[Dixielandjazz] Disavowing our roots

[♫ Sharp Bill - - B# ♫]

Brian,
 so, after pulling my head out of the sand, and removing the blinders, you are obviously saying that we should now diversify and bring cajun, rock and roll, be-bop and perhaps even rap into our midst so as to survive.  If  King Oliver, Jelly Roll Norton and Louis Armstrong were alive today that is what they would be doing, in order to propagate diversity. Perhaps Louie, to truly diversify,  would include yodeling.    In that case throw out what has been called Our Kind Of Music, as there would no longer be such a thing. 

Also, read this letter, and my original, twice to fully capture what I'm really saying - -The jazz societies each have a charter.   Our Stockton society has one. Along the same lines , each has a statement like this in the By-Laws.  Our  By-laws state:

The object is this Society shall be to: (a)- preserve and promote Dixieland Jazz music; (b) provide a common meeting place where Dixieland Jazz musicians may perform their art to interested audiences; (c) provide interested musicians with the opportunity to become more proficient in the performance of Dixieland Jazz;  (d) provide liaison and exchange between Dixieland Jazz musicians and the listening public.


No other type of music defined by the adjective "Dixieland"  is allowed AS DEFINED BY CHARTER..  ( Some clubs replace"Dixieland Jazz" with "Traditional Jazz").  And it is because of the nature of these clubs as history-preserving institutions that they get  their tax-free exemptions.   If we pull our heads out of dark places, and diversify, (as you are attesting that Oliver, Norton and Armstrong would do)  then I think the government has a right to remove our tax free status.  If it ever came to light, what we are actually doing within the confines of our walls, perhaps they will.  Virtual reality it's called.

So sorry, but  King Oliver, Jelly Roll Norton and Louis Armstrong  are dead.  The societies were started to preserve and honor the style of music they played "way back when".   I hardly think it is your job to guess what they would be doing today.  The Charters I constantly refer to state exactly what we must be doing.  We are not supposed to operate, using the by-laws, in any fashion other than to preserve traditional music. Period.  Period with an exclamation mark.   The By-Laws of our societies are supposed to be like the U.S. Constitution in what we follow and obey.   Otherwise, we may as well kiss them off and call them By-Bys, laws not to be upheld. 

Get it?  Go read the by-laws of your nearest jazz society and see how it defines their purpose.   Then ask if that purpose is being upheld.

Toodles,
B.#
 

On Jan 14, 2013, at 11:53 AM, Brian Havey <sweet.figlio at btinternet.com> wrote:

> If King Oliver, Jelly Roll Norton and Louis Armstrong had operated restrictive, blinkered policies of the type you mistakenly advocate their careers would have been much shorter. It is through accepting diversity that we grow and survive. Not by burying our heads in the sand.
> Brian Harvey - who has been attempting to educate the world about jazz since 1948.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com [mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com] On Behalf Of ? Sharp Bill - - B# ?
> Sent: 14 January 2013 18:49
> To: Brian Harvey BT
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Disavowing our roots
> 
> 
> 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)
> 
> 
> 
> 
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♫BILL SHARP PhD
 *P*iled *H*igher & *D*eeper 
___;;;___/
   (_III_)   \
I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

All I really want is a warm bed, a kind word and unlimited power.