[Dixielandjazz] Disavowing our roots

[♫ Sharp Bill - - B# ♫]

Here's an observation( intended to be read only by dixieland buffs):
 
A multitude of years past, while in my early adult years, and after watching a live Civil War enactment, I realized that some people within our society think it's important to preserve certain moments in history through these reenactments.   It occurred to me that those of us who play the music of years past (OKOM) are also, in fact, historians. We are preserving and reenacting a small portion of history, that portion being a specific musical style - --dixieland.   As such, I have always felt a  certain amount of pride, knowing that I was a singleton member of an elite set of other musical "historians" wanting to preserve this particular era of music, with its characteristic sound and instrumentation.  Each time we perform OKOM we are in fact standing shoulder to shoulder with our comrades marching through history. 

The era of OKOM is represented with hundreds upon hundreds of wonderful songs.  The real "historians" of the era know this and, as instrumentalists,  will draw upon this vast repertoire to play just those songs.  What has become disheartening is that I find that many of our so-called "Jazz Societies" built upon the notion of preserving and  playing traditional music (i.e. dixieland)  are drifting away from that notion. They are disavowing our roots.

 Much of the traditional  literature is not being played, as it was in the early days of our societies. Our festivals no longer stand on the rock on which the early festivals were built.   Bands playing at our society meetings often do not represent the music we are supposed to be supporting, and worse yet, the societies are essentially ignoring their charter guidelines.  A huge blatant example is the hiring of the cajun band currently making the rounds in our "trad jazz" clubs.  Cajun ! ! !! ??   Really ?  ?! ! !    Yes . . boo hoo, a true reason for sobbing.  Get out a hanky to first dry the tears, then wave as a flag of surrender.  [ Hey,to be honest, I've gone and listened to them myself, where I danced and had a great time, but  at the same time I kept asking myself, what the hell are they doing at a dixieland club? I kept wanting to request that they play "Dixieland One Step"]

Please, based upon the pride you should have in being a musical historian, don't you believe that we should stick closer to the literature?  Remember when we could call a tune like "Grandpa's Spells" or "South Rampart Street Parade" and everyone knew the tune?  We all had a copy of the Nabor's book and knew all the songs in it.  It was our "Bible" and we carried it with us.  Similar to church membership, the "flock has gone astray" and needs to "return to the fold".  With tongue in cheek, I say cast aside the "evil demons" of songs and musical styles not appropriate to the intent of our original charters.  Return to keeping alive those tunes deemed to be truly traditional songs played by the original founders of our jazz clubs.  I am certain that if you walked through the graveyards in which many of the old guard are buried and even whispered words like "cajun" , "big band swing" , "gypsy jazz"  that the earth would shake and a volcanic eruption would occur on the spot.

We are now operating under the assumption, and what I hear repeated over and over like a mantra, is that we have to "play for the dancers", so we play as much swing era tunes as anything ( and other tunes outside the genre).

  Is it possible the founders must have left out of the charters the statement . . ."and above all else, make sure to play for the dancers, even if you have to lower your standards and sacrifice the values you place upon upholding the design of the original charter".  ? ? ( I say to each of the Jazz Societies, "If you are going the be that dishonest in the styles of music you support, then return to your charters and insert that statement." )

What I observe is that there is apparently no design as to the music allowed in our jazz clubs.  The vigilance is gone.

We need to quit being wishy-washy and realize our place in upholding our role as historians for our genre. We need to perform in our roles just as seriously as do the players in the enactment of Civil War battles.  We too are at war here folks,  with conflicting musical styles.  If our banner is going to be traditional jazz, and you believe in it, then you'd better start defending it, and keep a sharp eye on the enemy genres silently and stealth-fully sneaking into our camps while our backs are turned. "They" are already among us.

As music director of the Stockton Jazz Society, I hope as much as possible to uphold our traditions, hiring those bands that have continued to play traditional music with  traditional instrumentation.  I take my role seriously as a musical "historian" wishing to preserve our portion of musical history - -OKOM…traditional music  ( of which dixieland is a small slice), from the late 1800's to somewhere around the 1940's, when the swing era took over.


BILL (speaking-from -the-soapbox) SHARP

retired educator,
avocation: musician,
(cleverly disguised as a responsible adult)