered for his work with Louis Armstrong in the 1930s and '40s, she was
raised by her mother, the bassist, guitarist and vocalist Carline Ray, a 
graduate
of Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music who performed with the 
International
Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mercer Ellington and Mary Lou Williams.
Still gigging at 87, Ray is thrilled that her prodigal daughter has returned to 
the
jazz fold. Russell is working with Ray on her first album and considers her 
mother
an essential sounding board for uncovering overlooked material, like the 1936 
Ella
Fitzgerald vehicle "Under the Spell of the Blues" that kicks off her latest 
album,
"Strictly Romancin'" (World Village).
"She's very excited about these songs," Russell says. "She loves that she can 
tell
me stories about the music and musicians. When I'm home I see her every day, and
lately we've been in the studio a lot. She's amazing. She's a one-take singer. 
I'm
definitely not a one-take singer."
Though her jazz career is flourishing, Russell has no plans to give up her work 
as
a backup singer, particularly when she gets a call for a tour with Steely Dan. 
Last
year she also performed widely with the American Beauty Project, interpreting 
songs
from the signature 1970 Grateful Dead albums "Workingman's Dead" and "American 
Beauty"
with Ollabelle and Jim Lauderdale.
"Backup singing is a different thing altogether," Russell says. "I love vocal 
harmony
and the skills that go into it, so I hope I never stop doing the backup thing."
With her long dreads piled on top of her head adding at least 6 inches to her 
diminutive
stature, Russell doesn't seem suited for staying in the background. On stage, 
she
looms in the spotlight as her mischievous, phosphorescent smile punctuates her 
double-entendre-laden
repertoire. Some of her employers clearly felt she had more to offer.
"Catherine has music in her DNA," writes noted jazz fan Donald Fagen in an 
email.
"You can hear that history and soul in every note she sings."
In making the transition from sidewoman to bandleader, Russell says the 
challenge
wasn't taking on business responsibilities so much as getting used to being the 
center
of attention.
"I had been encouraged to do my own thing for a long time," Russell says. "The 
first
few gigs I did in 2005 I thought, 'What have I done? Now my name is on the 
ticket.
They look at you when you sing. They look at you when you don't sing!' It was 
terrifying."
She cites the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995 with setting her on her present 
musical
path. An avid Deadhead, she was looking for a musical community after the Dead 
disbanded.
Sensing her need, her mother invited Russell to her Sunday brunch gig at the 
Greenwich
Village jazz spot Sweet Basil, where she accompanied nonagenarian trumpeter Doc 
Cheatham.
Russell never got a chance to perform with her father, who died when she was 7, 
and
the relationship with Cheatham offered another avenue back to jazz's pre-World 
War
II heyday.
"That became my refuge," Russell recalls. "You'd step in and it would be another
world. The first time I sat in I sang 'Just in Time.' Then it turned into them 
asking
me to sit in every week. Meeting Doc and singing with him was a turning point of
my life."

-Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Amateur (ham) Radio Operator K6YBV
916/ 806-9551

The crime of taxation is not in the taking of it. It's in the way it's spent.
--Will Rogers March 20, 1932

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:45:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Dixiejazzdata <dixiejazzdata at aol.com>
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] was New Age Stride paino in NYC/ now
	getting	new audiences.
Message-ID: <8CF662FA26884AA-BD4-4B09 at webmail-d148.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Guys:

Yes, Toby Kasavan,  ( Fingers DelRey) is not a tried and true Stride or Rag Time 
player, Sorry I used those terms a bit too loosely, on this list, however I 
think in the piece he played it certainly had influences of those styles.  I was 
trying to say in so many words that this is something that younger piano players 
are doing as they try to find their own styles and make a name for themselves in 
the broader world of Jazz.   They are building a following and earning a decent 
living at it as well.

Toby actually plays a lot of Blues, and has a very good Blues band that is doing 
well on the Blues Festival circuits these days,  he performs in NYC  often at 
The Piano Works  as a solo act, and other spots with his Blues Band.   

There have been countless discussions and threads on this list over the years 
about OKOM and what is and is not OKOM,  I am trying to show the directions that 
are attracting younger audiences at festivals and events not specifically 
labeled as Dixieland or Trad Jazz events.  The survival of any festival or music 
event eventually is going to take the addition of other styles of Jazz in 
addition to Traditional  Jazz  to attract a n audience of paying customers.   It 
would also behoove the festival organizers to strive for Quality in their acts 
rather than Quantity.    In my observation over many years I find that Trad Jazz 
Societies tend to  be formed by local jazz fans of a certain style,   as a 
Ragtime Club, a Swing Club, a Dixieland Club,  or whatever style they like, with 
little regard to the expansion or growth of the CLUB so long as it is able to 
keep the status Quo of meeting and enjoying their style of music  at a small 
cost.    It is no longer possible for Good Band Le
 aders to organize and maintain a band and travel even locally with out making 
enough money to support the expenses of the band and pay the Quality Players a 
liveable wage according to at least the region of the country that they live in.    
Hence the idea of Bring in in Special Bands form outside the region, to give the 
audience something New and Fresh to see and hear, of course this too will cost 
more to cover the travel costs of the Band etc.  But then you simply as an 
organization must pass that cost on to the members and guests in higher 
admission prices for those shows.    

Today's economics are going to put more and more of them out of business, unless 
they can expand their membership and participation levels which will also cost 
them additional money to actively get out and promote the organizations and 
their events to new people.   Just because you get a big turnout for one event 
does not mean you stop promoting, it is a never ending situation, because people 
are transient and will move in and out of the area and also often change their 
activities if they become bored with what is offered over and over again.   In 
the Olden days Guys Like Turk Murphy, Eddie Condon, Benny Goodman, and all the 
other "Stars" of OKOM  were being promoted  heavily and were doing live Radio 
Shows, and interviews in the newspapers, and magazines all across the country, 
Not to mention that it was the Rock and Roll music of it's time and the Dance 
rage.    They often got help in this from their record labels, most sold their 
recordings at engagements to supplement the
 ir income and Radio Stations often sponsored events.     I actually watched 
Turk Murphy's  loyal audience move out of San Francisco to Sacramento, Paradise, 
Stockton, Modesto, Fresno and other parts east  and his biggest mistake was not 
following them and opening another club  centrally located for them to come to. 

There is no shortage of musicians out there and we keep churning more young ones 
out year after year, unfortunately not all of them are marketable quality even 
if they do have the dream of being a Rock star some day.   Just look at the 
Current TV shows  American Idol and X Factor  and the Voice  and see how 
desperately so many are and naive enough to think they can actually enter a 
competition against real talented people and win.   Those people are being 
scoffed at politely by the producers as the Gong Show did back in our day.   The 
Singers on these shows engage the audiences and when they do it correctly magic 
happens for them and they move on in the competitions.    That's Entertainment,  
and Entertainment Sells and attracts  good paying audiences to support the 
artists and musicians who deliver the goods.    

 Gone are the days that you can just bring a group of decent musicians and some 
charts into a room and get anybody to pay to listen to them, and playing in 
places that hang a shingle out saying simply Live band tonight shows it as an 
amateur place, that cares nothing about the band or musicians and does not 
respect them enough to even list their band name and or promote them as an 
attraction worth paying to come in and hear.   The bands that will play those 
kind of places and not insist upon some promotion even shared promotion between 
the venue and the band are not better and will most likely remain amateurs all 
their lives as well.   The Music Business is one of the hardest businesses in 
the world to earn a living in , and mostly because far too many musicians don;t 
take it seriously as a business and treat it like one.

Festivals and Societies need to step up to the plate and start promoting and 
hiring those bands that are the highest Quality and promote together for the 
growth and future success of their respective organizations.   If your club has 
all those volunteers, motivate them to get out and bring in new members and 
friends  even invite them to attend an event for Free once a month or or free 
admission to anybody who brings two or three new people who have a good time and 
may actually  then join the society.   

People like to join and have fun with like minded people that have a good time, 
and bands that make sure they have a good time will get them to come back more 
often while bands that just sit there and schlep out the notes become boring and 
actually often drive people away even if they are run by the board members of 
the organization.    Some societies are formed by fans of the music and others 
are often formed by mediocre bands that can't get hired by established societies 
so they in desperation form their own society and try to attract an audience.    
Some of them schedule their  monthly events on the same dates and times as other 
regional societies and directly compete with each other for a dwindling audience 
hence making both of them resort to hiring cheaper more mediocre hobbyist bands 
that simply can't sustain a supporting audience in many cases large enough to 
even cover the costs of having them play.     

Most Societies are also non- profit groups, why then would you not choose a 
venue for your event that allows you to get your own alcoholic beverage permit 
and sell the beverages yourself as a source of additional revenue, same for food 
if applicable, the permits are easy to get and very cheap.    Bars and 
restaurants that sell alcohol are delighted to have you come pay them a Rental 
Fee + keep all the food and beverage money as well, so you are allowing 
everybody to make money off your work and event  except yourself.   That is not 
preserving Jazz nor is it furthering the cause of employment for musicians, it 
is supporting the alcoholic beverage business.  Does that venue advertise and 
promote your event  More often than Not  NO because they don't really care, and 
have no vested interest in the success of YOUR Event or organization, and will 
simply milk you as long as you are putting Free money into their coffers.  
Certainly in every society you can find a member or recruit o
 ne to run the Bar, and another to run a food concession, and actually make a 
profit and split it with the society.

Just some rambling thoughts that might be useful to some, if not just ignore it.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Hanson <jazzdude39 at att.net>
To: Dixiejazzdata <dixiejazzdata at aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Sep 21, 2012 7:02 am
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] New Age Stride paino in NYC

This particular tune sounds like something Mose Allison might play/sing.

Dave Hanson
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dixiejazzdata" <dixiejazzdata at aol.com>
To: "Dave Hanson" <jazzdude39 at att.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 12:08 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] New Age Stride paino in NYC

> Hey for all you interested int Stride and Rag Time piano,   here is a 
> video of a friend of mine who
> plays in New York City,  worth a  stop over to see and hear him if your in 
> the area.
> Toby Kasavan.
>
> He goes by "Fingers DelRey"
> OKOM is alive and well, ya just gotta go out and find it.
>
> Enjoy,
>
> Tom Wiggins
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWtDFLPVI9Y
> _______________________________________________
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> Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>
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>
>
>
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> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:33:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Dave Radlauer <dradjazz at aol.com>
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] New Jelly Roll Morton programs
Message-ID: <8CF66365E0BAB06-B84-497A at webmail-m062.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi --

Three hours of new Jelly Roll Morton programs offering fresh perspectives on 
Morton and his music based on latest research and jazz interpretation; plus 
articles, photos, links:
http://jazzhotbigstep.com/67001.html

Dave Radlauer,
Producer, JAZZ RHYTHM

www.JAZZHOTBigstep.com

------------------------------

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End of Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 117, Issue 21
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