[Dixielandjazz] Think about it!! HJML...

[Pat Ladd]

many musicians playing OKOM don't care for the term
"Dixieland Jazz",

so is it time to name OKOM  "HOT JAZZ"?>>

A knotty problem. I just wish someone would make up there minds (I do not 
really entertain very high hopes of it happening)

I have just returned from a weeks Summer School at Marlborough College (UK). 
One of the courses I signed up for was `Jazz improvisation.`  I packed up 
the course on Thursday. I play Trad Jazz and  Swing and I am used to tunes 
having a beginning and an end with a middle eight. Generally played in 2/2, 
2/4, or 3/4 time Not only was I out of my depth with some of the time 
signatures of the music we weresupposed to work on, my own fault perhaps, 
but the so called tunes  were written by people such as Sonny Rollins, Miles 
Davis, John Coltrane, Chick Corea. Freddie Hubbard  Not only ,in my opinion 
was it not jazz, some of it I would not even consider to be music   at all.
Had the description of the course said, `Jazz as played by Coltrane and 
Corea I would not have touched it with a barge pole

All I wanted to do was to learn how to improvise a few bars break around 
Georgia, Don`t be that way, Tishomingo Blues even for heavens sake St Loius 
Blues or St James Infirmary.

A little agreement on terms (ha ha) would have saved me this problem. It was 
a great pity. The instructor was a good bass player and we did get `A train 
` and Satin Doll and I met some nice, talented  people. We even had one 
woman who could play the chords on the piano and improvise with her voice at 
the same time. Awesome

When you have this all sorted fella`s, let me know.

Pat