[Dixielandjazz] Doom-sayer

[Gary Lawrence Murphy]

in our band, in the first year, we were attracting mostly grade 8
students, not so much because of the music but because of the "playing
for the fun of it" vibe of our street-band, which was the intention
(kids these days are often only exposed to making music for marks or
other point rewards on "getting it right" in the most wrong ways) --
mostly kids would come and go, play a few weeks and move on, and that
mostly because 14 year olds these days are at the mercy of their
parents' schedules, not really able to just scoot out in the morning
and back by bedtime like when I was a kid, but ANYWAY, we had (and
still have) this trombone player who told me in the summer time,
"Nobody listens to that 'old' music anymore" and, well, tough kid,
that's what we play ;) but I learned later that by Christmas he had
the Louis Armstrong Hot Fives and Hot Sevens downloaded to his iPod :)

I have a theory about this: acoustic ensemble music does not record
well, and while like a black and white movie, the loss of critical
information does not bother those who already *know* what a brass band
sounds like will "fill in the gaps" as they play back the record, to
those who have never heard a live ensemble, and that's most everyone
under the age of 60 (yikes!) the recordings are just a jumble of
instruments with no real grabbing power to them; it takes
*imagination* to be turned on by recordings, imagination or
experience.  Since 1968, nearly everyone has been listening
*exclusively* to electronic music, a genre where the power can only be
achieved by deepening the bass and adding distortion, because the wave
power equations are destroyed at the transducer. When I go to see a
big band these days, they are all mic'd, the whole thing rendered
electronically through paper cones at the side of the theatre,
electronic recreation of what is actually live there on the stage, but
now overwhelmed by the PA. Even symphony orchestra concert halls I'm
told are adding "bass enhancement electronics" in hopes of grabbing
the young audience because there again, their audience is dwindling
and aging.

So my hypothesis is that we cannot attract young people until we give
them the direct first hand experience of the living live music,
unmediated by electronics, right there where they are, not via
youtubes or beans-in-their-ears iPods.  And that's why I took my
ensemble into the streets at the outdoor public markets, and the
response is universally positive, small children dance, gradeschool
kids stare, teens hang out right around the corner or sit on their
bikes and circle around and come back next set, young adults will
stand at a distance and sway, some might even dare swing their hips
now and then, and the over 50 crowd go crazy for us, some of the over
80 crowd make it a point to come see us every chance they get!

but the point is, we had to do the legwork first.  We had to go to
them.  the town now regularly books us for "family events" as do the
kiwanis and other charities who have experienced us there in the
markets, but the festivals and venues immediately turn up their noses,
because they've never seen us other than youtube, because they don't
get out much, and because they are convinced "nobody likes that 'old'
music anymore" :) -- let's not forget that the recent Gatsby film
removed ALL traces of OKOM from the soundtrace *except* Louis
Armstrong.  That's stayin' power! :)

On 3/9/14, Marek Boym <marekboym at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Bob,
>
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>> What I've always known would happen, is happening now- at least in the
>> USA. The remaining few players of live OKOM are rapidly aging, as are
>> their
>> audiences.
>
>
> >From time to time US listmates send links to videos by young American OKOM
> bands, such as Tuba Skinny.  This year a young American traditional band
> led by E,ily Asher on trombone played here in Israel.  So even in the US
> things are not as gloomy as you paint them.  OK, there are no young dyed in
> the wool fans who'd subscribe to the Dixie Flyer, but there are  young
> players and young audiences.  Perhaps not of the very mouldy variety, but
> they still listen and dance to traditional jazz.  Our ex-listmate Steve
> BArbone often plays for young audiences.  Swing dancers dance to OKOM even
> in th US.
>
>
>
>
>> I'm sure all of you in the USA know this. I think we must recognize that
>> our kind of music has not caught on with the younger generations, and
>> that
>> we will see live hot jazz disappear into the sunset, probably within the
>> next ten years.
>
>
> As long as there are young players, and there are, there will be young
> audiences, even if the world is no longer jazz crazy.  In ten years the
> musicians I've mentioned will be in their thirties of forties, so you
> haven't that much to worry about.
>
>
>> I, for one, do not see this as a disaster, but only as our failure to
>> have
>> gotten our kids interested and for not providing opportunities for Black
>> players to make a living.
>
>
> Some players in the young American  bands are black.  On the other hand,
> the revival was a white phenomenon; it might have provided work for blac
> musicians, but did not attract black audiences.
>
>
>
>>
>>
>> The President's column suggests that we could attract a new set of
>> members
>> by offering swing dancing - and conjectures that they might be converted
>> to
>> righteous music.
>>
>>
>> Through 19 "Serenades for Mouldy Figges" (see my book, "The World in a
>> Jug"), I have been trying make conversions. I assure you, it can't be
>> done!
>
>
> "Can't be done."   How do you know?  You have tried and failed, but don't
> forget that the previous revival thrived on dancers.
>
>
>  I don't see any hope of a 'revival' such as occurred in the 40s and 50s.
>
>
>
> YOu may be right (I was too young the, anyway), but nobody saw it coming
> before it occurred.
>
>
>> SO my fellow Americans and Canadian friends, dust off your victrolas and
>> retain your memories. I remember Greenwich Village and 52nd St. after the
>> war, when there were over 10 venues that featured OKOM 6 nights a week
>> from
>> 9pm to 4am,
>
>
> When I look at jazz in New York, there is much more OKOM there now than
> there was in 1996, my last visit there.  Not necessarily the Yerba Buena
> variety, but traditional nevertheless.
>
>
>> with an equal number of Black and White musicians.  Those were the glory
>> days!
>>
>
> You Americans are so colour conscious!
>
> Age gracefully,
>>
>
> Gracefully?  How about the fun?  A good friend of mine, quite a few years
> older, has just told me she was aging disgracefully and enjoying every
> minute of it!  I'm with her (not physically - she lives in the south of
> England), not with you.
>
> Cheers
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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