[Dixielandjazz] All Star Put Down

[Beth Schweitzer]

I agree with Bob that the name doesn't really matter if the talent holds
up to it, and in the case of the Bay Area All Stars it certainly does,
as is also with Clint Baker's Cafe Borrone All Stars.

However, unless I know first hand the talent and personalities of the
band members, I tend to shy away from "All Star" bands. Mostly because
it implies to me a band that has been brought together from individuals
from other bands at a festival in order to add another band name to the
list.


Sometimes this works incredibly well, but other times there is simply no
one-stage connection between the players, and while they might be
individually talented, the combination ends up, at best, boring. In the
two Bay Area cases above, these guys play together regularly so this is
not a problem for them. Or me. I would go hear them every time if I
lived nearby.

In fact, I  would go so far as to call them the Bay Area Super Stars.

Not having seen the original post in this thread either, I will shut up
now.

Cheers,
Beth



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] All Star Put Down
From: "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
Date: Sun, February 24, 2013 11:15 am
To: beth at portafortuna.com
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>

I no longer have the original All Star put down post so can’t comment
on any specific comment that was made. However, I say, IMO, the post was
negative and unnecessary. 


After all, the name of a band is in part meant to capture the interest
of the general public. 

Who really cares if a band calls themselves an All Star Band? The public
certainly doesn’t. 



Perhaps this post, seemingly coming out of nowhere, was pointed at the
gigs we do at Nick’s in Pacifica Aprox once a month. 



Scott Anthony heads up the band. It is not his Golden Gate Rhythm
Machine band. Four of the members of the band are band leaders in their
own right. So instead of using his band name, he chose Bay Area All
Stars. So what?



IMO, modestly excluding myself, the members of the band are the cream of
the crop of Trad musicians in the SF Bay area. This is not to say that
there aren’t other really good Trad musicians in the area – There
certainly are. But the musicians on this Nick’s gig certainly are some
of the best. 



Bob Schulz, cornet; Scott Anthony, banjo guitar; Jim Maihack, trombone;
Robert Young, bass sax; yours truly piano and the great pat yankee,
vocals. 



BTW- We will be at Nick’s Restaurant, Rock Away Beach, Pacifica CA,
Monday March 18, 6:30 – 9:30 PM. 



Ya’ll come…




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